TEHRAN - On October 28, 2023, an article titled "The Humiliation of International Law" was penned by me for the Tehran Times. However, witnessing South Africa initiate proceedings against the Zionist regime on December 29, 2023, regarding violations of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip at the International Court of Justice (ICJ/ Court), my perspective shifted.

 I acknowledged that international law was not humiliated, but rather displaying its effectiveness. Upon studying South Africa's 84-page Application, I was fascinated by its meticulous composition and expected a just interim measure by the Court.

Everything was progressing smoothly until the ICJ issued an interim order following South Africa's Application. The Court's ruling in the Order favorably acknowledged the credibility of South Africa's genocide case against the Zionist regime, which was a positive and somewhat inspiring development. However, what surprised many, myself included, was the Court's failure to demand that the Zionist regime cease its attacks on the people of Gaza. 

In the morning, I saw this headline in the New York Times “UN court declines to demand that Israel stop its military campaign, but ordered to take measures to prevent any genocidal acts.”  At that moment, I realized that media like the New York Times will render all efforts made by international lawyers and the community useless. In my opinion, sometimes it does not matter what international law says, in fact how the media reflects the news will be influential and will shape the public’s outlook on the surrounding issues.  
I do not intend to delve into the technical issues regarding the ICJ and the cases on its docket and I also do not want to write about the unambiguous and grotesque contrast between the interim measure issued on 29 December 2023 which did not demand the Zionist regime to stop its attacks and the interim measure ordered by the Court concerning allegations of Genocide under the Genocide Convention in which ordered Russia to “immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine.  I just want to point out that perhaps I was not wrong after all that international law was humiliated. 

This came to my mind after having a short conversation with a senior Japanese journalist in Iran.  In recent days, I have been working as an interpreter for foreign media covering parliamentary and assembly of experts’ elections in Iran. While working, I ran into a senior Japanese journalist with whom I had worked many years ago. Our work together is something I always remember because as a young law student and interpreter, I had the opportunity to learn so many things from an experienced Japanese journalist and this time when I saw him again I learned something new which is appalling from the perspective of international law. 

When I saw him on the day of the elections in Iran, he asked “Would you vote? I said yes and then we talked about the elections in Iran. Afterwards, I spoke about the tragedy of what is taking place in Gaza and I told him I hoped more countries would intervene in South Africa’s case against the Zionist regime, but when I said the word ICJ he burst into laughter and repeated yes ICJ.  

 When he laughed, all the feelings and anger I have had since the attacks on Gaza just rushed back to me. At that moment, I realized I was so right. I was right because international law has indeed been humiliated. 

I do not want to blame the senior journalist for laughing at the ICJ; instead, I think we will all laugh and even cry if, in its final decision, the ICJ ridiculously announces that Genocide was not committed in Gaza because the specific intent of the Zionist regime was not proved.  But if the Court issues its final judgment without political restraints and considerations and states that the Genocide Convention has been breached in its very sense, then I will believe that it has done its job as the World Court. 

In the end, I think unfortunately the cynicism toward international law is growing drastically and it will have some short and long-term repercussions for international law and the international community. Just like I have cautioned in the past, I would like to repeat that international law must do everything it can to stop the Zionist regime. I hope more and more countries will take constructive steps like what South Africa did. As the ICJ has stated “the obligation to prevent the commission of genocide conventions is imposed by the genocide convention on any state party”. In conclusion, I express the hope for two outcomes:

The ICJ audaciously issues a fair judgment and does not shy away from declaring the occurrence of genocide.

The international community takes action to halt the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.