LALIT calls for Ramgoolam to at once adhere to yesterday’s Bogota Declaration

17.07.2025

 LALIT calls on Prime Minister Navin Ramgolam, in the name of the Mauritian people, to at once endorse the Bogota Declaration, drawn up under the name, “Joint Statement on the Conclusion of the Emergency Conference on Palestine” initiated by The Hague group.

 Ramgoolam needs to agree, in the name of the Republic of Mauritius, to the following minimum points summarized from the Declaration: 

 1. To prevent the provision or transfer of arms to Israel, and to stop any tools that help Israel commit genocide or other war crimes.

2. To prevent the transit, docking, and servicing of vessels at any port of our Republic, [including the Port of Diego Garcia] and to respect all Conventions including UNCLOS, [and the Pelindaba Treaty for a Nuclear Arms Free Africa].

3. To prevent the carriage of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel.

4. To commence an urgent review of all public contracts, in order to prevent public institutions and public funds from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory and to ensure that our nationals, and companies and entities under our jurisdiction do not act in any way that would entail recognition or provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

5. Comply with our 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.

6. Support universal jurisdiction mandates to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes in the Occupied Palestine Territory.

As well as to the clause, “In recognition of the violations of the Right to Health, we call upon the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to commission an immediate investigation of the health and nutritional needs of the population of Gaza, devise a plan to meet those needs on a continuing and sustained basis, and report on these matters before the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly”. 

LALIT also calls for Mauritius to join as a signatory to South Africa’s case against Israel for genocide, and to initiate a movement to suspend Israel altogether from the United Nations. LALIT calls for the total isolation of Israel – diplomatically, economically, culturally, in sports, and in all other ways. LALIT also supports the call of Students for Palestine for Mauritius to ensure visa restrictions on Israeli visitors, in particular to bar any associated in any way with the Israeli military, or breaking any other necessary sanctions against Israel. The crimes are too grave to turn a blind eye to. Mauritius reputation will, by its inaction, will suffer serious ruination. It is not a moment to isolate our country by tying us to the criminal, genocidal State of Israel and its handful of criminal backers.

 Here is a copy of the Document as a whole, published yesterday:

Joint Statement on the Conclusion of the Emergency Conference on Palestine

Convened by The Hague Group

We, the representatives of Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa and all other states that endorse the following before the 20th September 2025,

Guided by the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including the inalienable right of self-determination of peoples and the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force;

Meeting urgently in Bogota, Colombia, from 15 – 16 July 2025 with the aim to strengthening our collective resolve by creating a unified international voice and implement our international obligations in regard to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;

Grieving each life taken in the course of Israel’s genocidal actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

Deploring the obstruction of humanitarian aid and the deliberate, indiscriminate violence and collective punishment deployed against the starving population of the Gaza Strip;

Lamenting the repeated mass forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population and the obstruction of their return;

Recognising the risk that Israel’s actions pose to the prospects for regional peace and security as well as the integrity of international law at large;

Refusing to remain passive observers to the devastation in Occupied Palestinian Territory, and the denial of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination;

Reaffirming the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024 on the consequences arising from Israel’s illegal policies and practices, which are, by their very nature, the concern of all States;

Recalling all relevant UN resolutions, including United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/ RES/ES-10/24, and the obligations that Member States assumed to take actions in line with the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, international human rights law, and humanitarian law;

Stressing the importance of institutions such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to fulfil its mandates without fear or favour is essential to the preservation of the international rule of law;

Condemning the unilateral attacks and threats against United Nations mandate holders, as well as key institutions of the human rights architecture and international justice;

Building on the legacy of global solidarity movements that have dismantled apartheid and other oppressive systems, setting a model for future co-ordinated responses to international law violations;

Recognising the complementarity of The Hague Group to other initiatives such as the Madrid Group aimed at strengthening the implementation of international law; 

Welcoming the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State solution at the UN General Assembly from 28-30 July 2025;

Stressing the urgency of all Member States to fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed in accordance with the UN Charter and international law;

United in our conviction that coordinated action at national and international levels is an urgent imperative to protect the Charter of the United Nations, to uphold obligations under international law, and to promote a just and lasting peace across the world as well as ending the illegal occupation of Palestine and enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self- determination;

Reiterating our commitment to implement the relevant provisional measures, judgements and Advisory Opinions of the International Court of Justice as well as relevant UN Resolutions including General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24;

We hereby announce the following measures, to be adopted based on states’ domestic legal and legislative frameworks:

1. Prevent the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel, as appropriate, to ensure that our industry does not contribute the tools to enable or facilitate genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international law.

2. Prevent the transit, docking, and servicing of vessels at any port, if applicable, within our territorial jurisdiction, while being fully compliant with applicable international law, including UNCLOS, 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, to ensure that our territorial waters and ports do not serve as conduits for activities that enable or facilitate genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international law.

3. Prevent the carriage of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel on vessels bearing our flag, while being fully compliant with applicable international law, including UNCLOS ensuring full accountability, including de-flagging, for non-compliance with this prohibition, not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

4. Commence an urgent review of all public contracts, in order to prevent public institutions and public funds, where applicable, from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory, to ensure that our nationals, and companies and entities under our jurisdiction, as well as our authorities, do not act in any way that would entail recognition or provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

5. Comply with our 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, in compliance with our obligation to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes.

6. Support universal jurisdiction mandates, as and where applicable in our legal constitutional frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes in the Occupied Palestine Territory.

We emphasise that these measures constitute a collective commitment to defend the foundational principles of international law;

In recognition of the violations of the Right to Health, we call upon the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to commission an immediate investigation of the health and nutritional needs of the population of Gaza, devise a plan to meet those needs on a continuing and sustained basis, and report on these matters before the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly;

We appeal to all United Nations member states to enforce our obligations, while promoting mechanisms for cooperation between all parties.

Adopted in Bogotá, Colombia, this 16th day of July, 2025