Published 30 April 2025 Author: Stefan Talmon
On 1 February 2024, the National Assembly of Nicaragua approved a legislative declaration condemning the genocide and collective infanticide carried out by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza and demanding from North American and European countries the immediate cessation of attempts at the ethnic extermination of the Palestinian people.
On 23 January 2024, Nicaragua became the first State to intervene in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), in which South Africa had instituted proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice for alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Genocide Convention in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
On 1 March 2024, Nicaragua instituted proceedings against Germany before the ICJ for alleged violations by Germany of its obligations deriving from the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, ‘intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law’ and other norms of general international law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the Gaza Strip. Nicaragua claimed, in particular, that by its conduct Germany had not only failed to fulfil its obligation to prevent the genocide allegedly committed by Israel against the Palestinian people but had contributed itself to the commission of that genocide and to the illegal regime of apartheid imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people. At the same time, Nicaragua requested the ICJ to indicate provisional measures as a matter of extreme urgency, pending the Court’s determination on the merits of the case, with respect to Germany’s ‘participation 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’.
On 8-9 April 2024, the ICJ held public hearings on Nicaragua’s request for the indication of provisional measures in what by then had been named the case concerning Alleged Breaches of Certain International Obligations in respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Nicaragua v. Germany). In its Order of 30 April 2024, the Court decided by fifteen votes to one that the circumstances, as they presented themselves to the Court, were not such as to require the exercise of provisional measures. The Court, however, expressed its deep concern about the situation in Gaza and reminded all States, including Germany, of their international obligations relating to the transfer of arms to parties to an armed conflict, in order to avoid the risk that such arms might be used to violate the Genocide Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
By an Order of 19 July 2024, the ICJ fixed 21 July 2025 for the filing of the Memorial of Nicaragua and 21 July 2026 for filing of Germany’s Counter-Memorial.
For the following few months not much was heard about Nicaragua’s involvement in the two cases. But, on 1 April 2025 Nicaragua informed the ICJ that it had decided to withdraw its application for permission to intervene in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel). In a press release, the Government of Nicaragua explained that it had decided ‘to discontinue the proceedings … due to the high financial cost involved for a developing country with the economic restrictions that Nicaragua suffers, to be able to continue with these judicial procedures.’ There was no mention of the proceedings against Germany.
Only ten days later, Nicaragua reversed course. In another press release the Nicaraguan Government announced that it had ‘decided to notify the International Court of Justice that it wishes to continue with its judicial procedures over the violations of the Rights of the Palestinian People’ in light of ‘an upsurge in violations against the Palestinian People and even against international humanitarian services, leaving totally evident the violation of all norms of international law by Israel and especially the total complicity of some Western countries, which have decided to continue their political, economic and military support to those responsible for these crimes.’ The Nicaraguan Government also mentioned that it had received ‘offers of help and collaboration … so as to be able to continue with these procedures before the International Court.’
After this somewhat erratic course of action, there was uncertainty about Nicaragua’s case against Germany. On 28 April 2025, however, the Government of Nicaragua issued another press release, clarifying its position:
The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity informs the people of Nicaragua and the international community that, following Nicaragua’s request to continue the judicial proceedings against Germany before the International Court of Justice for violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, the judicial branch has decided to authorize the case to continue. In this regard, Nicaragua will be submitting its Memorial to the International Court of Justice as scheduled for this year, following the normal course of the proceedings.
With regard to the case initiated by the Republic of South Africa against the State of Israel for the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip, Nicaragua will also continue its collaboration and participation in the process in defense of the rights of the Palestinian people.
Nicaragua will continue to support the Palestinian people and state in all areas within its reach and will not cease to comply with its international obligations in defense of the brotherly Palestinian people and international law. The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity reaffirms its firm commitment to the rule of law at the international level and the peaceful resolution of disputes between States.
The Government of Nicaragua, however, seems to have misrepresented the facts in the press release. There was no need to submit a request to the ICJ to continue the proceedings against Germany and no authorisation from the Court was required to do so. According to the Court’s Order of 19 July 2024, Nicaragua was to file its Memorial by 21 July 2025. Unless Nicaragua would have previously informed the Court that it wanted to withdraw its application, the case was set to continue as scheduled.
Rather than authorising the continuation of the proceedings, the ICJ simply confirmed in a note addressed to the Agent of Nicaragua that its case filed against Germany, remained pending and was on the Court’s general list as case no. 193. It seems that in light of Nicaragua’s erratic behaviour with regard to its intervention in the case brought by South Africa against Israel, Germany had addressed the Court regarding the status of the proceedings. This was implicitly confirmed by Nicaragua’s Co-President, who announced in an interview:
The Court informs us that, having duly considered the various communications received from the parties on the status of the proceedings, it has decided that the aforementioned case remains pending; it therefore appears on the general list. So we are resuming … our participation in the International Court of Justice to claim breaches of international obligations with respect to the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the case of Germany.
Category: News
