A statement released by the Ugandan government announced that Judge Julia Sebutinde, who concluded in a minority opinion that there was no basis for South Africa's allegations of "war crimes" in the Gaza Strip, is only representing herself and not the government's positions.
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"The stance taken by Judge Sebutinde is her personal and independent stance and does not in any way reflect the positions of the Republic of Uganda," the statement said.
The announcement also highlighted that Uganda continues to support the joint declaration issued this month at the end of the Non-Aligned Movement summit; a document criticizing Israel's "military operation against the defenseless Palestinian people" and condemning the killing of unarmed civilians in the strip, which calls for an immediate cease-fire.
Sebutinde, a surprising dissenting voice at the International Court of Justice, opposed all warning orders issued against Israel, diverging from the majority of the 17 judges. Even Israel's representative, Aharon Barak, supported two of the orders. Sebutinde opposed four orders, which were accepted by a majority of 15 judges, and also opposed orders calling for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and preventing incitement to commit war crimes, positions Barak supported.
In its ruling, the court refrained from issuing a cease-fire order, a relief for Israel, but allowed the genocide lawsuit to proceed, seen globally as a reputational blow to Israel.
In her minority opinion, Sebutinde explained that the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians is fundamentally political, requiring diplomacy and negotiation to establish a lasting arrangement between the parties. She emphasized that it is not a legal dispute and concluded that South Africa failed to prove, even on the surface, that Israel's actions were genocidal.
"South Africa has not demonstrated, even seemingly, that the actions allegedly carried out by Israel were done with genocidal intent and, as a result, they fall short of the threshold for a genocide claim," she wrote.