Bernas Public International Law – OTHER SUBJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Part 2

CHAPTER 6 OTHER SUBJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Part 2

Regional Organizations—they are neither organs nor subsidiary organs of UN

• They are autonomous international organizations having an institutional affiliation with UN by concluding agreements with UN
• Created by international agreements for the purpose of dealing with regional problems in general or with specific matters be they economic, military or political

ASEAN—established on Aug. 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by the 5 original member countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand

• Brunei Darrusalam joined on Jan. 8, 1994; Vietnam on July 28, 1995; Laos and Myanmar on July 23, 1997; Cambodia in 1999.
• 3 main objectives:

a. Promote economic, social and cultural development of the region through cooperative programs
b. Safeguard the political and economic stability of the region against big power rivalry
c. Serve as a forum for the resolution of intra-regional differences

INSURGENTS

• Protocol II—first and only international agreement exclusively regulating the conduct of parties in a non-international armed conflict
• Requirements for Material Field of Application:

a. Armed dissidents must be under responsible command
b. They must exercise such control over a part of its territory as to enable them to carry out sustained and converted military operations and to implement this Protocol

• Insurgent groups which satisfy the material field of application may be regarded as ―para-statal entities possessing definite if limited form of international personality

a. They are recognized as having belligerent status against the de jure government
b. They are seen as having treaty making capacity

• Common Article 3—for armed conflict not of an international character
• Prohibited acts under Article 3:

a. Violence to life and person, in particular, murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture
b. Taking of hostages
c. Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment
d. Passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced

NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS

• Organized groups fighting in behalf of a whole people for freedom from colonial powers
• Characteristics:

a. They can be based within the territory which they are seeking to liberate or they might find a base in a friendly country
b. Their goal is self-determination—to free themselves from colonial domination, or a racist regime or foreign occupation
c. There is the ultimate goal of controlling a definite territory
d. They must have an organization capable of coming into contract with other international organizations

INDIVIDUALS

• Possess limited rights and obligations (deriving from customary international law) in international law
• Obligations of individuals are those arising from the regulation of armed conflicts
• When individual rights are violated, however, individuals still have to rely on the enforcement power of states; but some treaties have provided for the right of individuals to petition international bodies alleging that a contracting state has violated some of their human rights