Author: Stefan Talmon

Published: 06 May 2021 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Muskan Yadav

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) prohibits the use of chemical weapons, as well as their development, production, stockpiling and transfer “under any circumstances”. Syria acceded to the Convention on 14 September 2013, declaring that it “shall comply with the stipulations contained [in the Convention] and observe them faithfully and sincerely, applying the Convention provisionally pending its entry into force for the Syrian Arab Republic.” The Convention entered into force for Syria 30 days later on 14 October 2013. The CWC goes beyond the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which prohibited the use of chemical weapons only “in war”; that is, in international armed conflict. Although Syria had been bound by the Geneva Protocol since 17 December 1968, its provisions were not applicable to the non-international armed conflict raging in Syria since 2012. (more…)

Published: 04 May 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

After a creeping military occupation and the holding of a “referendum” in the presence of Russian troops, the Russian Federation on 21 March 2014 formally annexed part of the territory of Ukraine – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Crimea). Since that day, Russia has considered the Crimean Peninsula and its territorial waters as its State territory. Germany and the majority of the international community do not recognise the incorporation of Crimea into the Russian Federation. On 27 March 2014, the UN General Assembly underscored that the referendum had no validity and could not form the basis for any alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or of the city of Sevastopol. It also called upon all States and international organisations not to recognise the incorporation and to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as recognising any alteration of the status of the territory in question. The annexation of Crimea and Russia’s military support of the separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine led to an ongoing conflict between the two countries. After a period of relative calm, fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region intensified and tensions between the two States heightened again at the beginning of 2021. By March, Russia had amassed some 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border and in annexed Crimea. It also transferred additional warships from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and reinforced its military capabilities in the Azov-Black Sea region. On 9 April 2021, it was reported that beginning on 14-15 April the United States would deploy two warships to the Black Sea in a show of support of the Ukrainian Government. (more…)

Published: 27 April 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

Throughout the year, Germany makes numerous statements on international law. Not all these statements form part of a case study presented on GPIL. However, these statements may nevertheless be of interest to international lawyers. We therefore compile these statements on a monthly basis. (more…)

Published: 20 April 2021 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Anna Dickmann-Peña

In 1947, the United Nations envisaged the creation of two States in the former British Mandate for Palestine: an independent Arab State and an independent Jewish State. While the State of Israel was established on 14 May 1948 and became a member of the United Nations on 11 May 1949, there is still no independent Arab State. On the contrary, the territories that were to form part of the Arab State – the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – have been under Israeli occupation since 1967. At a meeting of the Palestine National Council (PNC) in Algiers on 15 November 1988, the PNC declared “in the name of God and in the name of the Palestinian Arab people the birth of the State of Palestine on our Palestinian soil with Holy Jerusalem as its capital.” The declaration, however, did not change the situation on the ground. Nevertheless, the “State of Palestine” has been recognized over the years by 139 States, but not by Germany. In 2012, “Palestine” was accorded non-member observer State status in the United Nations. Subsequently, the “State of Palestine” acceded to numerous multilateral treaties, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

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Published: 15 April 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

Germany identified “the women and peace and security agenda” as one of the priorities of its two-year term as a non-permanent member on the UN Security Council in 2019-2020. Its objective was to help women play a stronger role in preventing and managing conflicts, but also to better protect them against sexual violence in conflicts. In an interview published on 25 March 2019, Germany’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, stated that sexual violence against women in conflicts was often completely underestimated. He continued: “When you see how it is systematically used as an instrument of war […] the subject suddenly gains security policy relevance. We would like to draw attention to its significance.” In order to do this, Germany used its first presidency of the Security Council in April 2019, organising a so-called “signature event” on “sexual violence in conflict”. (more…)

Published: 13 April 2021 Authors: Stefan Talmon and Mareike Höcker

On 23 January 2019, the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart sentenced Syrian national Suliman al-S., in the final instance, to four years and nine months in prison for, inter alia, war crimes against humanitarian operations by participating in the kidnapping of a UN peacekeeper. The victim, Carl Campeau, was a Canadian national who served as legal adviser with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) which had been established by the UN Security Council in May 1974 to supervise the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the Syrian Golan Heights. UNDOF continued to be stationed in Syria despite the uprising by local groups against the Government of President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 which, according to the Court, by 2012 had developed into a full-blown civil war. On 17 February 2013, Mr. Campeau left the UNDOF headquarters at Camp Faouar, some 56 km south west of the Syrian capital Damascus, to drive on his own to Damascus on private business. After driving for some 45 minutes, he was stopped at a roadblock manned by fighters of an Islamist group linked to the terrorist organisation Jabhat Al-Nusra. Some members of the group actively participated in the armed struggle against the Government of President Assad. The members of the group also took advantage of the turmoil created by the uprising and set up the roadblock in order to search persons and vehicles for valuables and seize them; in doing so they also wanted to demonstrate their claim to power over the area. The fighters realised that Mr. Campeau belonged to the United Nations. His bulletproof vest bore a label with the letters “UN”. In addition, he carried a UN identity card and drove a white Toyota which displayed the big black letters “UN” on both sides of the vehicle and carried corresponding number plates. Mr. Campeau was abducted and held for some eight months in a villa south west of Damascus. His captors demanded – without success – a US$ 7 million ransom from the United Nations, the Canadian Government, and the hostage’s family. Campeau said he was abused and forced to convert to Islam by his captors before he managed to escape on 16 October 2013. (more…)

Published: 09 April 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

The health conditions in the territories occupied by Israel has been a separate agenda item on the programme of the annual meetings of the World Health Assembly (WHA) since 1968. The WHA is the main governing body of the World Health Organisation (WHO), a specialised agency of the United Nations. Since 2006, the agenda item has been named “Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan”. Under this agenda item, the WHA initially adopted an annual resolution in which it, inter alia, expressed its concern at the deterioration of the economic and health conditions in the occupied Arab territories, as well as the humanitarian crisis resulting from the continued occupation and the severe restrictions imposed by “Israel, the occupying power”, and addressed specific “demands” to Israel, which were not health-related in all cases. For example, the WHA demanded “that Israel, the occupying power, immediately put an end to the closure of the occupied Palestinian territory”, “respect and facilitate the mandate and work of UNRWA and other international organizations”, or “that Israel dismantle and stop the construction of the wall and abide by its legal obligations mentioned in the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice”. The resolutions also referred to an “Israeli attack” on the Gaza Strip, the destruction of “establishments by Israeli military operations” and urged Member States and others to “to remind Israel, the occupying power, to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949”. (more…)

Published: 07 April 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

Throughout the year, Germany makes numerous statements on international law. Not all these statements form part of a case study presented on GPIL. However, these statements may nevertheless be of interest to international lawyers. We therefore compile these statements on a monthly basis. (more…)

Published: 01 April 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

Germany had commented on the South China Sea disputes since 2015 and in 2019 had started to take a more active and outspoken position on the disputes. This approach was continued in 2020. In addition, the South China Sea issue for Germany became a test case for China’s attitude towards international law and the rule of law. On 30 January 2020, during the UN Security Council debate on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the German representative deviated from the topic and stated with regard to the situation in the South China Sea: (more…)

Published: 30 March 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon

The South China Sea covers a sea area of some 3.6 million km², which is more than 10 times the size of Germany. It is a semi-enclosed sea in the Pacific Ocean which is bordered by six countries: Brunei, China (both the mainland and Taiwan), Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Due to its geographical location an estimated one-third of global shipping passes through the South China Sea, making it a vital route for maritime trade and transport. As a major exporting nation, in 2016 Germany exported some 111 billion euros in goods through the South China Sea. It is thus not surprising that the “Federal Government attaches great importance to the shipping and trade routes in the South China Sea for the German economy.” The area is also a rich fishing ground and holds huge oil and natural gas reserves in the seabed and subsoil. The sea is dotted by hundreds of islands, islets, shoals, cays, reefs, and rocks. There are two main island groups in the South China Sea: the Paracel Islands in the northwest and the Spratly Islands in the southeast. Five countries (Brunei; China, both the mainland and Taiwan; Malaysia; the Philippines; and Vietnam) claim territorial sovereignty over land features in the South China Sea and all six coastal States make overlapping claims to various maritime zones in the area. China, Malaysia, and the Philippines maintain a human presence on some of the land features, a number of which have been built up or extended by the claimant States by way of land reclamation. All claimant States are parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). (more…)