Humanitarian interventions

Dr Mirko Bagaric in the Herald advocates that humanitarian intervention should be mandatory in cases of large-scale government-sanctioned killings and that the UN Security Council should be given the authority and responsibility to muster Coalitions of the Willing, perhaps selected by ballot, to supply the necessary resources.

He points out that

The number of people killed in internal conflict and through wanton acts of dictatorial violence since World War II (170 million) exceeds the total number of people killed during both major wars.

As international law stands, the main obstacle to getting rid of tyrants who kill thousands of their own citizens is state sovereignty. However, this concept is overrated. Invisible lines on the earth’s surface have no moral standing and can’t trump moral standards which are of universal application.

Successful interventions include Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in 1979; Tanzania’s intervention to remove Idi Amin from Uganda in the same year and Nato’s invasion of Yugoslavia in 1999. The success of these interventions and the absence of criticism of such action demonstrate that state sovereignty is no barrier to humanitarian interventions. In fact it shows respect for state sovereignty is an excuse, rather than a reason for the inaction of the world.

Bagaric advocates the Security Council start with Zimbabwe and they should authorise an international force to remove Mugabe.