German government sued for arms sale to Israel – DW – 05/30/2024

The German government is violating its international obligations by shipping weapons to Israel, human rights lawyer Alexander Schwarz said in an interview with DW chief political correspondent Nina Haase on Thursday.

Schwarz is Deputy Director of the International Crimes and Accountability Program at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). The organization is suing the government in federal court in Berlin, hoping to stop arms exports.

According to Schwarz, Germany supplies Israel with weapons, including bazookas, ammunition and tank engines.

The ECCHR has “reasonable grounds to believe that with these types of weapons, Israel is committing crimes against civilians in Gaza. Crimes consisting of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as recently confirmed by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,” Schwarz said. DW.

Israel has denied committing war crimes, insisting it was targeting Hamas militants. Hamas is labeled a terrorist group by the US, EU and others.

“Israel must respect humanitarian law”

Speaking to DW, Schwarz said his organization had reviewed evidence of alleged crimes, including videos, photos and witness statements.

“We used international reports from the UN, Human Rights Watch and other organizations which report a very large number of incidents,” he said. “And as we see online, for example on social media, we see incidents and evidence delivered by members of the IDF themselves, showing that they are destroying, for example, civilian property.”

The human rights lawyer said Israel had an “inherent right” to self-defense.

However, “in matters of self-defense, Israel must respect humanitarian law, which, from our point of view, it does not do,” he added.

“[W]There are numerous incidents where Israel violates these rules, for example in direct attacks against the civilian population or disproportionate attacks against civilian objects and the civilian population.

Weapons of War vs Weapon Components

Germany is Israel's second-largest supplier, although far behind the United States, with a supply of 326.5 million euros ($351 million) in 2023.

The trial in the Berlin court only applies to what German law classifies as “weapons of war”, such as tanks, bombs and projectile weapons. These weapons represent only 2% of exports to Israel. Schwarz said ECCHR plans to file another lawsuit covering the remaining 98 percent in another court in Frankfurt.

He also told DW that, according to information available to ECCHR, Germany had already stopped delivering weapons of war to Israel.

“But it may only be a matter of time before they do it again.”

Germany must obey ICC mandates (Schwarz)

The lawyer also commented on the fact that the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested – but has not yet obtained – arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas leaders .

According to Schwarz, Germany would be obliged to act on the basis of any valid arrest warrant issued by the ICC.

Under the rule of law, “of course the legal situation is completely clear,” Schwarz said.

“And that means we cannot circumvent these rules through political concepts,” he said.

dj/msh (DW hardware)