South Africa Prepares Lawsuits For US And UK For Involvement In Gaza War

Bad luck UNICEF/Abed Zagout via news.un.org/Food Crisis in Gaza

JAKARTA - South Africa is preparing separate lawsuits against the Governments of the United States and Britain on the grounds that they are involved in war crimes of Israeli forces in Palestine, after previously suing Israel for genocide.

The lawsuit was initiated by one of South Africa's 50 lawyers Wikus Van Rensburg with the aim of suing those involved in the civil trial in collaboration with lawyers from the US and UK, whom he has contacted.

Rensburg, which has written a number of letters to several countries and the ICJ in recent weeks, demanded that Israel and its supporters be prosecuted, have prepared to file a lawsuit against two Western countries, with the support of its colleagues.

"The US must now be responsible for its crimes," Rensburg told Anadolu in an interview, detailing the process of Washington and London's faith will be put on trial for involvement in Israel's war crimes against the Gaza people as reported by ANTARA, Monday, January 15.

When he conveyed his intention, Rensburg had a lot of support. "Many lawyers decided to join us in this lawsuit. Many of those who joined were Muslims, but I wasn't. They felt obliged to help this goal, but I'm sure it wasn't."

According to Rensburg what happened in Iraq is an example, stressing that nothing makes the US responsible for the crimes it committed in the Middle East country because this issue is not considered important.

But now people believe what's happening in Palestine is an ideal scenario for going through legal proceedings, Rensburg said, calling the US busy spending more money and resources on (Israel) committing crimes.

"No one said stop, that's enough," he said.

Rensburg said the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ would serve as a guide in their case against the US and UK, and they would begin the process based on the results of the case and the steps to be taken by the United Nations.

If the ICJ trial against Israel is won by South Africa, Rensburg believes the US may face sanctions even if the US does not accept the ruling.

"The ICJ ruling will also strengthen demands against the Joe Biden administration," he added.

Rensburg said he and his colleagues in South Africa were making preparations by contacting US and UK law offices.

He also reminded Germany that it still pays compensation for genocide crimes committed even today. For this reason, the US must now be responsible for the crimes it has committed. He must accept responsibility."

He pointed out a similar case was filed against former US President George Bush in the 2000s. He said they believed they could carry out legal proceedings abroad if they worked as a team.

He said South Africa provided stronger arguments in the case in The Hague, and he was intimidated by the argument that the attack on Israel could happen again if the courts won South Africa.

Last week, the group of lawyers, now 47 people, wrote an open letter to leaders of the US and UK governments, stating they could not avoid responsibility.