Russia just annexed four provinces previously considered part of Ukraine. Annexing the land of another country acquired by war is illegal according to international law… or so they say.
But if the residents of such land decide by referendum to secede and declare independence, before being annexed by another country, such as what transpired with respect to Crimea in 2014 and now and the four eastern provinces formerly part of Ukraine, does this make the annexation legal? Possibly. It all depends if the residents had the right to secede and whether the referendum was properly executed.
Israel avoids this controversy by extending Israeli law to the land rather than annexing it.
Crimea and the four provinces
In March 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea Peninsula, which had been a part of Ukraine since 1991 and now administers the territory as two federal entities — the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol.
Russia rejects the view that this was an annexation and regards it as an accession to Russian and considers it secession as a result of irredentism. A term often used in Russia to describe these events is “re-unification” to highlight the fact that Crimea was a part of the Russian Empire from 1783 to 1917, and part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1921 to 1954. Few states recognize this view.
Ukraine considers Crimea and Sevastopol to be its own territory.
It should be noted that Crimea differs from the four provinces in that:
“In the new Constitution of Ukraine, the Crimea was declared to be the “Autonomous Republic of Crimea”, but also an “inseparable constituent part of Ukraine”. Being an “autonomous republic” it could be argued that it had the right to secede which it purported to do.”
Irredentism is the doctrine of political or popular movements that claim and seek to occupy (usually on behalf of their members’ nation) territory considered “lost” (or “unredeemed”) to the nation, based on history or legend. The scope is occasionally subject to disputes about underlying claims of expansionism, owing to lack of clarity on the historical bounds of putative nations or peoples.
This term also often refers to revanchism, though the difference between the two is, according to Merriam-Webster, that revanchism means the recovery of lost territory, while irredentism is the reunion of politically or ethnically displaced territory, along with a population having the same national identity.
It is plain to see that in both cases, the breakaway regions decided by referenda to declare independence before being annexed by Russia. Of course, Ukraine says these regions did not have the right to secede and each referendum was a “sham”.
Yet, possession, as they say, is 9/10 of the law and Russia is clearly “in possession” at the moment.
Another example of secession is the declaration of independence by Kosovo in 2008. Kosovo is not recognized by Serbia and 76 of the 193 countries in the world.
It remains to be seen how many countries will recognize the four provinces and Crimea as Russian territory.
The Golan Heights
In 1981, Israel passed the Golan Law, which extended Israeli law to the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967. Although the law did not use the term, it was considered by the international community, as an “annexation” of the Golan Heights.
The US recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel through a presidential proclamation signed by President Trump on March 25, 2019. The proclamation cited “aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah in southern Syria” as justification for Israel to maintain sovereignty over the Golan Heights as Israel has a “need to protect itself from Syria and other regional threats.”
In refuting a supposed double standard in recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights but placing sanctions on Russia for annexing Crimea in 2014, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “What the President did with the Golan Heights is recognize the reality on the ground and the security situation necessary for the protection of the Israeli state. It’s that — it’s that simple.” A State Department spokesperson claimed the day following the proclamation that “Israel gained control of the Golan through its legitimate response to Syrian aggression aimed at Israel’s destruction.”
An anonymous Israeli official echoed Netanyahu’s claims, telling the Washington Post that the recognition of the Golan Heights was justified since the occupied territory was gained in a “defensive war”.
““To Israel, Trump’s Golan Heights decision is a no-brainer: It says occupying territory gained in a defensive war is justifiable””
Of course this contradicts UNSC Resolution 242, which began with the preamble “Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war…” and rightly so. International law recognizes the right to retain territory occupied in a defensive war. It is for this reason that Res 242 did not require Israel to give back all the conquered land.
Judea and Samaria aka, West Bank
Journalists and politicians often talk about Israel’s desire to annex Judea and Samaria. They are wrong in so doing because what Israel talks about doing is extending Israeli law to these lands the same as it did in the Golan Heights law.
This distinction is very important because Judea and Samaria are not the land of another country. All that is necessary is to extend Israeli law to the territory which in effect extends Israeli sovereignty to such lands.
The Fourth Geneva Convention (FGC) (1949) purports to protect civilians in times of war.
Article 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.
-The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
Pursuant to this article, the international community considers the Israeli settlements as illegal because Israel is transferring parts of its population to these territories. But this disregards the fact it covers “forcible transfers.” Israel is not transferring anyone forcibly or otherwise. The settlement movement is entirely voluntary.
Equally germane is the fact that the FGC does not apply to these lands.
ART. 2. — In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peacetime, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.
Since Jordan’s annexation of these lands was recognized by only 3 countries, these lands are not lands of a High Contracting Party. For this reason Israel did not ratify the treaty and therefore is not bound by it.
Nevertheless Israel has agreed to abide by the humanitarian provisions.
East Jerusalem
On 27 June 1967, Israel expanded the municipal boundaries of West Jerusalem so as to include approximately 70 km2 (27.0 sq mi) of West Bank territory today referred to as East Jerusalem. On 30 July 1980, the Knesset officially approved the Jerusalem Law, which called the city the complete and united capital.
Although the law did not use the term, the Israel Supreme Court interpreted the law as an effective annexation of eastern Jerusalem.The UNSC condemned the attempted change in status to Jerusalem and ruled the law “null and void” in UNSC Res 478:
“…all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention“
It should be noted that The Security Council is not a court of law and this resolution is only a recommendation.
In 1995, Congress adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Act, maintaining that:
(1) Jerusalem remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic religious group are protected;
(2) Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and
(3) the U.S. Embassy in Israel be established in Jerusalem
This act passed Congress by an overwhelming bipartisan majority and was reaffirmed by a unanimous vote of the Senate only six months later.
Pursuant to this Act, President Trump, on Dec 6, 2020, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. However, he added:
“We are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties involved.”
Congress did not stipulate so. In fact, it referred to Jerusalem as the undivided city, and that was 15 years after Israel passed the Jerusalem Law enlarging the boundaries of Jerusalem to include, inter alia, the eastern part. So Trump’s reservation was uncalled for, at least by Congress.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) identifies the sources of international law in the ICJ Statute. The United Nations is not among them but is a forum for adopting multilateral treaties. Many multilateral treaties are in fact adopted by the General Assembly and subsequently opened for signature and ratification. But these treaties are only binding on the parties that sign them.
So much for international law.
gravenimage says
Russia and Israel: Annexation and International Law
……………………………………
Please don’t compare Israel to Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
bill carr says
Russia has vast amounts of territory, If the Eastern people of Ukraine wnated to be Russian
Putin could have resettled them in Russia at much less expense and carnage both to the Ukrainins and to his own forces. No, Russia is land greedy as it hsa shown in the past. It never returned the territories it took from Japan after WW2 ended although the USSR had taken no part in the war in the Pacific.
Infidel says
+5
Not to mention that Russia couldn’t settle the vast majority of territory to save its life. And while it’s sure cold, not all of Siberia (defined here as everything Russia that’s east of the Urals) is Tundra and Taiga
gravenimage says
True, Bill and Infidel.
tedbel says
You are badly informed.. Russia gave a number of reasons for its “special; military operation” all of which are true.
gravenimage says
Yes, Russia had indeed given a lot of excuses for invading Ukraine. They include: 1) They don’t intend to invade Ukraine. They said this until just a few days before they invaded. 2) They have to invade because Ukrainians are Nazis. Note that Lavrov has said that any Ukrainian who favors independence is a “Nazi”. 3) They have to defend Donbas. 4) That Ukrainian biolabs have invented viruses that target Russians and not Ukrainians, even though many of them are genetically identical. 5) That Ukraine is joining NATO, and this is unacceptable to Russia. Never mind that Ukraine was not joining NATO, nor that NATO is purely defensive, in any case. And if they did join, this is not Russia’s business. 6) That Ukraine was joining the EU, and that this is unacceptable to Russia. Never mind that Ukraine would not have been joining the EU any time soon, nor that if they do it is not Russia’s business. 7) That Ukraine somehow presented a threat to Russia. 8) That Ukraine has always been part of Russia. 9) That Ukraine does not exist. 10) That Ukrainian President Zelensky is a drug addict. (This is my personal “favorite”). 11) That Putin is the new Peter the Great, and that the conquest of Ukraine is the first step towards realizing this. There are probably other excuses.
clem.alford@talk21.com says
I don’t think the Middle East conflict will ever be resolved.as long as there is no reforming of Islam in terms of the teachings in the Koran, Hadith and Sunnah and there will always be conflict.
gravenimage says
True enough, Clem. The Islamic goal is the full destruction of little Israel.
Hank says
Putin’s fondness for fast-track referendums should be extended to the other 85 countries in the Russian Federation so they also would have a choice on whether they want to be a member of the Russian Federation or exist as independent nations that have their own culture and language to begin with. Many of these countries have their own oil and other natural resources which their poor citizens could vote to enjoy for themselves. Extending the referendum would also give them a voice regarding the forced mobilization of their sons for Putin’s sake.
gravenimage says
🙂
Infidel says
I did support the Russian annexation of Crimea, which was historically Russian and was only awarded to Ukraine by Krushchev in the 60s. Its population is ethnically Russian, and its annexation happened after the Orange Revolution that ousted President Yanukovich
However, I don’t consider this referendum as legitimate. While the one in the Donbass might, the one in Kherson and other places definitely not. And practically, while Russia has unquestionable control of Crimea, Kherson is still a battlefield. Also, Russia doesn’t need a land bridge to the Crimea: it can build an overhead bridge over the Kerch Strait and be done w/ it
John1 says
Well said. Don’t forget, however, that the Ukraine was ‘the breadbasket of the USSR.’
gravenimage says
Ukraine should not have to keep feeding Russia. Really, Russia is the largest nation on earth and should be able to feed itself.