The International Commission of Jurists has filed an official request for an investigation into the vice-president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Julia Sebutinde, on her recent comments on Israel.
The Commission, which advocates human rights and the rule of law of the whole world, argued that Sebutinde’s position on Israel reveals a bias that calls into question judicial integrity. Sebutinde, who is one of the 17 judges of the ICJ genocide affair against Israel, also faces other criticisms.
Here is more on Sebutinde, which she said and why she faces criticism:
Who is Julia Sebutinde?
Sebutinde is one of the judges hearing the genocide affair of South Africa against Israel. The same judges voted on provisional measures to protect the Palestinians in Gaza in January 2024.
Sebutinde, 71, is a Ugandan judge who is currently serving her second mandate at the CIJ, where she has been sitting since March 2012. She is the first African woman appointed to the ICJ based on The Hague. She was elected vice-president of the main United Nations Court in February 2024.
According to the Institute of African Women in Law, Sebutinde was raised by a family of modest means during the independence movement of Uganda. She attended Lake Victoria primary school in Entebbe, Uganda, and at the Gayaza high school, a boarding school of girls. She graduated in law from the University of Makerere in 1977.
In 1990, Sebutinde obtained a master’s degree in laws with distinction from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, which also awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2009 for his legal achievements.
Before joining the CIJ, she was a special courtyard for the Sierra Leone from 2007.
What was the dissident opinion of Sebutinde on Palestine?
In a case filed in December 2023, South Africa alleged that Israel committed a genocide in Gaza during the war which began on October 7, 2023. South Africa argued that Israel’s actions in Palestine were genocidal because they intended to “cause the destruction of a substantial part of the national, racial and Ethnic Palestinian group”.
On January 26, 2024, the ICJ issued a decision on a number of provisional steps. He ordered six provisional measures, telling Israel to:
- Take measures to avoid acts of genocide
- Prevent incentive in committing a genocide
- Leave more humanitarian aid in Gaza
- Protect and keep evidence related to genocide accusations within the framework of the genocide agreement.
- Authorize research missions on facts
- Report to the court on the measures taken
Fifteen of the 17 judges voted for all emergency measures to be implemented. An Israeli judge voted for two of the six measures to be implemented. Sebutinde was the only judge to vote against all measures.
In his dissident opinion, Sebutinde wrote: “In my respectful dissident opinion, the dispute between the State of Israel and the people of Palestine is essentially and historically political. It is not a legal dispute sensitive to judicial regulations by the Court. ”
She also declared that South Africa had not demonstrated that the alleged actions of Israel were “committed with the necessary genocidal intention and that, consequently, they are able to meet the framework of the Convention of Genocide”.
The final verdict of the court is still expected. Last year, the International Criminal Court published arrest mandates against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for war crimes.
Several rights organizations have called Israeli actions in the Gaza genocide. Israel was also accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for almost 23 months of war, which killed more than 62,000 Palestinians.
Who called for Sebutinde to be the subject of an investigation and why?
Friday, the International Commission based in Geneva, made up of 60 judges and lawyers, wrote a letter on Friday to the president of the CIJ, Yuji Iwasawa, asking for the investigation. He cited Sebutinde’s remarks on August 10 at the church of Watoto in Kampala, Uganda, where she said: “The Lord counts on me to stand on the side of Israel.”
The letter added that principle 2 of the basic principles of the United Nations on the independence of the judiciary affirms that “the judiciary decides by the questions before them, on the basis of the facts and in accordance with the law, without … inappropriate influences … of any quarter and for any reason whatsoever.”
Sebutinde’s remarks are “incompatible with these principles,” said the letter, signed by the secretary general of the Commission, Santiago Canton.
Canton closed the letter by urging Iwasawa to investigate allegations against Sebutinde and take reparation measures if the allegations are true.
During an investigation, Canton asked Iwasawa to withdraw new procedures in the ICJ case submitted by South Africa.
The government of Uganda has moved away from its dissident opinion.
“The decision of judge Sebutinde at the International Court of Justice does not represent the position of the government of Uganda on the situation in Palestine,” said Adonia Ayebare, Uganda Ambassador to the UN, published on X in January of the year.
Could Sebutinde be deleted? How?
CIJ status indicates that CIJ members cannot be rejected unless other members are unanimous that they no longer meet the required conditions.
If a judge is dismissed, the CIJ registrar makes an official notification to the UN Secretary General and this notification makes the position vacant.
The CIJ website adds that this has never happened.
The website establishes standards for its judges, declaring: “Judges must be elected among people of high moral nature, who have the qualifications required in their respective countries for the appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are jurisons of renowned competence in international law.”
This also adds that “once elected, a member of the court is a delegate neither the government of his own country or that of any other state”.
The status of the CIJ adds that before assuming the duties at the ICJ, the members must make a solemn declaration according to which they will exercise their powers in an impartial and conscientious manner.
Who are the judges in the case?
The CIJ has 15 judges elected for nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
For the case that South Africa brought against Israel, an Israeli judge and a South African judge joined the bench. From South Africa, senior retirement judge Dikgang Moseneke has entered intok while the former Israeli Supreme Court of Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, joined the case from Israel.