Product Code Database
Annexation,(Latin ad, to, and nexus, joining) in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to be an illegal act.: "Annexation means the forcible acquisition of territory by one State at the expense of another State. It is one of the principal modes of acquiring territory... in contrast to acquisition a) of terra nullius by means of effective occupation accompanied by the intent to appropriate the territory; b) by cession as a result of a treaty concluded between the States concerned (Treaties), or an act of adjudication, both followed by the effective peaceful transfer of territory; c) by means of prescription defined as the legitimization of a doubtful title to territory by passage of time and presumed acquiescence of the former sovereign; d) by accretion constituting the physical process by which new land is formed close to, or becomes attached to, existing land. Under present international law, annexation no longer constitutes a legally admissible mode of acquisition of territory as it violates the prohibition of the threat or use of force. Therefore annexations must not be recognized as legal." Annexation is a unilateral act where territory is seized and held by one state, as distinct from the complete conquest of another country,
Kohen, p.288, refers to clause 101 of the PERMANENT COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE, 1933, April 5th, General List: No. 43. TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION, LEGAL STATUS OF EASTERN GREENLAND: "Conquest only operates as a cause of loss of sovereignty when there is war between two States and by reason of the defeat of one of them sovereignty over territory passes from the loser to the victorious State." and differs from cession, in which territory is given or sold through treaty.Annexation can be legitimized if generally recognized by other states and international bodies.: "Annexation is distinct from cession. Instead of a State seeking to relinquish territory, annexation occurs when the acquiring State asserts that it now holds the territory. Annexation will usual follow a military occupation of a territory, when the occupying power decides to cement its physical control by asserting legal title. The annexation of territory is essentially the administrative action associated with conquest. Mere conquest alone is not enough, but rather the conquering State must assert it is now sovereign over the territory concerned. For example, the defeat of Germany and Japan in 1945 led to their occupation by the United States and allies for a number of years, but the States themselves were not absorbed by the Allied Powers part of their respective territories. Examples of annexation in contemporary practice are not common, and are generally viewed as illegal."
The illegality of annexation means that states carrying out such acts usually avoid using the word annexation in describing their actions;
in each of the unresolved annexations by Israel, Morocco and Russia, the states have avoided characterizing their actions as such.
These principles were reconfirmed by the 1970 Friendly Relations Declaration. Since the use of force against territorial integrity or political independence is illegal, the question as to whether title or sovereignty can be transferred in such a situation has been the subject of legal debate. 'Annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof' is an act of aggression according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) of 1949 amplified the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 with respect to the question of the protection of civilians, and the rules regarding inviolability of rights have "an absolute character",Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949. Commentary on Part III : Status and treatment of protected persons #Section III : Occupied territories Art. 47 by the ICRC making it much more difficult for a state to bypass international law through the use of annexation.
Jewish neighborhoods have since been built in East Jerusalem, and Israeli Jews have since also settled in Arab neighborhoods there, though some Jews may have returned from their 1948 expulsion after the Battle for Jerusalem. Only Costa Rica recognized Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, and those countries who maintained embassies in Israel did not move them to Jerusalem. The United States Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which recognizes Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel and requires the relocation of the U.S. embassy there in 1995.Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, , November 8, 1995, 109 Stat. 398. The act included a provision permitting the president to delay its implementation due to national security concerns. This waiver was used by presidents Bill Clinton, Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, but was allowed to expire in 2019.
The vast majority of Syrian Druze in Majdal Shams, the largest Syrian village in the Golan, have held onto their Syrian passports. When Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, 95% of the Majdal Shams residents refused Israeli citizenship, and are still firmly of that opinion, in spite of the Syrian Civil War.
On 29 November 2012, the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed it was "deeply concerned that Israel has not withdrawn from the Syrian Golan, which has been under occupation since 1967, contrary to the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions," and "stressed the illegality of the Israeli settlement construction and other activities in the occupied Syrian Golan since 1967." The General Assembly then voted by majority, 110 in favour to 6 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, United States), with 59 abstentions, to demand a full Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian Golan Heights.
On 25 March 2019, the United States recognized the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory. In response, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated "the status of Golan has not changed", and the decision received worldwide condemnation with European members of the United Nations Security Council noting "we raise our strong concerns about the broader consequences of recognizing illegal annexation and also about broader regional consequences" and that "annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law", adding that unilateral changes to borders violate "the rules-based international order and the UN Charter".
In 1975, and following the Madrid Accords between Mauritania, Morocco, and Francoist Spain, the last Spanish troops withdrew from the territory and ceded the administration to Mauritania and Morocco. On 14 April 1976, the two countries annexed it between themselves via the Western Sahara partition agreement. This was challenged by an independence movement, the Polisario Front that waged a guerrilla war against both Mauritania and Morocco. On 14 August 1979, after a military putsch, Mauritania renounced all territorial claims to Western Sahara and withdrew its troops. This prompted Morocco to extend its annexation to formerly Mauritanian-controlled areas.
A United Nations peace process was initiated in 1991, but it has been stalled, and as of mid-2012, the UN is holding direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario front to reach a solution to the conflict. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a partially recognized state that has claimed the entire region since 1976.
Russia rejects the view that this was an annexation and regards it as an accession to the Russian Federation of a state that had just declared independence from Ukraine following a disputed referendum, and considers it secession as a result of irredentism. A term often used in Russia to describe these events is "re-unification" (воссоединение) to highlight the fact that Crimea was a part of the Russian Empire from 1783 to 1917, and part of the Russian SFSR from 1921 to 1954. Crimean problem recognize this view. Ukraine considers Crimea and Sevastopol its own territory, and oversees the Crimea Platform, an international diplomatic initiative to restore its sovereignty.
On 30 September 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russia, following referendums, declared the annexation of territories in southern and eastern Ukraine. As a result, Russia claimed sovereignty over the territories of five Ukrainian oblasts – Luhansk Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson Oblast and Mykolaiv Oblast – and recognised as its federal subjects Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts.
Following a referendum held in 1999 under a United Nations-sponsored agreement between the two sides, the people of East Timor rejected the offer of autonomy within Indonesia. East Timor achieved independence in 2002 and is now officially known as East Timor.
United States president George H. W. Bush ultimately condemned Iraq's actions, and moved to drive out Iraqi forces. Authorized by United Nations Security Council resolutions, an American-led coalition of 34 nations fought the Gulf War to reinstate the Kuwaiti Emir. Iraq's invasion (and annexation) was deemed illegal and Kuwait remains an independent nation today.
Tibet came under the control of the China (PRC) after attempts by the Ganden Phodrang to gain international recognition, efforts to modernize its Tibetan Army, negotiations between the Government of Tibet and the PRC, and a military conflict in the Chamdo area of western Kham in October 1950. Many analysts consider the incorporation of Tibet into the PRC an annexation.
If the actions of 1950 constituted an annexation, it was subsequently legalized by the Seventeen Point Agreement by the Government of Tibet in October 1951. From 1959 onwards, claims were made that this agreement was signed under pressure; academics have debated this ever since, but Tibet is recognized internationally as part of China.
In 1961, India and Portugal engaged in a brief military conflict over Portuguese-controlled Goa and Daman and Diu. India invaded and conquered the areas after 36 hours of fighting, thus ending 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule in India. The action was viewed in India as a liberation of historically Indian territory; in Portugal, however, the loss of both enclaves was seen as a national tragedy. A condemnation of the action by the United Nations Security Council was vetoed by the Soviet Union. Goa and Daman and Diu were incorporated into India.
Portugal recognized India's sovereignty over Goa in a treaty in December 1974.India–Portugal Relations, Indian ministry of External Affairs, Sep 2010 [4]
|
|
