Source: http://johnbalouziyeh.blogspot.com/2012/02/
Timestamp: 2017-08-21 19:31:47
Document Index: 547516676

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 51', 'art. 39', 'art. 41', 'art. 42', 'art. 6', 'art. 7', 'art. 9', 'art. 9', 'art. 18', 'art. 19']

Law and Liberty :: القانون والحرية :: Loi et liberté: February 2012
Chapter VII of the UN Charter permits two exceptions to the principle of non-interference; the use of force is permitted when acting pursuant to: (i) UN collective security measures (arts. 42 CUN); and (ii) self-defense (art. 51 CUN). As discussed below, the first exception applies to Syria.
The Security Council may employ the use of force in order to secure peace. If the Security Council determines the existence of any threat to or breach of the peace or act of aggression, it is to make recommendations or decide what measures are to be taken to maintain or restore peace (art. 39 CUN). In order to prevent an aggravation of the situation, the Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force (e.g., sanctions, the severance of diplomatic relations, etc.) are to be employed (art. 41 CUN). However, if these measures are inadequate or ineffective, the SC may take military action “by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security” (art. 42 CUN). This represents the first important exception to the principle of non-interference.
b) The mandate to intervene in internal armed conflicts under the Geneva Conventions
3. The affirmative duty to act under international law
Several international legal instruments create an affirmative duty to act when life and basic fundamental freedoms are threatened. For example, the Genocide Convention requires not only that its 140 states parties refrain from the crime of genocide, but also that they “undertake to prevent and to punish” genocide (Art. I CPPG) and further pledge “to grant extradition in accordance with their laws and treaties in force” of persons charged with genocide (Art. VII CPPG). The International Court of Justice thus found in the Bosnian Genocide Case (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro) (2007) that Belgrade breached international law not by committing genocide, but by failing to prevent it.
While the Genocide Convention may not apply to Syria, other international instruments do. Among the most important of these is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
b) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976) (ICCPR) undertake to protect the wide range of civil and political rights, including a right to life (art. 6 ICCPR), prohibitions on torture (art. 7 ICCPR) and arbitrary arrest or detention (art. 9.1 ICCPR), a right to trial within a reasonable time of arrest or detainment (art. 9.3 ICCPR) and to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art. 18 ICCPR), as well as freedom of expression (art. 19 ICCPR).
If reports of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN, the Arab League and European countries and the US are true, then Syria has violated all of the above-enumerated rights and freedoms. Under the ICCPR, states party not only agree to refrain from violating such rights, but also to ensure the protection of these rights from violation by other member states. The ICCPR thus incorporates an affirmative duty to act.
If reports of violence against civilians at the hands of the Syrian regime are supported by sufficient evidence, it would be unfitting for Russia and China to base their veto and abstention from action on the principle of non-intervention. While the cited principle constitutes valid international law, it is not absolute and is trumped by the duty of states to protect life and liberty, even when doing so requires infringing on the domestic affairs of another state. Legal instruments such as the ICCPR impose on states party an affirmative duty to protect the lives of innocent civilians.
Posted by John M. B. Balouziyeh at 11:29 AM No comments: Links to this post