BERLIN, Thursday, April 11, 2024 (WAFA) - Nicaragua closed its embassy in Berlin after filing an international legal case against Germany accusing it of “facilitating the commission of genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza via its arms exports to Israel.

According to the case, which has been filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Germany has violated its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention and other norms of general international law by participating in “the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law and other peremptory norms of general international law occurring in the Gaza Strip”.

Presenting the case to the ICJ, Nicaragua argued that Germany had violated its obligations to ensure that it had taken steps to avoid assisting Israel as the perpetrator of genocide.

To be noted, around 1000 Germans live in Nicaragua and a few hundred Nicaraguan nationals live in Germany.

Nicaragua presented its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday, demanding the imposition of emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.

“The case has great relevance not just for Gaza but also for all the states that manufacture weapons and supply states and other parties with weapons that are ultimately used to commit violations of international law, of humanitarian law, the convention against genocide and a whole host of other international measures that seek to protect civilian and other vulnerable groups,” said Raymond Murphy, a human rights lawyer and professor of law at the University of Galway.

The number of civilians killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7 has risen to 33,482.  Around 76,049 people were injured.  Thousands are still missing under rubble and on the roads as ambulances and rescue teams continue to warn of their inability to reach them.

T.R.