Nicaragua Accuses Germany of ‘Facilitating’ Genocide in Gaza

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Nicaragua’s genocide accusations against Germany, U.S. investments in Taiwanese chip manufacturing, and an attack on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

‘Serious Risk of Genocide’

Nicaragua asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday to order Germany to stop all arms exports to Israel. Managua, which has past ties with Palestinian organizations, argued that Berlin violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by supplying Israel with military equipment and other aid despite the court ruling in January that it was plausible that Israel violated some aspects of the convention. Germany is Israel’s second-largest arms provider after Washington, with the former having sent $353.7 million in military equipment to Israel in 2023.

“There can be no question that Germany … was well aware, and is well aware, of at least the serious risk of genocide being committed” in Gaza, said Carlos José Argüello Gómez, Nicaragua’s representative at the ICJ.

The country is also asking the ICJ to urge Berlin to resume funding the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in addition to other aid that Germany is already providing. “It is indeed a pathetic excuse to the Palestinian children, women, and men in Gaza to provide humanitarian aid, including through airdrops, on the one hand, and to furnish the weapons and military equipment that are used to kill and annihilate them,” Nicaraguan lawyer Daniel Müller told the ICJ. Germany was one of many nations, including the United States, that suspended UNRWA funding after an Israeli investigation in January accused 12 of its employees of being involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

Israel continues to deny all allegations of genocide, saying it has the right to defend itself. Germany also denies Nicaragua’s claims. “Germany does not, and never did, violate the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law, neither directly nor indirectly,” said Tania Freiin von Uslar-Gleichen, a legal advisor for Germany’s foreign ministry.

Berlin is expected to present its argument on Tuesday. The ICJ has not yet accepted Nicaragua’s case but is required to respond quickly because Managua requested emergency measures. A preliminary decision will likely take weeks to deliver, and the case, if accepted, could last for years.

This is the third ICJ case this year related to the Israel-Hamas war. In January, South Africa accused Israel of violating the Genocide Convention during its assault on Gaza. The court ruled that such allegations were plausible and ordered Israel to take immediate emergency measures to halt potential acts of genocide. South Africa also petitioned the ICJ to address Gaza’s ongoing hunger crisis; the court ordered Israel to permit the delivery of basic food and water supplies “without delay.” In February, the ICJ accepted a long-planned case by the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the legality of Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

Nicaragua’s case is broader than South Africa’s. It invokes the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention, accuses Israel of other “unlawful” conduct in Gaza, and orders Israel to protect civilians. It also raises new questions about the liability of other countries that have supplied weapons to Israel. The U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Friday calling for nations to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel. Six nations voted against the measure, including the United States and Germany. Whereas Germany recognizes the ICJ’s jurisdiction, however, the United States does not.

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The World This Week

Tuesday, April 9: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concludes a two-day visit to China.

Sweden begins a two-day meeting with its Nordic and Baltic counterparts on foreign and security policy.

Ireland’s parliament votes to confirm new Fine Gael party leader Simon Harris as Taoiseach.

Wednesday, April 10: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg hosts Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Brussels.

South Korea holds parliamentary elections.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal begins a three-day visit to Canada.

Thursday, April 11: The European Central Bank determines its interest rate.

G-7 transportation ministers begin a three-day meeting in Milan, Italy.

U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Friday, April 12: South Korea’s central bank determines its interest rate.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

Monday, April 15: The International Court of Justice holds hearings on preliminary objections in Armenia’s case against Azerbaijan.

What We’re Following

TSMC clinches U.S. funding. The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Monday that it will give Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) a $6.6 billion subsidy for advanced chip production in Phoenix, Arizona. TSMC is the world’s largest chipmaker. Washington said it would also grant TSMC up to $5 billion in government loans as part of the company’s plan to build a third fabrication plant in Arizona by 2030 and increase company funding toward the U.S. facilities by $25 billion. The plan—totaling more than $65 billion—is the largest foreign direct investment in a new project in U.S. history.

At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen concluded four days of top-level meetings in China on Monday. Yellen urged China on Saturday to rein in excessive green energy technology exports, warning that Washington would not allow a repeat of “China shock,” when a wave of Chinese imports in the early 2000s decimated around 2 million U.S. manufacturing jobs. China rebuffed Washington’s concerns, arguing that tariffs would deprive consumers of green alternatives key to achieving climate goals. Yellen did not announce new curbs on trade should Beijing continue supporting electric vehicles and other green products.

Infrastructure targets. Russian forces launched 24 Iranian-produced Shahed drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Monday. Officials said the assault hit critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr Oblast and damaged a logistics and transportation facility in the south. No casualties were reported, and Ukrainian troops said they intercepted 17 of the two dozen drones across the Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytskyi, and Zhytomyr regions.

Meanwhile, Moscow accused Kyiv on Sunday of targeting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant three times and announced a criminal investigation. Ukraine denied responsibility. “No one can conceivably benefit or get any military or political advantage from attacks against nuclear facilities. This is a no go,” said Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Three plant employees were reportedly injured, and one drone hit a building housing one of the facility’s six reactors.

This is the first time that the plant has been targeted since November 2022, officials said. Russia took control of the nuclear facility following its February 2022 invasion, and Ukraine has accused Moscow of turning the plant into a military base, knowing that Kyiv would be reluctant to target it.

Mexico-Ecuador tiff. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States convened an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the deteriorating relationship between Mexico and Ecuador. Mexico cut diplomatic ties with Ecuador on Saturday after Ecuadorian officials raided the Mexican Embassy in Quito late Friday to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who was seeking political asylum there.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the incident “a flagrant violation of international law and of Mexico’s sovereignty.” Ecuador’s presidential office, however, argued that “no criminal can be considered a politically persecuted person.” Glas was sentenced in 2017 to six years in prison on corruption charges and sought shelter with Mexico’s embassy last December.

Nicaragua severed relations with Ecuador hours after Mexico’s announcement, calling the raid “unusual and reprehensible.” Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, and Venezuela also condemned Ecuador’s actions.

Odds and Ends

Chechens must say goodbye to Lady Gaga’s megahit “Just Dance” and Pirates of the Caribbean’s epic theme “He’s a Pirate,” among other fan favorites. The Russian republic banned all music that is slower than 80 beats per minute or faster than 116 beats per minute last Friday to target Western pop and techno songs. The directive will ensure that all music now aligns with Chechnya’s “mentality and musical rhythm,” regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov said.