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Court cases are piling up in Europe, with many NGOs taking unprecedented steps to accuse the government of exporting arms to Israel and of possibly committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza. However, Israel refutes this.
Similar lawsuits were filed in Denmark last month and in France this week after a Dutch court recently ordered the government to stop exporting F-35 parts to Israel.
The Dutch government has appealed the decision, which is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court this year.
“We are very inspired by the Dutch case,” said Lars Koch, executive director of Oxfam Denmark, one of the four NGOs involved in the case brought against Danish police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. he said.
“We hope to see further imitation effects,” Koch said. The National.
On Thursday, eight NGOs, including Amnesty International, filed an emergency summons with the Paris Administrative Court, and France quickly followed suit.
Judges must respond within 48 hours to a judge’s request to cancel arms exports to Israel due to the risk that the Israeli military will use the weapons to commit war crimes in Gaza.
Amnesty International France’s arms transfer advocate Aymeric Eluin said he expected an answer early next week.
“This is an unprecedented request, so the response from the judge is very uncertain at this stage,” Eluin said. The National.
“The idea is to create a domino effect. If one country responds positively, judges in other countries will also be watching closely.”
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Defense Minister Sébastien Lecorne has sought to downplay the importance of France’s arms exports to Israel.
In 2022, they will be worth 15 million euros ($16 million), equivalent to 0.2% of France’s total foreign arms sales in the same year.
Lecorne said last month that “Israel will not be granted licenses for weapons of war to be used in ground operations in Gaza.”
Under Denmark’s legal system, judges take three to six months to decide whether arms exports to Israel should be immediately halted due to the risk of war crimes or violations of international humanitarian law.
Koch said a suspension order would likely not be issued while the trial progresses.
The world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, said on January 26 that the enclave, where at least 33,634 Palestinians have been killed and 76,214 injured since October 7, poses a “plausible” risk of genocide. It was determined that there is a sex.
Israel’s military operation against Gaza began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that left 1,200 people dead and 253 hostages taken. According to Israel, about 130 people are still detained in Gaza.
In Denmark and France, litigation can take years. But for those involved, the outcome is less important than prompting public debate on the issue of arms transfers to Israel once the lawsuit is filed.
Other efforts to increase pressure on Israel at the European level include Ireland and Spain asking the European Union’s executive body, the EU Commission, to review their trade agreements over concerns that human rights provisions are being violated. This includes making requests.
There has been no response so far to the request made in February. The conflict has divided the region, reducing its diplomatic influence.
UN expert says Israel committed genocide in Gaza – video
UN expert says Israel committed genocide in Gaza
Germany is the second largest arms exporter to Israel after the United States, a major EU country and Israel’s ally.
But court cases are piling up in Berlin, where human rights lawyers filed a lawsuit on Friday against the German government’s decision to approve the export of 3,000 anti-tank weapons to Israel, the first of its kind this month. This is the second case.
For activists, it is important that small EU states like Denmark contribute to maintaining the rules-based order.
“We are also using this case to continue our campaign for a ceasefire and an immediate end to arms exports to Israel,” Koch said.
Koch pointed to a March 15 parliamentary committee hearing in which Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen said the ministry’s analysis of whether to accept arms export licenses would be more rigorous. “We have made some progress in this regard,” he added.
Oxfam Denmark launched a crowdfunding campaign on March 3, the same day it announced the lawsuit, to cover legal costs. So far, it has raised 1.5 million DKK ($210,000) from private donors.
About 15 Danish companies supply parts for the F-35 fighter jet, which are exported to the United States and then to third countries, including Israel. “We argue that responsibility for the end use of weapons cannot be exported,” Koch said.
In the UK, the High Court in February rejected a legal challenge against the UK Department of Industry and Trade, citing similar concerns about possible involvement in violations of international humanitarian law.
The lawsuit was brought by two NGOs, including the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, which is also involved in the Danish case.
But activists hope a hearing later this month could reverse the dismissal and allow the case to proceed.
“It’s pretty standard in British courts for a judge to dismiss a case and then another judge to let it continue,” said Martin Butcher, arms and conflict policy adviser at Oxfam International.
Updated: April 13, 2024, 11:21 a.m.
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