The Arab League and Military Operations: Prospects and Challenges in Syria

Abstract

The humanitarian crisis in Syria has triggered diverse questions on the role of the international community and regional actors – in particular the Arab League – to assume their responsibility in matters of peace and security. Military interventions in past conflicts show proof that the Arab League has the military and doctrinal capacity to justify and accommodate their deployment in its member states and to contribute to international peace and security as envisaged under the UN Charter. A blueprint on future operationalization of military operations under its flag examines the relevant laws which they have to respect.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Matthias Vanhullebusch (LL.D. University of London, SOAS) is a comparative and humanitarian lawyer with an expertise in peacekeeping and Islamic law (of war). He is Assistant Professor at the KoGuan Law School of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is the author of War and Law in the Islamic World (Brill Academic Publishers, 2015).

Notes

1. Pact of the Arab League of States, 22 Mar. 1945, 70 UNTS 237.

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17. Human Rights Watch, World Report 2013: Events of 2012, New York: Human Rights Watch, 2013, pp.580–7, 609–17; Human Rights Council, ‘Oral Update of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic', UN doc., A/HRC/22/CRP.1, 16 Aug. 2013.

18. This article will use the following translation of the Holy Qur'an and will be implied from here onwards as the reference work relied upon: Yusuf Ali, The Holy Quran (at: www.harunyahya.com/Quran_translation/Quran_translation_index.php).

19. Matthias Vanhullebusch, ‘Islamic Law and the Responsibility to Protect’, Human Rights & International Legal Discourse, Vol.4, No.2, 2010, p.200.

20. Preamble, Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights, 19 Sept. 1981.

21. Preamble, Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, 5 Aug. 1990, UN doc., A/CONF.157/PC/62/Add.18, 1993.

22. Preamble, Arab Charter on Human Rights, 15 Sept. 1994.

23. Preamble, Charter of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, 14 Mar. 2008, 914 UNTS 103.

24. Human Rights Declaration of the Gulf Cooperation Council, 9 Dec. 2014.

25. UN Security Council Resolution 1318, Annex ‘Declaration on Ensuring an Effective Role for the Security Council in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, Particularly in Africa’, UN doc., S/RES/1318, 7 Sept. 2000, p.3.

26. Eric P.J. Myjer and Nigel D. White, ‘Peace Operations Conducted by Regional Organizations and Arrangements’, in Terry D. Gill and Dieter Fleck (eds), The Handbook of the International Law of Military Operations, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, p.171.

27. Statement by the President of the UN Security Council, ‘Declaration on Ensuring an Effective Role for the Security Council in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, Particularly in Africa – Letter Dated 28 February 2001 from the Acting Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2001/185)’, UN doc., S/PRST/2001/10, 22 Mar. 2001, p.2.

28. Statement by the President of the UN Security Council, ‘The Situation in Liberia’, UN doc., S/PRST/2002/36, 13 Dec. 2002, p.2.

29. Christian Walter, ‘Security Council Control over Regional Action’, Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Vol.1, 1997, p.177.

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31. George J. Andreopoulos, ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Advancing Human Protection: Rethinking the Global–Local Nexus’, Criminal Justice Ethics, Vol.29, No.2, 2010, p.149.

32. Nishkala Suntharalingam, ‘The UN Security Council, Regional Arrangements, and Peacekeeping Operations’, in Hilary Charlesworth and Jean-Marc Coicaud (eds), Fault Lines of International Legitimacy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, p.205.

33. UN General Assembly, Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States, UN doc., A/RES/51/20, 26 Nov. 1996, para.4.

34. UN General Assembly, Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States, UN doc., A/RES/47/12, 4 Mar. 1993, para.12. See also David Wippman, ‘Military Intervention, Regional Organizations, and Host-State Consent’, Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law, Vol.7, No.1, 1996, p.228.

35. UN General Assembly Resolution 48/21, ‘Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States’, UN doc., A/RES/48/21, 22 Nov. 1993, para.7.

36. Repertoire of the Practice of the UN Security Council (1956–58), pp.186–7 (at: www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/46-51/46-51_12.pdf#page=42).

37. See Agreement on the Status of the Arab League Security Force in Kuwait, 12 Aug. 1961, compiled in Istvan Pogany, The Arab League and Peacekeeping in the Lebanon, New York: St Martin's Press, 1987, pp.447–58.

38. Meir Ossad, ‘Legal Aspects of the Egyptian Intervention in Yemen’, Israel Law Review, Vol.5, No.2, 1970, p.246.

39. Hussein A. Hassouna, The League of Arab States and Regional Disputes, Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff, 1975, p.384.

40. Majid Khadduri, ‘The Arab League as a Regional Arrangement’, American Journal of International Law, Vol.40, No.4, 1946, p.774.

41. Nonetheless, an agreement between Syria and the Arab League was signed on 19 Dec. 2011 to dispatch an Arab League Observer Mission. Its inability to stop the violence was criticized by the Gulf countries as opposed to Algeria and Egypt who were in favour of political dialogue to solve the Syrian crisis. On 22 Jan. 2012, the Arab League presented its peace plan to the UN calling for peaceful transition of power and advocated for the deployment of a joint UN–Arab League peacekeeping force on 11 Feb. 2012. See Müjge Küçükkeleş, ‘Arab League's Syrian Policy’, SETA Policy Brief, Apr. 2012. On 23 Feb. 2012, the first Joint UN–Arab League Special Envoy on the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan, was appointed and on 1 Sept. 2012, Lakhdar Brahimi assumed this responsibility until 13 May 2014.

42. See Letter of Arab League Secretary-General Adbel Khalek Hassouna of 22 Dec. 1960 accepting the ‘Memorandum on Co-Operation and Liaison between the United Nations and the League of Arab States' as attached to the Letter of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld of 21 Dec. 1960 and in particular para.5 of the Memorandum setting out the need for joint action in humanitarian affairs ‘aimed at improving the conditions of all peoples within the region'. See Pogany (n.37 above), p.446.

43. Resolution of the Six-Party Arab Summit Conference, Riyadh, 16–18 Oct. 1976, compiled in Pogany (see n.37 above), pp.190–2.

44. Pact of the Arab League of States, Art.2:

The purpose of the League is to draw closer the relations between Member States and co-ordinate their political activities with the aim of realizing a close collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries.

45. Treaty of Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation between the States of the Arab League, 17 Jun. 1950, Art. 3:

At the invitation of any one of the signatories of this Treaty the Contracting States shall hold consultations whenever there are reasonable grounds for the belief that the territorial integrity, independence, or security of any one of the parties is threatened. In the event of the threat of war or the existence of an international emergency, the Contracting States shall immediately proceed to unify their plans and defensive measures, as the situation may demand.

46. Pogany (see n.37 above), pp.76, 102. See also Resolution of the Arab League Council regarding the War in Lebanon, Cairo, 9 Jun. 1976, para.3, compiled in ibid. at p.186:

To form a symbolic Arab security force under the supervision of the General Secretary of the Arab League to maintain security and stability in Lebanon, which force should start to perform its tasks immediately, replacing the Syrian forces. The task of this Arab Security force should be brought to an end if the President-elect of the Republic of Lebanon so requests.

47. Resolution of the Six-Party Arab Summit Conference (see n.43 above), para.2(a).

48. UN Security Council, UN doc., S/RES/425, 1978; UN Security Council, UN doc., S/RES/426, 19 Mar. 1978.

49. Active in the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), African Union–United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) and United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).

50. Active in MINURSO, UNMIS and UNMISS.

51. Active in MINURSO, UNAMID, UNMIS and UNMISS.

52. Mario Prost and Paul K. Clark, ‘Unity, Diversity and the Fragmentation of International Law: How Much Does the Multiplication of International Organizations Really Matter?’, Chinese Journal of International Law, Vol.5, No.2, 2006, p.344.

53. The Arab League has the following 22 members: Algeria; Bahrain; Comoros; Djibouti; Egypt; Iraq; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Libya; Mauritania; Morocco; Oman; Palestine; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Somalia; Sudan; Syria; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; and Yemen.

54. The African Union has the following member states who also belong to the Arab League: Algeria; Comoros; Djibouti; Egypt; Libya; Mauritania; Somalia; Sudan; and Tunisia.

55. The UN Security Council in its Res. 1973 recognized

the important role of the League of Arab States in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security in the region, and bearing in mind Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, requests the Member States of the League of Arab States to cooperate with other Member States in the implementation of paragraph 4 [that is the protection of civilians].

See UN Security Council, UN doc., S/RES/1973, 11 Mar. 2011, para.5. Only Qatar and the United Arab Emirates provided military assistance and humanitarian relief to the several military operations to implement UN Security Council Res. 1973. Jordan and Morocco pledged to give non-combat assistance to the respective operations. See also See Jeremiah Gertler, Operation Odyssey Dawn (Libya): Background and Issues for Congress, Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2011, p.20.

56. The Gulf Cooperation Council has the following six members: Bahrain; Kuwait; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; and the United Arab Emirates.

57. UN Security Council, UN doc., S/RES/2118, 27 Sept. 2013.

58. ‘Friends of Syria Will Arm Rebels for Fight Against Assad and Hezbollah’, Guardian, 22 Jun. 2013 (at: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/22/us-arms-syria-rebels-assad-hezbollah).

59. Noah Feldman, ‘The Unstoppable Force vs. the Immovable Object: Could the United States Really Go to War with China’, Foreign Policy, 16 May 2013 (at: http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/16/the-unstoppable-force-vs-the-immovable-object/).

60. ‘EU Calls for Anti-Terror Alliance with Arab Countries’, Guardian, 19 Jan. 2015 (at: www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/19/eu-calls-anti-terror-alliance-arab-countries).

61. Kenneth Watkin, ‘Controlling the Use of Force: A Role for Human Rights Norms in Contemporary Armed Conflict’, American Journal of International Law, Vol.98, No.1, 2004, p.34.

62. Nils Melzer, ‘Bolstering the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’, in Cassese (see n.9 above), p.511; see also Raul E. Vinuesa, ‘Interface, Correspondence and Convergence of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law’, Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Vol.1, 1998, pp.109–10; and William B. Schabas, ‘Lex Specialis? Belt and Suspenders? The Parallel Operation of Human Rights Law and the Law of Armed Conflict, and the Conundrum of Jus ad Bellum’, Israel Law Review, Vol.40, No.2, 2007, p.612.

63. Jann K. Kleffner, ‘Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law: General Issues’, in Gill and Fleck (see n.26 above), pp. 51, 60, 62. See also Secretary-General's Bulletin on the Observance by United Nations Forces of International Humanitarian Law, UN doc., ST/SGB/1999/13, 6 Aug. 1999.

64. Charles H.B. Garraway, ‘Applicability and Application of International Humanitarian Law to Enforcement and Peace Enforcement Operations’, in Gill and Fleck (see n.26 above), pp.129, 131.

65. Nigel D. White, ‘Peace Operations’, in Chetail (see n.11 above), pp.213, 225.

66. Robert D. Sloane, ‘The Cost of Conflation: Preserving the Dualism of Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello in the Contemporary Law of War’, Yale Journal of International Law, Vol.34, No.1, p.74.

67. Jean-Daniel Vigny and Cecilia Thompson, ‘Fundamental Standards of Humanity: What Future?’, Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol.20, No.2, 2002, p.191.

68. Theodor Meron, ‘The Humanization of Humanitarian Law’, American Journal of International Law, Vol.94, No.2, 2000, pp.275, 278.

69. Ibid., p.245

70. Teitel (see n.15 above), p.171.

71. Conor McCarthy, ‘Legal Conclusion or Interpretative Process? Lex Specialis and the Applicability of International Human Rights Standards’, in Roberta Arnold and Noëlle Quénivet (eds), International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law: Towards a New Merger in International Law, Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008, p.109.

72. Alexander Orakhelashvili, ‘The Interaction between Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: Fragmentation, Conflict, Parallelism, or Convergence?’, European Journal of International Law, Vol.19, No.1, 2008, p.162.

73. Pogany (see n.37 above), p.87.

74. Resolutions of the Six-Party Arab Summit Conference, Riyadh (see n.43 above), para.2 sets out the following tasks:

(a) Ensuring observance of the ceasefire and termination of hostilities, disengaging belligerent troops and deterring violation of the agreement; (b) Implementing the Cairo Agreement and its annexes; (c) Maintaining internal security; (d) Supervising the withdrawal of armed troops to positions they held prior to 13 April 1975 and removing all military installations in accordance with the schedule set out in the enclosed annex; (e) Supervising the collection of heavy weaponry such as artillery, mortars, rocket-launchers, armoured vehicles, etc., by the parties concerned; (f) Assisting the Lebanese authorities when necessary with respect to taking over public utilities and institutions prior to their re-opening as well as guarding public military and civilian establishments [ … ]

75. ‘Declaration on Ensuring an Effective Role for the Security Council in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, Particularly in Africa' (see n.25 above), p.3.