What Is the Definition of Occupied Territory

The historic events we are witnessing today will be meaningful only with the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial embargo that is causing so much deprivation and damage to our people, the return of the occupied territories to Guantánamo Bay and respect for Cuba`s sovereignty. Several recent decisions of international tribunals have also confirmed the obligation of the occupying Power to respect its human rights obligations in the occupied territories and towards persons under its effective control as a result of occupation or imprisonment. These decisions thus confirm that the application of international humanitarian law complements human rights conventions in these situations. In particular, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has delivered judgments on violations of the European Convention committed by European countries in the context of their intervention in Iraq and the military occupation of the country (infra-jurisprudence). The occupying power may not resettle or expel the population from the occupied territories or resettle part of its own civilian population in the territory it occupies (CGIV Art. 49 and Rule 130 of the ICRC`s usual study on IHL of 2005). In the Al-Skeini case, the Court recognised two exceptions to the principle of territoriality in the application of the European Convention on Human Rights. Following the overthrow of the Baath regime in Iraq, the Court concluded that the United Kingdom (together with the United States) had assumed all or part of the public powers normally exercised by a sovereign government in Iraq until the appointment of a transitional government, and that the British Government was therefore bound to respect the European Convention on Human Rights in all its actions in Iraq. Territory and in relation to the persons under its control. The Court confirmed that a State signatory to the ECHR is obliged to apply the Convention outside its national territory for the benefit of aliens if it exercises control and authority over a foreign person through its agents and if, as a result of military action, it exercises effective control over a territory other than its national territory.

regardless of the legality of the act. The Court held that it is for the controlling State to guarantee all the rights contained in the ECHR and the Additional Protocols it has ratified in the territory under its control. The determination of the degree of effectiveness of the control is a fact established by the Court, having regard to the strength of the State`s military presence in the territory concerned and its ability to influence or subordinate the administrations or authorities existing in the territory (paras. 131-40). The ICJ established the obligations of the occupying power. Its tasks include the duty of vigilance and the obligation to ensure the safety of residents, particularly with regard to acts of violence or looting committed by agents of the occupying Power, but also by groups outside the occupying Power operating in the occupied territory. The Court has indeed confirmed that the contemporary international humanitarian law of the occupying Power has clarified and supplemented the rights and obligations of the occupying forces, the rights of the population of the occupied territories and the rules governing the administration of that territory (GCIV, arts. 47-78; API art. 63, 69, 72-79) The occupying Power shall not compel persons protected by the Geneva Conventions to serve in its armed forces.

It must not force them to perform work that would involve them in military operations, and any work they do can only be done in the occupied territory in which they are located. The requisition of workers may in no case lead to the mobilization of workers in a military or semi-military organization (CGIV, art. 51). In humanitarian law, occupation falls within the definition of international armed conflict and, as such, is governed by the four Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I. The occupying Power faces special obligations when it exercises effective control over the occupied territories. These include obligations relating to respect for human rights, public order and respect for the relevant provisions of humanitarian law relating to occupation. The occupying power`s core obligations under IHL are the maintenance of law and order and public life in the occupied territories. Essentially, the occupying Power must obey the laws already in force in this area (H.IV, art. 43). Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare states that “an error shall be deemed occupied if it is actually placed under the authority of the enemy army.” The form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over the occupied territories is called military government. Neither the Hague Conventions nor the Geneva Conventions explicitly define or distinguish an act of “invasion”.

Article 2 of the Geneva Conventions extended this provision to situations in which there is no armed resistance. [10] On June 5, 1967, Israel launched a supposedly preemptive attack on Egypt, citing Egypt`s announced closure of the Strait of Tiran (the opening of the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea) to Israeli shipping and other provocations. Israeli military and political leaders later admitted that they actually had no real fear of attack and had no doubt about Israel`s enormous military superiority over its neighbors. Occupation is usually a temporary phase that precedes either the return of the territory or its annexation. A significant number of occupations after 1945 lasted more than two decades, such as the occupation of Namibia by South Africa and East Timor by Indonesia, as well as the continued occupations of Northern Cyprus by Turkey and Western Sahara by Morocco. [14] One of the most enduring occupations in the world is the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip (1967-present). [15] Other prolonged military occupations allegedly claimed include the occupation of the Falkland Islands by the United Kingdom (1833-present), which Argentina claims as sovereign territory, Tibet by the PRC (1950), and Hawaii by the United States (1893). The war report does not say whether there is a belligerent occupation in these cases. [16] International law imposes obligations and restrictions on the actions of an occupying power, and the Charter of the United Nations prohibits the acquisition of territory by war. Thus, Israel has never had legal sovereignty over any land it seized in 1967 and has never had the right to settle its own citizens there. Article 49 prohibits the forced mass movement of persons to or from the territory of the occupied State: under international law, a territory is considered “occupied” if it is actually placed under the authority of the enemy army. It stipulates that in order to be considered occupations, foreign armed forces in an area must establish some form of authority over that territory.

In the event of military occupation, the occupying Power shall not hold enemy territory by virtue of a legal right. On the contrary, it merely exercises precarious and temporary effective control. This follows from Article 42 of the Hague Regulations, which grants certain well-defined rights to a military occupier only in enemy territory “effectively subordinate” to him. Pillage is strictly prohibited and it is the responsibility of the occupying power to prevent and punish such acts by its own combatants and agents (H.IV, art. 47). The occupying Power`s duty of vigilance and measures also extends to acts committed by third parties and autonomous armed groups operating in the occupied territory (infrajurisprudence). Territory under the authority and effective control of a belligerent force. This term does not apply to territories administered under terms of peace, treaties or other explicit or implicit agreements with the civil authority of the territory.

See also Civil Affairs Agreements. The Israeli army occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000. Scouts reported that Porter was still occupying his camp and showing no signs of movement. All relevant judicial authorities – including the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Security Council and the Supreme Court of Israel – recognize the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Golan Heights as occupied territories. Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control exercised by a dominant power over an area outside the territory of that power. [1] [2] [3] [4] The territory is then called occupied territory and the power in place occupying. [5] Occupation differs from annexation and colonialism in its intended temporary duration. [4] [6] Although an occupier may establish a formal military government in the occupied territory to facilitate its administration, this is not a necessary condition for occupation. [7] was obliged, under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations of 1907, to take all measures within its power to restore and, as far as possible, public order and security in the occupied territory, in accordance with the laws in force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, unless this was strictly prevented.