Legal and Political Aspects of the Recognition of National Liberation Movements

Hersch Lauterpacht , Recognition in International Law (Cambndge: Cambridge university Press, 1947), p. v.

For example, see the basic rules of non-involvement in internal wars adopted by the Institut de droit international, AIDI (1900), pp. 227-229 and Ti-Chiang Chen , The International Law of Recognition (London: Stevens, 1951), especially pp. 303-351 and pp. 398-407; Erik Castren , Civil War (Helsinki- Suomalainen Tiedekatemia, 1966), passim; H.M. Blix , 'Contemporary Aspects of Recognition', RdC 130 (1970 II), pp. 587-704; Rosalyn Higgins , 'International Law and Civil Conflict ', in Evan Luard (ed.), The International Regulation of Civil Wars (London: Thames and Hudson, 1972), pp. 169-186.

See, James Crawford , The Creation of States in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press , 1979), p. 269.

See Wil D. Verwey , 'Decolonization and lus ad Bellum: a Case Study on the Impact of the United Nations General Assembly on International Law', in Liber Roling, Declaration on Principles (Leyden: Sijthoff, 1977), p. 126.

For a government the criteria are mainly administrative and military control over practitally the whole territory, as well as independence and stability, see J.E.S. Fawcett , The Law of Nations (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968), p. 48; H.M. Blix , op. cit, p. 639-644. For a state the criteria are defined territory, permanent population, a stable and effective government and independence, see Ti-Chiang Chen , op. cit, pp. 55-62; Rosalyn Higgins , The Development of International Law through the Political Organs of the UN { Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963), pp. 17-25; Ian Brownlie , Principles of Public International Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 3rd ed., 1979), pp. 74-82; and H.M. Blix , op. cit, pp. 632-636.

See Rupert Emerson , 'Self-Determination', American Journal of International Law (Vol; 65, 1971), p. 463; S. Prakash Sinha , 'Has Self-Determination become a Principle of International Law today? ', Indian Journal of International Law (1974 ), p. 347; David P. Forsythe , 'The 1974 Diplomatic Conference on Humanitarian Law: Some Observations ', American Journal of International Law (Vol. 69, 1975), pp. 89-90.

R.R. Baxter , 'Humanitarian Law or Humanitarian Politics? The 1974 Diplomatic Conference on Humanitarian Law', Harvard International Law Journal (Vol. 16, 1975), p. 12. 2.

S. See Richard A. Falk , 'Janus Tormented: The International Law of Internal War', in James N. Rosenau (ed.), International Aspects of Civil Strife (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964), p. 223.

Georges Abi-Saab , 'Wars of National Liberation and the Laws of War', Annals of International Studies, Third Series (1972), p. 102.

See, for example, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3103 (XXVIII).

For interesting comments on this Protocol see, in addition to David P. Forsythe , op. cit and R.R. Baxter , op. cit, Jean J. Salom , 'La Conference Diplomatique sur la Reaffirmation et le Developpement du Droit International Humanitaire et les guerres de liberation nationale', Revue Belge de Droit International (Vol. 12, 1976), pp. 27-52; Samuel Suckow , 'The Development of International Humanitarian Law—Concluded, International Commission of Jurists Review (Vol. 19, 1977), pp. 46-62; Mowahid Hussain Shah , 'Wars of National Liberation: The Palestinian Progress under International Law II', Pakistan Horizon (Vol. 31, Nos 2 and 3, 1978), pp. 3-31.

See, for example, Erich Kussbach , 'Die Rechtsstellung nationaler Befreiungsbewegungen im humanitaren Volkerrecht' in Jus Humanitatis: Festschrift zum 90. Geburtstag von Alfred Verdross (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1980), p. 515 and Wolfgang Benedek , 'Die Anerkennung der PLO durch Österreich', ZaöRV (Vol. 40, 1980), p. 857.

This point is also stressed in Dietrich Schindler , 'The different types of armed conflicts according to the Geneva Conventions and Protocols ', RdC (No. 163, 1979 II), p. 140.

See, Erich Kussbach , op. cit, p. 511.

For the OAU see GA Res. 2918 (XXVII); 3111, 3115 and 3151 (XXVIII). For the Arab League see GA Res. 3102 (XXVIII). The organisations identified by the OAU and the Arab League as NLMs are: PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation), PAIGC (Parti Africain pour l'Indépendance de la Guinee et du Cap-Vert), FRELIMO (Front de Liberation du Mozambique), MPLA (Mouvement populaire de Liberation de l'Angola), UNITA (Union Nationale pour l'Indépendance Totale de l'Angola), SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organisation), ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People's Union), Zanu (Zimbabwe African National Union), ANC (African National Congress), PAC (Pan African Congress), MOLINACO (Mouvement de Liberation National des Comores), SPUP (Seychelles People's Union Party), FLCS (Front de Liberationde la Côte des Somalis).

The internal organisational structure of the OAU reflected from its very beginning the committment to the total liberation of Africa as one of the main purposes of the Organisation. A Coordinating Committee for the Liberation of Africa (Liberation Committee), operating through two Standing Committees, had been set up by the First Assembly of Heads of State and Government. Their main responsibilities are to harmonise all assistance provided by African and other states and to encourage the co-operation of different NLMs in their respective struggles. The OAU thus ptovides the regional international legal framework for the liberation struggle on the African continent, undertaken by independent states and NLMs together and reflecting, in this respect, a specific constellation of the overall process of legal and structural change through decolonisation in Africa. As far as admission to membership of the Liberation Committee is concerned, emphasis is laid on the following criteria: member-states' sharing common borders with non-independent colonial territories, across which an armed liberation struggle is being led; member-states' actual experience in armed liberation struggles; member-states' manifest political will and physical financial and material ability to render all possible assistance to African NLMs waging armed liberation struggles.

In October 1973 the Liberation Committee laid down the following criteria for recognition of NLMs: commitment to the principle of independence and total liberation; evidence of effective military or political action being carried out; evidence of military, political or psychological control of the territory to be liberated; evidence of political support from the population of the territory; evidence of common action fronts where more than one movement is fighting in the same territory; that recognition should not create or aggrevate division in that given territory; and preparedness of a bordering independent African state to provide support, bases and other facilities. UN Doc. A/Ac 131/17, §35 and OAU Doc. CM/223, §3 cited in Claude Lazarus, 'Le statut des mouvements de liberation nationale a l'ONU' AFDI (Vol. 20, 1974), p. 180, and in Konrad Ginther , 'NLMs and International Law' in New Perspectives of International Law (Lagos: Nigerian Institute of International Law, forthcoming).

See Claude Lazarus , op. cit, pp. 180-181. Also see, Jean J. Salmon , op. cit, p. 52; Dietrich Schindler , op. cit , pp. 142-144; and Patrick J. Travers , The Legal Effect of the UN Action in Support of the PLO and NLMs in Africa', Harvard International Law Journal (Vol. 17, 1976), p.569.

See Claude Lazarus , op. cit, pp. 181-182, who points out, however, that this question had never been discussed by the GA. He regards the role of the OAU rather as the result of the penetration of the UN by the members of the OAU.

Ibid., pp. 182-183, 187-188. Lazarus mentions in this context the UN Council for Namibia, which had to give in to the OAU in the case of the recognition of SWAPO. On several occasions the GA was, however, more reluctant than the OAU; see, for example, GA Res. 3480 (XXX).

For a short discussion of earlier efforts see Christian Tomuschat , 'Die Befreungsbewegungen in den Vereinten Nationen'. Vereintte Nationen (Vol. 22, 1974), pp. 65-72 and pp. 110-113.

For details see Claude Lazarus , op. cit, pp. 184-192. The most relevant GA Resolutions were Res. 2248 (S-V), Res. 2795 (XXVI), Res. 3151 (XXVIII) and Res. 3280 (XXIX).

This was provided for in GA Res. 31/152. For a detailed account of the developments after this resolution see Erik Suy , The Status of Observers in International Organizations', RdC (No. 160, 1978, II), pp. 75-179.

This was provided for in GA Res. 3210 (XXIX).

See GA Res. 3236 (XXIX). For criticisms of the resolution see Julius Stone , 'Palestinian Revolution: Zenith or Nadir of the GA', New York University Journal of International Law and Politics (Vol. 8, 1975), pp. 1-18 and L.C. Green , 'Double Standards in the UN: The Legalization of Terrorism' Archive des Völkerrechts (Vol. 18, 1979/80). pp. 129-148.

See GA Res. 3237 (XXIX). For a discussion of this see Claude Lazarus , op. cit, pp. 195-196; Erik Suy , op. cit, pp. 103-150; Regina Sharif , The UN and Palestinian Rights: 1974-1979 ' Journal of Palestine Studies (Vol. 9, 1979), pp. 21-45 and Sanford R. Silverburg , 'The PLO in the UN: Implications for International Law and Politics', Israel Law Review (Vol. 12, 1977 ), pp. 365-392.

For a discussion of these points see Patrick J. Travers , op. cit , pp. 571-573; Sanford R. Silverburg , op. cit, pp. 387-388; Norbert J. Prill , 'Die Anerkennung der PLO durch die Vereinten Nationen', Die Friedens-Warte (No. 59, 1976), pp. 208-225; Erik Suy , op. cit, pp. 109-110 and Mowahid Hussain Shah , 'Wars of National Liberation: The Palestinian Progress under International Law I ', Pakistan Horizon (Vol. 31, No. 1, 1978), pp. 3-23.

Rule 39 has, among other instances, notably been used to allow for the participation of the Jewish Agency and the Arab High Committee in 1948, of representatives of the two communities in Cyprus and especially, from 1971 onwards, of representatives of African NLMs. Apart from the argument that the GA and SC are the masters of their own rules of procedure—which is open to some doubt—it is the internationalisation of the conflict in which an NLM is engaged in, by the recognition of the NLM, that legitimises participation in the proceedings of international bodies. Consequently, it is not possible any longer, from a legal point of view, to argue that the granting of observer status is intervention in the internal affairs of a state.

See Rosalyn Higgins , op. cit, p. 166 & p. 165.

Victor Duculesco , 'Effet de la reconnaissance de l'état de belligerence par les tiers, y compris les organisations internationales, sur le statut juridique des conflits armes a caractère non interna. tionale', RGDIP (Vol. 79, 1975), pp. 144-148.

J. Bowyer Bell, 'Contemporary Revolutionary Organizations, in Joseph S. Nye and Robert O. Keohane (eds.), Transnational Relations and World Politics ( Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972), p. 164.

For such an argument see Christian Tomuschat , op. cit, p. 111.

See Reference Number 5 above; Joe Verhoeven , La Reconnaissance Internationale dans la Pratique Contemporaire (Paris: Pedone, 1975), p. 162 and Judy S. Bertelsen , The Palestinian Arabs', in Judy S. Bertelsen (ed.), Nonstate Nations in International Politics (New York: Praeger, 1977), p. 30.

For example see Karl-Heinz Mattern , Die Exilregierung ( Tubingen: Mohr, 1953), pp. 29-42.

See Erik Suy , op. cit, pp. 100-101. See also the UN publication Le statut international du peuple palestinien (New York: Nationas Unies, 1980), p. 49, which concludes that the PLO may have attained a status that goes even beyond that of a 'proto-state'. On this point see Claude Lazarus , op. cit, pp. 197-199.

Inis L. Claude , The Changing UN (New York: Random House, 1967), p. 86.

See, Jean Charpentier , La reconnaissance internationale et l'évolution du droit des gens (Paris: Pedone , 1956), pp. 330-332; Ernest R. Zivier , Die Nichtanerkennung im modernen Völkerrecht (Berlin: Berlin-Verlag, 1967), pp. 118-121 and, with regard to NLMs, see Wolfgang Benedek , op. cit, pp. 853-854.

See the Introduction in Joseph S. Nye and Robert O. Keohane , op. cit, p. xxviii.

See Christian Tomuschat , op. cit, pp. 111-112 and Roscoe R. Oglesby , Internal War and the Search for Normative Order (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1971), p. 127.

See, for instance,.GA Res. 2621. GA Res. 2708 (XXV) and GA Res. 2787 (XXVI).

See, for example, GA Res. 3070 (XXVIII) and GA Res. 3246 (XXIX).

See, for instance, GA Res. 31/6, GA Res. 32/9, GA Res. 32/42, GA Res. 33/182 and GA Res. 33/183.

See, for example, GA Res. 33/206 and GA Res. 33/296.

See Wil D. Verwey , op. cit, pp. 136-138. Also, see Patrick J. Travers , op. cit, pp. 577-581 and Felix Ermacora , 'Terrorismus wird mit zweierlei Mass gemessen', Die Presse, 18-19 March 1978, p. 5.

A very helpful synopsis of all the different doctrines is provided in Christoph Schrever , 'Recommendations and the Traditional Sources of International Law', German Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 20, 1977), pp. 103-118.

Erik Suy , The Meaning of Consensus in Multilateral Diplomacy', in Liber Roling, op. cit, p. 267. However, many ardent supporters of the UN have become dissatisfied with the consensus procedure, see Mohammed Bedjaoui, Towards a new international economic order (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1979).

See J.A. Frowein , 'Der Beitrag der Internationalen Organisationen zur Entwicklung des Volkerrechts', ZaoRV (Vol. 36, 1976), pp. 147-167 and Eckart Klein , 'Nationale Befreiungskämpfe und Dekolonialisierungspolitik der Vereinten Nationen: Zu einigen völkerrechtlichen Tendenzen', ZaoRV (Vol. 36, 1976), pp. 618-653, as opposed to Georges Abi-Saab , op. cit, pp. 98-101—who nevertheless points out, rightly, that military support would only be legal if based on Article 51, but inadmissible if the basis were the right to self-determination-and A. Belkherroubi , 'Essai sur une theorie juridique des mouvements de liberation nationale ', Revue Egyptienne de Droit International (Vol. 28, 1972), pp, 20-44. Christian Tomuschat in 'Gewalt und Gewaltverbot als Bestimmungsfaktoren der Weltordnung, Europa-Archive (No. 11, 1981), pp. 325-334 argues that international law seems to be changing in this respect.

See Jochen A. Frowein , Das de-facto Regime im Völkerrecht (Köln: Heymanns, 1968 ), especially pp. 14-21; Norbert J. Prill , op. cit, pp. 219-220, 223; Wolfgang Benedek , op. cit, p. 856 and a statement by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 'Aktuelle Österreichische Praxis zum Völkerrecht ', OZoffR (Vol. 31, 1980), p. 339. See also, Henning V. Wedel , 'Zum Status der Palastine sischen Befreiungsbewegungen im Volkerrecht ', Revue de Droit International, des Science Diplomatiques et Politiques (Vol. 52, 1974), pp. 185-207.

For a similar view see Claude Lazarus , op. cit, p. 200.

For an interesting argument along this line see Inis L. Claude , op. cit, pp. 74-77.

Ibid. , p. 93. See, also, Robert A. Fisher, 'Following in Another's Footsteps: The Acquisition of International Legal Standing by the PLO', Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce (Vol. 3, 1975), pp. 221-253.

See Ahmad Sidai al-Dajani , 'The PLO and the Euro-Arab Dialogue ', Journal of Palestine Studies (Vol. 9, No. 3, 1980), pp. 81-98. See also B.N. Mehrish , 'Recognition of the PLO: An Appraisal of India's Policy', Indian Journal of Political Science (Vol. 36, 1975), pp. 137-160.

See Natalino Ronzitti , Le guerre di liberazione nazionale e il diritto internazionale (Pisa: Pacini, 1974), p. 148.

See articles in The Guardian, 13 January 1981, p. 5 and 15 January 1981, p. 6.

A. Glenn Mower , 'Observer Countries: Quasi Members of the UN', International Organization (Vol. 20, 1966), p. 279.

Erik Suy , op. cit, pp. 114-149.

Ibid., pp. 152-153.

See George Modelski , 'The International Relations of Internal War ' in James N. Rosenau , op. cit, pp. 31-32.

Erik Suy , op. cit, p. 159.

Inis L. Claude , 'Just Wars: Doctrines and Institutions', The Political Science Quarterly (Vol. 95, 1980), p. 96.

Christian Tomuschat , op. cit, p. 112.

See Rosalyn Higgins , op. cit, pp. 165-166 and Morton A. Kaplan and Nicholas de B. Katzenbach , The Political Foundations of International Law (London: Wiley, 1961), p. 134.

The line between these two kinds of recognition gets even more blurred as states start to adopt the practice of international organs-as was the case with the recognition Austria extended to the PLO in 1979/80, when it was expressly stated that it was only following the path chosen by the General Assembly.

Richard A. Falk , op. cit, p. 226. See also Hersch Lauterpacht , op. cit, p. 67; Evan Luard. 'Conclusions' in Evan Luard , op. cit, pp. 215-229 and Richard Little , Intervention: External Involvement in Civil Wars (Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1975), p.77.