The Foreign Ministry announced that Colombia will impose a weapons ban on Israel after a meeting with the representatives of more than other 30 states in the capital Bogota.
The weapons ban was one of multiple measures announced by Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo at the end of the summit of The Hague Group in response to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
The measures announced by Jaramillo were subscribed all 32 governments that participated in the summits. Colombia and the rest of The Hague Group called on other United Nations member states to follow their lead.
Measures
- Export ban on weapons and equipment that may facilitate war crimes in Gaza
- Ban on ships carrying war material to Israel
- Ban on the use of the Colombian flag on ships that violate aforementioned measures
- Review of State contracts to avoid support for the illegal occupation of Palestinian land
- Justice and accountability for the mot serious crimes
- Support for universal jurisdiction to prosecute crimes in Palestine
The measures would be in line with a July 2024 ruling of the International Court of Justice that gave the world’s governments until September to pull support for Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem.
The measures were applauded by the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Palestine, Francesca Albanese, who attended the summit together with Palestine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour.
In a speech, President Gustavo Petro reminded those present at the summit that the beginning of Colombia’s armed conflict and the Nakba, the mass expulsion of Palestinians from what is now Israel, occurred on the same day, April 19, 1948.
“This may unite us as peoples who in different parts of the world have risen up in rebellion because we want to be democrats and free,” said Petro, a vociferous critic of Israel and its government.
The Hague Group is an initiative of the governments of Colombia and South Africa, which also leads an attempt to convict Israel Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice.
