Human Rights and Foreign Policy: South Africa's Genocide Complaint Against Israel at the International Court of Justice

On December 21st, 2023 the South African Government filed an urgent application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the wake of Israel's military activities in Gaza in response to the attack in Israel on October 7th in which more than 1,200 Israeli citizens were killed and several hundred were taken as hostages. The Israeli government responded to the attacks and the taking of hostages by launching a military campaign into Gaza, with the express purpose of destroying Hamas and especially its ability to attack Israel in the way that it did on October 7th. The first few days of Israel's military campaign resulted in a number of civilian deaths and injuries, as well as considerable destruction of infrastructure, especially health facilities. In its Application to the ICJ, the South African government requested that the ICJ address the issue "as a matter of extreme urgency" because of the nature of the violations of rights and "the ongoing, extreme and irreparable harm being suffered by Palestinians in Gaza." In this article I address the following questions: What factors motivated the South African government to pursue this momentous action against the state of Israel? (In addressing this question, I pay specific attention to the role of human rights in South Africa's foreign policy, as well as the historic connection between the African National Congress (ANC), the prior ruling party and now in a governing coalition, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the longstanding support for the struggle of the Palestinian people for statehood.) What was the substance of the complaint and how did the ICJ respond? What are the benchmarks to assess the observance of human rights in South Africa's foreign policy? In other words, if states commit themselves to a human rights-based foreign policy, as South Africa has done, what are the parameters by which such a commitment can be evaluated?