not unequivocally prohibit it either’. 31 A certain conditionality regarding
territorial integrity when it comes to secessions derives from provisions
referring to compatibility with the principles of the UN Charter 10 or relevant
norms rather than an explicit prohibition. One example is the Declaration on
Friendly Relations, which does not authorise or encourage acts against the
territorial integrity of a state as long as it does not violate the societal security of
its people, perpetrating for example, cultural cleansing. This shading is apparent
in the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo which was not found
by the ICJ to be contrary to international law or UNCS Resolution 1244, while the ICJ did not specify if non-state actors have the right to self-determination. 32 For Halim Moris ‘the defining issue in international law for the 21 st century is finding compromises between the principles of self-determination and the sanctity of borders’. 33 However, the Kosovo case involved the interest-based
intervention of the US.
There is an ad-hoc selection by the strongest actors on whether to respect
territorial integrity obligations. Like the US did in Kosovo, Russia in Abkhazia,
South Ossetia and Crimea disregarded the territorial integrity norm because it
was in its interest to do so. Furthermore, the notion of ‘contingent sovereignty’
after 9/11 further erodes the principle of territorial integrity as the invasion of
Iraq has demonstrated. Humanitarian interventions too is not free from
ambiguities and often reflects certain agendas. It is orchestrated in the
framework of the Security Council and the Permanent Five Members. In this
manner, the principle of the Responsibility to Protect is monopolized by strong
actors and has been reduced into a narrative shell, used to justify intervention
and, thus, undermines the principle of territorial integrity which renders
31 Allen Buchanan, ‘Theories of Secession’, Philosophy & Public Affairs , 26.1 (1997), 31-61 (p. 33). 32 Summers, p. 461. 33 Elden, p. 19.
22
Made with FlippingBook HTML5