The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), aligning with Palestinian human rights organizations Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan Center and Al-Haq, initiated a lawsuit on Friday at the Administrative Court of Berlin, seeking to prevent German arms exports to Israel, amidst the ongoing Gaza conflict.
The legal action, instituted on behalf of five Palestinians who lost family members to Israeli rocket attacks in Gaza, demands the court issue an order suspending the export of weapons of war licenses granted by the German government to Israel. The litigants contend that by supplying weapons to Israel, Germany contravenes its international law obligations, not to mention the EU Common Position on Arms Exports Control, Arms Trade Treaty, Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions and human rights law. They assert that the weapons exported are being utilized to “kill and displace civilians, destroy civilian infrastructure in Gaza, and control the distribution of humanitarian aid”.
In Germany, control of arms exports falls under the jurisdiction of the German Weapons of War Control Law (Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz), which is responsible for the oversight of the production, sale, trade, procurement, and transportation of wartime goods, resources, and organisms. Section 6 of the Act stipulates that a permit should be denied if grounds are available to believe that it would contravene Germany’s international commitments or jeopardize their fulfillment.
As per ECCHR, Germany is the second biggest arm exporter to Israel after the US and provided a license for the arms export of 3,000 anti-tank guns in 2023. They have also authorized licenses for other products and exported them, while a request for 10,000 rounds of 120mm precision ammunition for Israeli tanks is under deliberation.
Al-Mezan announced that German authorities refused entry to Palestinian Surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta when the lawsuit was deposited. This occurred after he was invited to speak at a conference in Berlin on his work during the war in Gaza. In response to the incident, Abu Sitta stated, “Silencing a witness to genocide before the ICJ adds to Germany’s complicity in the ongoing massacre.”
Various other nations have been subjected to comparable legal actions and criticism. Oxfam warned that by refusing to suspend arms sales to Israel, the UK government may be risking complicity in war crimes. Furthermore, forty Democratic members of the US House of Representatives urged President Joe Biden to halt arms transfers to Israel after an Israeli airstrike resulted in the demise of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza.