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2 votes

On what grounds do the USA-affiliated forces and citizens reside in Syria if Syrian government objects?

It is authorized by Public Law 107-40, the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that authorized the war in Afghanistan after 9-11. This essentially declares war on ISIS, and there is an ISIS ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 73k
0 votes

Why isn't bombing cities under any circumstance a war crime? Same applies to launching attacks from cities

The objective of the Fourth Geneva Convention wasn't to protect civilians at all costs. It was to discourage mass slaughter of enemy population for vindictive or genocidal reasons. This practice used ...
Therac - Peace for Palestine's user avatar
16 votes

Why isn't bombing cities under any circumstance a war crime? Same applies to launching attacks from cities

It's generally acknowledged that deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of cities, even with a military objective, can be viewed as contrary to the principles of the laws of war. There is no need ...
meriton's user avatar
  • 3,875
20 votes

Why isn't bombing cities under any circumstance a war crime? Same applies to launching attacks from cities

Because if you make the main objective of a war illegal, no one will care about your law. Wars are fought for control over territories, and you hold territory by holding the administrative centers of ...
vsz's user avatar
  • 2,684
25 votes

Why isn't bombing cities under any circumstance a war crime? Same applies to launching attacks from cities

There is a real risk in creating laws that do not achieve a minimum threshold of actual buy-in and compliance. For examples, you could refer to the US Prohibition. Or the Hague 1899 Convention ...
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica's user avatar
29 votes

Why isn't bombing cities under any circumstance a war crime? Same applies to launching attacks from cities

There is the concept of declaring a city about to be occupied an open city. Attacking an open city is not acceptable, but neither is defending it or using it as a base for attack. Looking at this the ...
o.m.'s user avatar
  • 106k
52 votes
Accepted

Why isn't bombing cities under any circumstance a war crime? Same applies to launching attacks from cities

The short answer is that any military effort relies on production and distribution, which is largely carried out by civilians in urban areas. If a nation needs to produce military ordinance or ...
Ted Wrigley's user avatar
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1 vote

What recourse do international relief workers have if refugee camps where they work are bombed?

Since you are asking this on Politics SE and not Law SE: By definition, international relief workers come from some third country. The government of this third country may or may not care for their ...
o.m.'s user avatar
  • 106k
3 votes

When was the last time Hamas acted against a UN resolution?

Since the elephant in the room is the attack on October 7th, 2023, one would be served well to point out that the methods of the attack included deliberate targeting of unarmed Israeli civilians, ...
wrod's user avatar
  • 7,891
7 votes

When was the last time Hamas acted against a UN resolution?

The following security council resolutions come to mind: 1820 "condemns the use of sexual violence as a tool of war". Hamas has used rape as tool of war in their 7.10. massacre. 2573 ...
tim's user avatar
  • 36k
9 votes
Accepted

When was the last time Hamas acted against a UN resolution?

On the 4th of November 2023. On the 27th OCTOBER 2023 the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution Calling for Immediate, Sustained Humanitarian Truce Leading to Cessation of Hostilities between ...
For Shani Nicole Louk's user avatar
9 votes

When was the last time Hamas acted against a UN resolution?

Hamas has consistently acted against the UN resolutions. The most flagrant violation is the call to obliteration or dissolution of Israel. Note that Israel was created in accordance to the UN ...
Timur Shtatland's user avatar
-1 votes

Is there any international law that prohibits the use of nuclear weapon against another country?

The typical scenario of using nuclear weapons as depicted in the literature is the massive strike with powerful weapons over the centres of the densely populated cities, civilians clearly being a ...
Stančikas's user avatar
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5 votes

Is there any international law that prohibits the use of nuclear weapon against another country?

No, there isn't. But some countries have voluntarily adopted a policy of "no first strike", which says that in case of a war, they will never be the first party to use nuclear weapons ...
sfxedit's user avatar
  • 6,680
13 votes
Accepted

Is there any international law that prohibits the use of nuclear weapon against another country?

This was considered by the ICJ in 1996, to quote the Red Cross: On 8 July 1996, the International Court of Justice issued an Advisory Opinion concerning the legality of nuclear weapons. The Court ...
James K's user avatar
  • 115k
7 votes

Does international law hold an Army accountable for killings done by other groups during a military attack?

Responsibility for war crimes is individual. The army commander might be held responsible if the civilians were acting as his proxies under some later traceable, even if not obviously overt command ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
1 vote

On what basis did the Russian ambassador to the UN say "Israel Has No Right to Self-Defense as Occupier"?

There is an argument that attacks from an occupied territory cannot give rise to self defense under '51 because the nation in question already controls where the attacks come from. In this case, an ...
bharring's user avatar
  • 1,333
2 votes

Did any authority of note opine that the 1991-2002 Iraq no-fly zones amounted to occupation?

I did find about 4 sources that use the term, but it is qualified with 'air' or 'aerial' in most (3) of them. One merely says A no-fly zone is a de facto aerial occupation of sovereign airspace. But ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
2 votes
Accepted

On what basis did the Russian ambassador to the UN say "Israel Has No Right to Self-Defense as Occupier"?

The problem, that it is an old case, not a new one, and Israel is on occupied territory of Palestine. According to ICJ Advisory opinion(at 13 July 2004) on the Legal Consequences of the Construction ...
άνθρωπος's user avatar
-4 votes

On what basis did the Russian ambassador to the UN say "Israel Has No Right to Self-Defense as Occupier"?

This question appears to presume that Russia was presenting an argument. Not everything that is stated in the form of an Aristotelian Rhetoric actually amounts to being such an argument. Because in ...
wrod's user avatar
  • 7,891
7 votes
Accepted

Did any ICC member state country ever refuse to arrest members indicted by the ICC?

Yes, and I am sure it happens frequently. South Africa defends decision to ignore ICC's Bashir arrest warrant THE HAGUE (Reuters) - South Africa told the International Criminal Court on Friday that ...
Joe W's user avatar
  • 15.4k
-5 votes

What are the political impediments for a country in sending aid to Palestinians in Gaza, without an international consensus?

I'm not justifying atrocities excuses in any way that was 7.10.2023, but. But in fact Israel can not appeal to the 51 of the UN Charter - self-defence right, because Israel is on occupying territory ...
άνθρωπος's user avatar
6 votes

What are the political impediments for a country in sending aid to Palestinians in Gaza, without an international consensus?

can this be construed as an act of war ("aiding the enemy") by Israel? Act of war, probably not in the sense accepted after the UN charter was adopted--self-defense is only available ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
5 votes

Is there no presumption in international law that people fleeing from a country at war are valid refugee applicants?

Like with many a thing in int'l law, opinions seem a bit divided. It has sometimes been suggested that non-refoulement does not apply to acts of extradition or to non-admittance at the frontier. In ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
4 votes

Is there no presumption in international law that people fleeing from a country at war are valid refugee applicants?

According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (note that 1967 additional protocol removed temporal or geographical constraints - i.e. phrases like "As a result of events ...
Danila Smirnov's user avatar
7 votes

Is the requirement to accept refugees unconditional in international law, even in the case of a forced population transfer?

The 1951 Refugee Convention regulates the rights and obligations of states and refugees. Article 1.2 of the Convention defines a "refugee" as follows: As a result of events occurring before ...
Stand with Gaza's user avatar

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