Uganda Distances Itself From Justice Ssebutinde’s Ruling

The Ugandan government has distanced itself from the ruling by Justice Julia Ssebutinde against all of the emergency measures ordered by Israel to protect Palestinians at the International Court of Justice.

In a statement on Saturday, the Ugandan government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Vincent Waiswa Bagiire said Ssebutinde acted on her own.

“The government categorically clarifies that the position taken by Judge Sebutinde is her individual and independent opinion, as is the case with all other Judges, by Article 2 of the ICJ Statute. Therefore, her opinion does not in any way, reflect the position of the Government of the Republic of Uganda,” Bagiire said.

A 17-judge panel at the ICJ voted in favour of six provisional measures that order Israel to protect Palestinians including punishing and preventing acts of genocide and allowing humanitarian aid into war-battered Gaza.

The issue came up at the ICJ after South Africa filed a case accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people – particularly in Gaza.

In her dissenting ruling, Justice Sebutinde ruled against punishing Israel, a decision which has attracted condemnation from many, including Ugandans.

However, the Ugandan government says it still stands by the decisions and positions of the recently concluded 19^th NAM Summit held in Kampala.

“Uganda reaffirms the decisions and positions of the recently concluded 19^th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), held in Kampala where the head of state condemned the continuing Israeli military campaign against the defenceless Palestinian people, and deplored the killing of over 21,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the period between October and December 2023, over 70% of whom were children and women, and the wounding and maiming of over 55,000 Palestinian children, women and men in bombardments by air, land and sea by the Israeli occupying forces, as well as ongoing attacks by occupying forces and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, that killed over 300 Palestinians, including 79 children, and wounded more than 3,800 people in the same period, in addition to the killing of 200 other Palestinians in 2023,” Bagiire said.