Author: Stefan Talmon

Published: 16 December 2019  Author: Stefan Talmon  DOI: 10.17176/20220127-112409-0

On 11 November 2019, the Republic of The Gambia instituted proceedings against the Republic of the Union of Myanmar before the International Court of Justice, alleging violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide through “acts adopted, taken and condoned by the Government of Myanmar against members of the Rohingya group”.  The Gambia argued that during military operations against the Rohingya group, in particular since August 2017, the Myanmar military and other Myanmar security forces had committed genocidal acts which were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a group, in whole or in part, by the use of mass murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, the systematic destruction by fire of their villages, as well as so-called “clearance operations”. (more…)

Published: 05 December 2019  Authors: Mary Lobo and Stefan Talmon  DOI: 10.17176/20220127-111809-0

On 31 March 2019, the German ambassador to Rwanda returned to Germany prior to the expiry of his regular term after the Rwanda Government informed the German Federal Foreign Office that it would no longer work with him. In the media, it was reported that in a “private email” at the end of 2018 the ambassador had expressed criticism of the Rwandan President Paul Kagame which had led to diplomatic tensions between Germany and Rwanda. It was further reported that in the past the ambassador had held meetings with Rwandan opposition politicians and had voiced concerns about the human rights situation in Rwanda. Commenting on the matter, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs stated on 5 April 2019:

“We informed his government of the unacceptable behaviour of the ambassador, gave them evidence of this behaviour and requested them to take appropriate action. They decided to recall him before the end of his term.”

This was echoed by the Rwandan Minister of State in charge of the East African Community, who stated:

“[H]e was not expelled because of a private email that was intercepted. In fact, he was recalled by his own government because of a message which was not private, but rather sent to the German community in Rwanda, in which there were inappropriate remarks against the head of State.”

“He made inappropriate remarks about Rwanda and about our President. We wrote to Germany showing why we could no longer work with him and they decided to recall him. But our relationship with Germany remains strong.”

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Published: 02 December 2019  Author: Stefan Talmon  DOI: 10.17176/20220127-111256-0

The Republic of Cyprus has had a troubled history ever since attaining independence in August 1960. The partnership government of Greek and Turkish Cypriots under the Cypriot Constitution came to an end in December 1963 in the wake of civil war-like hostilities between the two communities which led the UN Security Council to establish the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Matters came to a head in July 1974 when, in response to a violent coup d’état instigated by the Greek military junta in Athens and aimed at uniting the island with the Greek motherland, Turkish armed forces landed in northern Cyprus in order to protect Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish intervention led to the de facto partition of the island into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north which has persisted ever since. (more…)

Published: 21 November 2019  Author: Stefan Talmon  DOI: 10.17176/20220127-110759-0

During the Six-Day War in June 1967 Israel captured all the territories which had constituted Palestine under British Mandate, including those known as the West Bank (including East Jerusalem). The international community has considered these territories to be under Israeli belligerent occupation ever since. For example, in its Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated in 2004:

“The territories […] were occupied by Israel in 1967 during the armed conflict between Israel and Jordan. Under customary international law, these were therefore occupied territories in which Israel had the status of occupying Power. Subsequent events in these territories […] have done nothing to alter this situation. All these territories (including East Jerusalem) remain occupied territories and Israel has continued to have the status of occupying Power.”

Since 1977 Israel has conducted a policy and developed practices involving the establishment of settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is home to some 2.9 million Palestinians. There are currently some 413,000 Israeli settlers in Area C of the occupied West Bank and approximately 215,00 Israelis are living in East Jerusalem. This brings the number of Israelis living in the occupied territories to roughly 630,000 individuals in 143 Israeli settlements – 132 in the West Bank and 11 in East Jerusalem – and 113 outposts.

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Published: 18 November 2019  Authors: Stefan Talmon and Emmanuel Amissah-Eshun  DOI: 10.17176/20220122-163508-0

The 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006. Members are elected directly and individually by the majority of the members of the General Assembly, through a secret ballot. Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution, and seats are distributed among the five regional groups within the United Nations system. Germany is part of the so-called “Western European and other States” group (WEOG), which holds seven seats on the Council. Members of the Council serve for a period of three years, and after two consecutive terms are not eligible for immediate re-election. Germany served on the HRC as one of its founding members from 2006 to 2009, and again for the 2013-2015 and 2016-2018 terms. After the withdrawal of the United States from the HRC, Germany had announced in February 2019 that it would run again for the Council – a year earlier than originally planned.

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Published: 15 November 2019  Authors: Carl-Philipp Sassenrath and Stefan Talmon  DOI: 10.17176/20220122-162201-0

On 18 September 2016, heavily armed militants stormed an Indian army base in Uri in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir near the so-called “line of control”, the cease-fire line separating the Indian-administered part of Jammu and Kashmir from the part administered by Pakistan. In one of the deadliest attacks for more than 20 years, 18 Indian soldiers were killed. India and Pakistan have been locked in a dispute over the region since the two countries gained independence from British colonial rule in August 1947. India intimated that Pakistan was behind the terrorist attack accusing its neighbour of “continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the terror attack in Uri and assured the nation that those behind this despicable attack would not go unpunished. (more…)

Published: 13 November 2019  Authors: Stefan Talmon and Mary Lobo  DOI: 10.17176/20220122-161354-0

On 22 October 2019, the German Federal Public Prosecutor filed an indictment for crimes against humanity against two former members of Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate before the State Security Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz. This was the first time Syrian State officials were indicted before German courts for international crimes committed during the recent conflict in Syria. Previously, only members of the Islamic State and the Free Syrian Army had been indicted and were sentenced for committing or aiding the commission of war crimes. (more…)

Published: 11 November 2019  Author: Stefan Talmon  DOI: 10.17176/20220122-155946-0

The conflict over Kashmir dates back to August 1947 when the predominantly Hindu State of India and the Muslim State of Pakistan were created out of colonial British India. At the same time, the paramountcy of the British Crown over the princely states of the Indian subcontinent and its treaty relations with them came to an end. The princely states were free to decide their own future. In October 1947, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir with a majority Muslim population, but ruled by a Hindu maharajah, decided to accede to the Hindu-dominated Indian Union. In the run-up to the accession decision parts of the Muslim population of the state had revolted against the maharajah and a large force of Pakistani tribesmen had invaded Jammu and Kashmir and was moving on the state capital of Srinagar. It was at that moment that the maharajah decided to accede and appealed to India for assistance. On 27 October 1947, Indian troops landed in Srinagar and the first Indo-Pakistani war over Jammu and Kashmir ensued which ended only 27 July 1949 with the signing of a cease-fire agreement between the two States. The cease-fire line, which is also referred to as the “line of control” is supervised to the present day by the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). India and Pakistan fought three more wars over Jammu and Kashmir in 1965, 1971 and 1999. In addition, since 1989 the state has witnessed an armed revolt against Indian rule which left tens of thousands dead and forced India to deploy hundreds of thousands of troops to the territory to quell it, making it one of the most militarized areas in the world.

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Published: 29 October 2019  Authors: Stefan Talmon and Julian Craven  DOI: 10.17176/20220122-160710-0

In March 2011, the Syrian civil war started with major unrest in Damascus and Aleppo. With the continuation and intensification of the conflict and the increasing violations by the Syrian Government under President Bashar al-Assad of international humanitarian law and human rights law, the relations between Germany and the Syrian Government deteriorated. On 7 February 2012, Germany expelled four employees of the Syrian embassy in Berlin for taking action in Germany against members of the Syrian opposition. In response to the massacre in the village of Houla on 25 May 2012, where 108 people, including 34 women and 49 children, were killed by Syrian troops and pro-government militias, Germany, together with Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States expelled the heads of the Syrian diplomatic mission in their country.

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Published: 21 October 2019  Author: Stefan Talmon  DOI: 10.17176/20220113-165616-0

In its ninth year, the armed conflict in Syria saw a new development. On 9 October 2019, Turkey launched a military incursion into north-eastern Syria, code-named “Operation Peace Spring”. The aim of the operation was to “counter the imminent terrorist threat” caused by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considered to be the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK had been fighting for an independent Kurdish State since the 1980s and was listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The “PKK/PYD/YPG” occupied large parts of Syrian territory along the border with Turkey and regularly carried out cross-border attacks on Turkish military posts and civilians. Turkey intended to establish a so-called “safe zone” extending some 32 kilometres into Syria along the 444 kilometre-long boundary between the two States in order to ensure Turkey’s border security and to liberate Syrians from the tyranny of terrorist organizations. Turkey which hosted some 3.6 million Syrian refugees also planned to re-settle up to 2 million of these refugees in that zone. (more…)