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NEW YORK CITY: Throughout the first year of its two-year stint as an elected member of the UN Security Council, the primary world body tasked with maintaining international peace and security, Slovenia was relentless in pressing for a permanent ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
During the 15 months of war, Ljubljana’s representatives also intensified their calls to scale up deliveries of humanitarian aid to the starving population of the territory, while at the same time engaging in serious discussions about ways in which the implementation of a two-state solution might be expedited. Slovenia itself officially recognized Palestine as a state in June last year.
“I'm very proud that Slovenia was on the right side of history with the recognition of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine,” the country’s foreign minister, Tanja Fajon, told Arab News.
She said she is watching developments on the ceasefire front with “hope and relief,” albeit with the awareness that the situation is “very fragile.” All stakeholders in the region will have to commit to the agreement during all of its upcoming phases, she added, until it leads to a “permanent” cessation of hostilities and the dawn of long-awaited peace in the wider region.
During a chat with Arab News on the sidelines of a high-level meeting of the Security Council this week to discuss developments in the Middle East, Fajon said atrocities committed in Gaza during the conflict could amount to genocide.
On Jan. 26 last year, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza could amount to genocide, and set out six provisional measures with which Israel should comply to protect Palestinians in the territory from the threat of genocide. These measures included ensuring the sufficient provision of humanitarian assistance, and enabling the delivery of basic services.
Amnesty International has accused Israeli authorities of failing to take “even the bare minimum steps to comply” with the court’s ruling.
In November, the UN-backed International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as a former Hamas commander, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
ICC Judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility, as co-perpetrators, for the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
Several countries that are signatories to the ICC ignored its findings, with some stating they would refuse to abide by the arrest warrant.
These and other instances of disregard for international law have led many around the world to lament that the international system, of which the ICJ and ICC stand as main pillars, now lies in tatters.
As Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency, the largest aid organization for Palestine refugees, told Arab News last week, the war in Gaza is a “crisis of impunity.”
He said: “What we have witnessed is an extraordinary ‘crisis of impunity,’ to the extent that international humanitarian law is almost becoming irrelevant if no mechanism is put in place to address this impunity.”
However, Fajon, whose country prides itself on the enshrinement of international law as the main pillar of its foreign policy, said she remains “strongly convinced that there is no alternative to the world order, the UN Charter, international law and international humanitarian law.”
She continued: “We need this organization (the UN.) We need multilateralism to be effective.”
There is a global consensus that there should be no impunity for the perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. But to successfully prosecute these crimes in national courts, effective cooperation and collaboration among governments is essential.
Experts in international law across five continents have concluded that the current international procedural legal framework for mutual legal assistance and extradition in cases involving the most serious international crimes is incomplete and outdated, effectively hampering the ability of states to cooperate effectively in the fight against impunity.
The desire to address this issue ultimately resulted in the development of the Ljublijana-The Hague Convention, spearheaded by Slovenia, Argentina, Belgium, Mongolia, the Netherlands and Senegal, and signed last year by 32 states.
Also known as the “MLA initiative,” it is a landmark international treaty that aims to ensure justice for victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other international crimes by facilitating international cooperation in domestic investigations into, and prosecutions of, such crimes.
Fajon, who is also Slovenia’s deputy prime minister, said: “There can be nothing above international law and international humanitarian law.
“We are strongly committed to the work of international tribunals, be it the ICJ or ICC. And we have to really focus on accountability for those perpetrators who are responsible for atrocities and human tragedies. They have to be brought to justice.”
While the priority now must be to “vigilantly” monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Fajon said, and “do everything in our power” to ensure it holds and progresses to become a permanent ceasefire, “we cannot allow a possible illegal annexation of the West Bank.”
She added that “there are also really serious concerns” about UNRWA’s ability to continue its work, given an Israeli ban on the organization that is due to take effect next week.
Work with the Global Alliance on the Two State solution should also continue to help ensure a “strong” Palestinian Authority emerges after 15 months of war, Fajon said. Slovenia will also work to help facilitate Palestinian Authority control of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, she added, and “really be engaged to make sure there is security for Israelis and statehood of Palestine, for true peace in the region to be established.”
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, presided over a gathering in New York in September to discuss the situation in Gaza, which was co-hosted by the EU, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation. From this meeting, which attracted more than 100 participants, the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two State Solution emerged.
The Kingdom plays “a crucial role” in maintaining stability in the region, Fajon said.
“������Ƶ is also a very important partner and mediator,” she added. “So I see a strong role of ������Ƶ, and I hope we can rely on such a strong role also in the future, especially the role that preserves what is most necessary: that is, international law, international humanitarian law, and the UN charter.
“These have to be respected no matter where. And Saudi (Arabia) being a mediator and a good partner also to Slovenia, I do hope we will continue to develop relations in that regard.”