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The United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to prevent death, destruction, and any acts of genocide in its military offensive in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.
South Africa alleged that Israel’s campaign in Gaza amounted to genocide in the case and had asked the court to order Israel to halt the operation.
17 Judges, led by an American and a Russian, and including ones each from Israel and South Africa, sat on the panel that dismissed Israel’s request to throw out a case accusing it of genocide in Gaza.
The judges on the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest judicial body, deliberated for two weeks behind closed doors on South Africa’s request to order a halt to Israel’s offensive.
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In an 11-page dissent, Sebutinde argued the dispute was “essentially and historically a political one” between Israel and the Palestinians rather than a legal matter for the court.
Who is Julia Sebutinde?
Born on February 28, 1954, Julia Sebutinde is currently serving her second term on the International Court of Justice following her re-election on 12 November 2020.
The judge, who hails from the central region of Uganda, attended Lake Victoria Primary School, Gayaza High School, and King's College Budo, before entering Makerere University to study law.
Sebutinde graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1977 before obtaining a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Center in Kampala in 1978. In 1990, she enrolled at the Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh for her Master of Laws, graduating in 1991. In 2009, in recognition of her body of work and contribution to international justice, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Edinburgh.
Julia Sebutinde is the current chancellor of Muteesa I Royal University, a university owned by the Buganda kingdom. She has been a judge on the court since March 2012. She is the first African woman to sit on the ICJ.
Before being elected to the ICJ, Sebutinde was a judge of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. She was appointed to that position in 2007.
Sebutinde first worked in the Ministry of Justice in the Government of Uganda from 1978 until 1990. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 1991, she worked in the Ministry of the Commonwealth in the United Kingdom. She later joined the Ministry of Justice in the Republic of Namibia, which had just attained Independence at that time. In 1996, she was appointed Judge of the High Court of Uganda.