Cuba demands justice for Palestine at ICJ
Cuba demands justice for Palestine at ICJ
The Occupying Power and its accomplice are accountable to international law
On February 21, 2024, Cuba declared in defense of the Palestinian cause at a judicial hearing of the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The Cuban delegation was headed by Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, who pronounced the Cuban declaration. The Cuban delegation also consisted of the Ambassador of Cuba in the Netherlands, Anet Pino Rivers, as well as other members of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cuban Embassy in the Netherlands.
The Cuban Vice-Minister declared that the participation of Cuba in the audience in defense of Palestinian rights was an expression of Cuba’s commitment to peace and to its “historic and unconditional solidarity with the peoples that are subjected to colonialism and foreign domination.” She further declared that “the Palestinian people, its girls, boys, women, and civilians in general, continue being massacred by the illegal use of force by Israel, the Occupying Power,” and this occurs with the complicity of the United States of America.
Rodríguez declared to the members of the Court that “upon us falls the high moral, historic, and legal responsibility to pronounce in a clear, transparent, and forceful manner with respect to the shameful situation of the Palestinian people.”
§
Rodríguez maintained that the occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel is illegal, in that international law prohibits the acquisition of territory through the use of force, independent of whether the territory is acquired by an act of aggression or through legitimate defense. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation violates the UN Charter, which establishes the principle of respect for the self-determination of peoples.
The Cuban Vice-Minister noted that the occupation of Palestinian territory has been characterized as an illicit act of annexation by three Security Council resolutions of 1980 and 1981, which declared null and void Israeli actions oriented to the annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
She reiterated that the United Nations recognizes the right of self-determination, and in this regard, she declared that “the presence of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, the forced relocations and displacements of persons through the occupation of land, the construction of a separation wall, the control exercised over natural resources and the restrictions imposed on mobility undermine and deny the capacity of Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination.” She also noted that the land, sea, and air blockades constitute a collective punishment, violating individual rights to free movement and the enjoyment of social, economic, and cultural rights.
Rodríguez reminded the Court that the Cuban Brief of July 2023 maintained that
“the facts ought not be analyzed in a fragmented manner. All the specific facts form part of a fully articulated State policy directed for decades against the Palestinian people. Seen together, these policies constitute an institutionalized violence that makes no distinction between civilians and combatants. It is part of a broader policy that includes in a systematic and organized manner: mass confiscations of land and property, unlawful killings, extrajudicial executions, torture, administrative detentions, forced transfers, restrictions on movement, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to the Palestinian population. There also is a discriminatory economic and cultural policy, aimed at impoverishing the Palestinian population and denying the realization of their fundamental human rights.”
The Court has the responsibility, the Cuban Vice-Minister declared, to analyze this situation and to determine the legal consequences that derive from it.
The Vice-Minister also stressed the complicity of the United States, inasmuch as the United States has impeded international action in the current crisis, and it has for years supported the illegal acts of Israel as an Occupying Power. “During all these years, the United States of America has abused the veto in a systemic and sustained form in order to impede any action by the Security Council and to guarantee the impunity of the Occupying Power.” Israel’s allies and collaborators must assume the legal consequences that result from sustained non-compliance with international law.
The Court, Rodríguez concluded, must issue a clear and unanimous ruling that establishes the legal consequences for depriving the Palestinian people of their rights to life, liberty, and self-determination and for the use of force against innocent civilians.
A free subscription option is available, with capacity to read, send, and share all posts. A paid subscription ($5 per month or $40 per year) enables you to make comments and to support the costs of the column; paid subscribers also receive a free PDF copy of my book on Cuba and the world-system. Ten percent of income generated through subscriptions to the column is donated to the Cuban Society for Philosophical Investigations.