Chile submits to the ICJ its intervention brief in South Africa's lawsuit against Israel for the application of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip

The Ambassador of Chile to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Jaime Moscoso, presented today, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the statement of intervention of Chile in the context of the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel, on the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Chile's statement has been submitted in accordance with the provisions of Article 63 of the ICJ Statute, which establishes the right of any State to intervene in a proceeding before the ICJ when the interpretation of a convention to which it is also a party is at issue.

The national brief focuses on analyzing specific provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Articles I to VI and Article IX), as well as Chile's position on its interpretation.

The text affirms that the Genocide Convention has a purely humanitarian and civilizing purpose: to safeguard the very existence of certain human groups and to confirm and uphold the most elementary principles of morality.  The States Parties not only have a common interest in the achievement of these high purposes, but also a legal and moral duty to take all necessary actions for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide.

The Government of Chile expresses its confidence and support in the work of the ICJ in the field of international law, as well as in its interpretation and qualification of the obligations contained in the aforementioned Convention.

Finally, the Government of Chile has appointed Ambassador Claudio Troncoso, General Director of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as its agent.