Africa-Press – Mauritius. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said earlier this week that it will hold public hearings on 11 and 12 January in proceedings launched by South Africa over Israel’s war on Gaza.
Some 23,000 people have been confirmed killed since Israel launched its war on 7 October, with thousands more missing under rubble. Israel has conducted mass arbitrary arrests, field executions, and indiscriminate bombing during its air and ground assault on the Palestinian territory.
Almost of all Gaza’s inhabitants have been displaced from their homes, and some Israeli ministers have talked about pushing the entire population out of the enclave.
South Africa had asked the ICJ last week for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The filing has picked up support from Muslim-majority countries, including Jordan, Malaysia, and Turkey. But which lawyers will represent South Africa and Israel in this landmark case?
John Dugard is one of South Africa’s foremost international law experts, and a former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Dugard is no stranger to the ICJ, having served as an ad hoc judge for the court in the 2000s.
He has previously said that apartheid carried out by Israel on Palestinians is in some respects worse than that committed on Black people in South Africa in the 20th century.
He has written several books, including Confronting Apartheid: A Personal History of South Africa, Namibia and Palestine. Adila Hassim The South African has been practising law for two decades, and has also served as an acting judge.
She is the co-founder and director of litigation at Section27, “a public interest law centre that advocates for access to healthcare services and basic education”.
She also co-founded the anti-corruption organisation Corruption Watch which “sets out to monitor and expose acts of corruption that involve public resources and donated charitable resources in South Africa”, and serves on its board.
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