THE HAGUE: Nicaragua and Germany crossed swords at the UN’s top court on Monday, with Managua saying Berlin was “pathetic” to supply aid to Gazans while also providing Israel with weapons, a case the top German lawyer dismissed as “grossly biased”.
Nicaragua has hauled Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to demand judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.
Lawyers for Nicaragua argued Germany is in breach of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, set up in the wake of the Holocaust, by furnishing Israel with weapons.
“It is indeed a pathetic excuse to the Palestinian children, women and men to provide humanitarian aid, including through airdrops, on the one hand and to furnish the military equipment that is used to kill and annihilate them... on the other hand,” Daniel Mueller, a lawyer for Nicaragua, told the court.
Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, told the court: “Germany seems not to be able to differentiate between self-defence and genocide.”
Nicaragua asked the ICJ to decide “provisional measures” — emergency orders imposed while the court considers the broader case.
“Germany was and is fully conscious of the risk that the arms it has furnished and continues to furnish to Israel” could be used to commit a genocide, said Alain Pellet, a lawyer for Nicaragua.
“It is extremely urgent that Germany finally suspend” such aid, he added.
Germany will respond fully in court on Tuesday but has already hit back at the allegations.
Its top lawyer, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, said Nicaragua’s case was “grossly biased”.
“Germany completely rejects the accusations. We never did violate the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law either directly nor indirectly,” she told reporters.
“On the contrary, Germany is committed to the upholding of international law and this is what we work for internationally.”
The ICJ was set up to rule in disputes between nations and has become a key player in the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted after the October 7 attacks.
In a separate case, South Africa has accused Israel of perpetrating genocide in the Gaza Strip, charges Israel vehemently denies.