On Friday, Colombia filed a declaration of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). As a signatory that has ratified the Genocide Convention, Colombia argued in its declaration that it has a right and indeed an obligation to intervene in the case in order to contribute to the prevention, suppression and punishment of genocide.
Colombia’s argument for intervention leans on Article 63 of the ICJ Statute, which grants states the right to intervene in cases whenever the construction of a multilateral convention, like the Genocide Convention, is in question. This is not the first move of this kind: earlier this year, Nicaragua also filed an application seeking to intervene in the case.
These interventions stem from a case initiated by South Africa in December 2023, alleging that Israel’s military operations in Gaza violated the Genocide Convention. South Africa asserted that Israel has engaged in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza. In response, the ICJ issued an order instructing Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent breaches of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip.
The case has drawn international attention in the context of extensive Israeli strikes in Gaza that have had massive impacts on civilian populations. In the past six months following October 7, nearly 2 million people have been displaced and more than 32,000 have been killed. Human rights groups have accused Israel of war crimes for strikes on locations including medical facilities and refugee camps.
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