Barbados, a signatory to the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Geneva Conventions, is treaty bound to prosecute individuals for genocide regardless of where the crime was committed.

In their affidavit, the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration called upon the Director of Public Prosecutions to bring charges against anyone in Barbados, visitor or resident alike, who has been involved in either one or all of the following: genocide in Gaza; war crimes; apartheid; and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Although the court has not yet fixed a date for a hearing of the case, the claimant insists that it is one of utmost urgency and expects it to be raised at the Forty-ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) scheduled for 6-8 July 2025 under the chairmanship of Dr Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica.

David Denny, General Secretary of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, emphasized that the region’s heads of states must be made fully aware of the realities in Gaza in order to act accordingly.

A statement issued on Thursday by the movement said, “This court application in Barbados charging the State of Israel with genocide among other crimes is unprecedented at this level and is shaping up to be a test case for other countries in the region to follow.”

The movement is represented by Attorney-At-law Mr Lalu Hanuman.