States announce unprecedented measures to halt the Gaza genocide at Bogotá conference
16 July 2025 - In the most ambitious multilateral action since the start of Gaza genocide 21 months ago, a coalition of cross-regional states gathered in Bogotá has agreed to six coordinated diplomatic, legal and economic measures to restrain Israel’s assault on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and defend international law at large.
Jointly convened by the governments of Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs, the Emergency Conference of The Hague Group, brought together 30 states from Africa, Asia, Europe, as well as North America and South America to move beyond words of condemnation — and to take collective action grounded in international law.
In the deliberations at the Bogotá conference, all 30 participating states unanimously agreed that the era of impunity must end— and that international law must be enforced without fear or favour through immediate domestic policies and legislation — along with a unified call for an immediate ceasefire.
To kickstart that process, 12 states from across the world — Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Africa — committed to implementing the six measures immediately through their domestic legal and administrative systems to break the ties of complicity with Israel’s campaign of devastation in Palestine — and set a date of 20th September, to coincide with the 80th UN General Assembly, for additional states to join them. Consultations with capitals across the world are now ongoing.
“We hereby announce the following measures,” the Joint Statement on the Conclusion of the Emergency Ministerial Conference on Palestine reads, “to be adopted based on states’ domestic legal and legislative frameworks”:
- Prevent the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel…
- Prevent the transit, docking, and servicing of vessels at any port…. in all cases where there is a clear risk of the vessel being used to carry arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel
- Prevent the carriage of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel on vessels bearing our flag… and ensure full accountability, including de-flagging, for non-compliance with this prohibition.
- Commence an urgent review of all public contracts, to prevent public institutions and funds from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory and entrenching its unlawful presence.
- Comply with obligations to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law, through robust, impartial and independent investigations and prosecutions at national or international levels, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes.
- Support universal jurisdiction mandates, as and where applicable in national legal frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for victims of international crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“These 12 states have taken a momentous step forward,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese. “The clock is now ticking for states — from Europe to the Arab world and beyond — to join them.”
The conference agreed to set a deadline for states’ final decisions by September 2025, in line with the 12-month timeframe mandated by United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24, adopted on 18 September 2024.
That resolution called on all states to take effective action on Israel’s violations of international law — including accountability, sanctions, and cessation of support — within one year of adoption. “We came to Bogotá to make history — and we did,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro. “Together, we have begun the work of ending the era of impunity. These measures show that we will no longer allow international law to be treated as optional, or Palestinian life as disposable.”
“What we have achieved here is a collective affirmation that no state is above the law,” said South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola. “The Hague Group was born to advance international law in an era of impunity. The measures adopted in Bogotá show that we are serious — and that coordinated state action is possible.”
“This conference marks a turning point — not just for Palestine, but for the future of the international system,” said Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, Executive Secretary of The Hague Group. “For decades, states — particularly in the Global South — have borne the cost of a broken international system. In Bogotá, they came together to reclaim it — not with words, but with actions.”
Emergency Conference of States, July 2025, https://thehaguegroup.org/meetings-en/
Bogotá, Colombia
