On this historic day of July 15, 2025, on the occasion of the emergency summit convened in Bogotá by the Hague Group, co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa, and bringing together more than thirty States, the French association of Jurists for the Respect of International Law (JURDI) solemnly calls for a coherent and coordinated mobilization of all States present in order to transform the principles of international law into concrete, immediate and bold measures.
Object : Mandatory obligations and responsibility of States – Immediate need for a collective referral to the ICJ in the face of the inaction of certain States complicit in serious violations of international law in Gaza.
I. The law is clear. The silence of states is not.
1. The International Court of Justice, in its order of 30 April 2024 (Nicaragua vs. Germany), among other things, recalled that all States, without exception, are obliged to actively prevent acts of genocide, to enforce the Geneva Conventions, and to refrain from any transfer of arms that could contribute to international crimes.
2. These obligations erga omnes, falling under the juice cogens, These principles apply to all States in all circumstances, whether or not they are parties to a conflict. No exception based on strategic, commercial, or diplomatic interest can justify their violation.
3. Yet states such as France, Italy, Greece and Hungary continue to transfer weapons, open their airspace, or suspend their humanitarian aid, fully aware that these acts facilitate or aggravate crimes of extreme gravity.
4. Internal mechanisms are blocked. All national and European legal remedies have been neutralized or ignored, or nearly so:
- refusal to suspend arms transit via summary proceedings for fundamental freedoms,
- refusal to transmit administrative documents on military overflights,
- inertia in the face of repeated reports to customs authorities,
- tolerance for the public display of weapons used in international crimes.
This widespread failure calls into question the credibility of the rule of law and the multilateral system as a whole.
This summit, unprecedented in its scope within the Global South, recalls historical precedents in the fight against impunity, such as the anti-apartheid movement, and reaffirms the role of coalitions of states in upholding international law. The measures announced by several governments—blocking ships, severing diplomatic ties, and supporting arrest warrants—must be part of a systematic legal approach based on the Charter of the United Nations, the Geneva Conventions, and recent rulings of the International Court of Justice.
II. This summit cannot conclude with a mere declaration
JURDI solemnly calls upon the States present to cease their ambiguities and to commit without delay to three concrete actions:
1. Launch a collective action before the ICJ against States violating their erga omnes obligations
- There can be no international justice without interstate recourse when states violate the most fundamental norms.
- Article IX of the Genocide Convention and common to the Geneva Conventions authorizes each State party to prosecute any other State failing to meet its obligations.
- If only one state, like Nicaragua, has had the courage to take the matter to the ICJ, the silence of the rest of the international community becomes untenable.
As a reminder, the JURDI association is filing an action for failure to act this Wednesday, July 17, 2025, with the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, in view of serious violations of international law and European treaties, or even complicity.
2. Demand an immediate moratorium on all exports of hazardous weapons to conflict zones in Gaza
- It is no longer acceptable for certain States to continue arming or supporting military campaigns whose plausible risk of genocide has been recognized by the ICJ itself (South Africa vs. Israel, orders of January, March and May 2024).
3. Establish a multilateral mechanism for monitoring sensitive transfers
- It is time to coordinate upstream risk assessments, establish common legal traceability of exported equipment, and collectively sanction any violations found.
III. Political responsibility is now shared
Every day that passes without action allows crimes to continue and fuels a two-tiered international system.
By refusing to act, states become complicit, not only morally, but legally. JURDI calls on the states present at this summit to:
- Break the silence, abandon half-measures, and restore the authority of international law.
- To publicly announce, immediately after the close of this summit, their intention to bring the matter before the ICJ against States that violate the obligations arising from the juice cogens.
- To assume their collective duty of prevention and response, as provided for by the Charter of the United Nations and the consistent jurisprudence of the ICJ.
There will be no excuse based on ignorance. There will be no future for international law without political courage today.
The Bogotá summit represents a unique opportunity: to demonstrate that states, united by law, can still obstruct the logic of unbridled power.
JURDI calls for political courage, historical memory and fidelity to the law.
History will judge inaction harshly, but it will recognize the value of the concrete actions taken today for justice.
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