Post by Salem6 on Feb 25, 2004 10:29:29 GMT
By Estelle Ellis
The Middle East needs bridges, not walls. This was the appeal made by a team making South African legal history.
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, quoting Pope John Paul II, led the first post-democracy team of lawyers before the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in the Netherlands on Monday.
South Africa was supporting submissions made by Palestine that the wall was in breach of international law.
Last year, Professor John Dugard, a prominent South African academic and expert in international law, reported in his capacity as special rapporteur to the Security Council that a security barrier erected by Israel to cordon off its territory constituted a violation of human rights.
'It is a wall to enforce occupation'
Following the report, the UN asked the ICJ to render an advisory opinion - international legal opinion on the actions of a country - on the matter.
Hearings into the matter opened on Monday, marked by a number of protests and Israel's refusal to take part in the process. Israel says it does not regard the issue as one on which the ICJ is competent to pronounce. The United States and European Union are also boycotting the hearing.
The South African team played a prominent role on the first day of legal argument before the ICJ - the first time since the 1970s, when the court heard the dispute about South Africa's involvement in Namibia.
Pahad opened the South African submission by saying "the separation wall is not a security wall. It is a wall to enforce occupation, a wall that has separated hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their families, homes, lands and religious sites".
He further said "South Africa is committed to a two-state solution: the state of Israel within secure borders and a viable Palestinian state within equally secure borders".
Another member of South Africa's legal team, advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga, said: "The unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied Palestinian territory is of grave concern to the government of South Africa, as is the worsening security situation in Israel. We have also endorsed on numerous occasions the right of Israel to ensure its security."
"Actions, such as the construction of the separation wall, that further fuel the cycle of violence and counter-violence, must stop. We are convinced that the solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a negotiated settlement that would result in a two-state solution. However, the construction of a separation wall is a pretext to occupy more land and makes a negotiated settlement even harder to achieve."
Madlanga further argued that the construction of the wall was a unique measure in history and, as such, also had an unprecedented effect in terms of international law.
The hearings continue on Tuesday, with legal teams from Belize, Cuba, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, Malaysia and Senegal making submissions. They are set to conclude on Wednesday, after which the court is likely to reserve judgment.
www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=24&art_id=vn20040224040718802C437427&set_id=1
The Middle East needs bridges, not walls. This was the appeal made by a team making South African legal history.
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, quoting Pope John Paul II, led the first post-democracy team of lawyers before the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in the Netherlands on Monday.
South Africa was supporting submissions made by Palestine that the wall was in breach of international law.
Last year, Professor John Dugard, a prominent South African academic and expert in international law, reported in his capacity as special rapporteur to the Security Council that a security barrier erected by Israel to cordon off its territory constituted a violation of human rights.
'It is a wall to enforce occupation'
Following the report, the UN asked the ICJ to render an advisory opinion - international legal opinion on the actions of a country - on the matter.
Hearings into the matter opened on Monday, marked by a number of protests and Israel's refusal to take part in the process. Israel says it does not regard the issue as one on which the ICJ is competent to pronounce. The United States and European Union are also boycotting the hearing.
The South African team played a prominent role on the first day of legal argument before the ICJ - the first time since the 1970s, when the court heard the dispute about South Africa's involvement in Namibia.
Pahad opened the South African submission by saying "the separation wall is not a security wall. It is a wall to enforce occupation, a wall that has separated hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their families, homes, lands and religious sites".
He further said "South Africa is committed to a two-state solution: the state of Israel within secure borders and a viable Palestinian state within equally secure borders".
Another member of South Africa's legal team, advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga, said: "The unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied Palestinian territory is of grave concern to the government of South Africa, as is the worsening security situation in Israel. We have also endorsed on numerous occasions the right of Israel to ensure its security."
"Actions, such as the construction of the separation wall, that further fuel the cycle of violence and counter-violence, must stop. We are convinced that the solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a negotiated settlement that would result in a two-state solution. However, the construction of a separation wall is a pretext to occupy more land and makes a negotiated settlement even harder to achieve."
Madlanga further argued that the construction of the wall was a unique measure in history and, as such, also had an unprecedented effect in terms of international law.
The hearings continue on Tuesday, with legal teams from Belize, Cuba, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, Malaysia and Senegal making submissions. They are set to conclude on Wednesday, after which the court is likely to reserve judgment.
www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=24&art_id=vn20040224040718802C437427&set_id=1