March 2002

MIRIAM: BALIKATAN VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL LAW (8 March 2002)

MIRIAM: BALIKATAN VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL LAW
8 March 2002

Former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago urged the U.S. government to stop the Balikatan exercises immediately, and to seek authority to proceed from the U.N. Security Council.

"Balikatan involves the use of force, which is illegal under the U.N. Charter. The Afghan war was a valid exercise of the American right to self-defense. But the Americans cannot extend their military activities to countries like the Philippines, without a Security Council mandate," she said.

Defensor Santiago spoke at a lecture yesterday (8 March) on "The Legality of the U.S.-Afghan War," at the University of Perpetual Help in Las Piñas.

Defensor Santiago, an expert in international law, said that the U.S. was justified in bombing the al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan, because of the right of self-defense under international law.

However, the former senator emphasized that under international law, the right of self-defense has two limitations:

The first limitation is that the U.S. is allowed to use force, only in order to repel an armed attack.

The second limitation is that U.S. must immediately inform the Security Council of its armed action in self-defense.

She said that the Security Council issued two resolutions condemning terrorism, but did not authorize the U.S. to use force.

Defensor Santiago said that in 1986, the U.S. claimed that it was also acting in self-defense when it funded the contras in Nicaragua, but the World Court condemned the U.S.

"In the Nicaragua case, the World Court said that self-defense measures should meet the criteria of necessity, proportionality, and independent verification. The Balikatan exercises do not meet these criteria," she said.

Defensor Santiago said that the U.S. military in Mindanao cannot claim that they are acting in anticipatory self-defense, because under international law, anticipatory self-defense is legally prohibited.

"Even if the use of force by Muslim rebel groups in Mindanao can be considered as indirect armed aggression, under international law the Philippines has no right to seek military assistance from the United States," she said.

Defensor Santiago said that the U.S. military should present evidence on the alleged support that al-Qaeda is giving to the Muslim rebels, and then the evidence should be evaluated by a competent U.N. organ.

"The best solution to the present problem of terrorism is for the United States to obtain a mandate from the U.N. Security Council," she said.