KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is among over 30 countries participating in the landmark Bogota Emergency Conference in Colombia, aimed at coordinating legal and diplomatic responses to the worsening situation in Gaza.
The event, co-hosted by Colombia and South Africa under The Hague Group, includes nations such as Algeria, Brazil, China, Cuba, and Indonesia.
The Hague Group Secretariat stated that the July 15-16 conference represents the most ambitious multilateral effort yet to challenge Israel’s actions in Gaza and enforce international law compliance.
“It is part of the effort to strengthen multilateral support for accountability and justice for the Palestinian people,“ the group said.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called the gathering a historic turning point.
“The Bogota conference will go down as the moment in history that states finally stood up to do the right thing,“ she said, praising The Hague Group’s formation as the most significant political development in 20 months.
Albanese is expected to critique the international system’s failure to protect Palestinians and the selective enforcement of international law.
“For too long, international law has been treated as optional—applied selectively to the weak and ignored by the powerful,“ she noted ahead of the conference. She will also address recent US sanctions against her and emphasize the UN Charter as a moral and legal guide.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro stressed the need to shift “from condemnation to collective action,“ while Vice Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir warned that alleged genocide in Gaza endangers global legal norms.
The conference follows The Hague Group’s formation earlier this year. Its eight founding members, including Malaysia, committed to upholding ICJ provisional measures on Gaza, preventing arms transfers to Israel, and blocking military supply vessels.
The event also seeks to implement the ICJ’s 2024 advisory opinion and UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24 by September 2025. - Bernama
