Legal Definitions - humanitarian intervention

Humanitarian intervention refers to the use of military force by one or more states within the territory of another state, without the consent of that state's government, with the stated purpose of preventing or ending widespread and grave violations of human rights.

This concept is highly debated in international law, as it involves a tension between the principle of state sovereignty (a nation's right to govern itself without external interference) and the international community's responsibility to protect populations from mass atrocities like genocide, ethnic cleansing, or widespread war crimes.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Preventing Mass Atrocities

  Imagine a scenario where a country's government is systematically targeting a specific ethnic minority group, leading to widespread killings, forced displacement, and other severe human rights abuses. Despite international condemnation, the government refuses to stop the violence or allow external aid. A coalition of neighboring countries, without the consent of the perpetrating government, deploys military forces into the affected region to protect the civilian population, establish safe zones, and halt the atrocities.

  This illustrates humanitarian intervention because military force is used within another state's borders, without its permission, specifically to prevent or stop severe human rights violations against a large group of people.

• Example 2: Protecting Civilians in a Collapsed State

  Consider a nation engulfed in a brutal civil war where the central government has effectively collapsed, and various armed factions are committing widespread violence against civilians, including massacres, sexual violence, and blocking humanitarian aid, leading to famine. An international organization, backed by several powerful nations, decides to send in a multinational military force to secure key areas, protect aid convoys, and establish safe corridors for refugees, even though there is no legitimate government to grant consent, or the existing factions actively oppose it.

  This demonstrates humanitarian intervention as military force is used to protect a civilian population from widespread abuses and a breakdown of order, in a context where the state is unwilling or unable to protect its own people, and external consent is either impossible to obtain or explicitly denied by controlling factions.

• Example 3: Targeted Intervention Against Specific Abuses

  Suppose a dictator is using chemical weapons against his own population in a specific province, causing mass casualties and widespread suffering. Despite international calls to cease, the attacks continue. A foreign power, without the dictator's approval, launches targeted airstrikes against the chemical weapon facilities and military units responsible for deploying them, with the explicit aim of preventing further chemical attacks on civilians.

  This exemplifies humanitarian intervention through a more limited application of force, where military action is taken unilaterally or by a small group of states, without the target state's consent, to prevent a specific, egregious human rights violation.