On 27 of January, an official response from Kampala was prompted against the judge who objected to all provisional measures requested by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) "to prevent genocide" in Gaza, considering that position "does not represent the country."
Uganda's permanent representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, said on the "X" platform on Friday that "the judge's ruling at the ICJ does not represent the position of the Ugandan government on the situation in Palestine."
He added that Uganda has expressed its support for the plight of the Palestinian people through its voting at the United Nations.
The ICJ published the text of its decision issued on Friday, which imposes provisional measures on Israel "to prevent genocide" in Gaza, where most of the items were adopted with the approval of 15 members of the 17-member bench.
It was noteworthy that the Ugandan judge voted against all six temporary measures imposed by the Court of Justice, including the two measures approved by her colleague, the Israeli judge.
Barak criticized South Africa for focusing on Israel rather than Hamas to carry out the attack on October 7 that sparked the war in Gaza, saying that it “wrongly sought to attribute the crime of Cain to Abel,” adding, “Genocide is not just a word to me, it represents Intentional destruction and humanitarian behaviour at its worst, it is the most serious accusation possible."
Sibutinde's position was widely criticised by her and Kampala, especially since she outweighed the Israeli representative in objecting to the court's decision.
According to RT News after the anger on social media grew over the judge's stance, Uganda's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Adonia Abari said on the X platform that the ruling issued by Judge Sibudinde of the International Court of Justice does not represent the position of the Government of Uganda on the situation in Palestine.
Uganda's support for the plight of the Palestinian people has been expressed through voting in the United Nations.
Judge Sebodindi argued in her dissenting opinion that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is a fundamental and historical political conflict that requires a diplomatic or negotiated settlement in order for the two peoples to live in peace.
It is worth noting that Sebodindi was elected to the International Court of Justice in 2012 and is the first African woman to serve on the court.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, consists of 15 judges. For the purposes of this case, two additional judges were appointed to represent South Africa and Israel.
The current ICJ bench, headed by American Joan Donoghue, consists of judges from Morocco, Lebanon, Somalia, Uganda, Russia, China, Japan, India, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Slovakia, and Jamaica.
Edited by Chloe Mansola
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