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2 AJLHR 1 (2018)

handle is hein.journals/anjllwa2 and id is 1 raw text is: AJLHR 2 (2018) TOWARDS A NORMATIVE COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN SOVEREIGNTY AND INTERVENTION* Abstract There seems no greater conflict in the international realm as the one that exists between humanitarian intervention and the notion of sovereignty that every state so strongly embraces. The idea that every state is entitled to autonomous control over its domestic affairs is in a constant struggle with the belief that all individuals have an inherent right to basic freedoms that should never be denied. The debate especially erupts when it comes to intervention into nations for humanitarian purposes. Questions concerning the legal right to intervene into sovereign nations pervade the international sphere, as nations try to define the role and the extent of the right of intervention. Part of the reasons for this tension is the UN Charter provisions on human rights which conflict with the traditional notion of sovereignty. This article briefly discusses the historical development of the UN Charter and its human rights provisions, as well as the sovereignty provisions contained therein. The article also explores the legal debate that exists between the anti- interventionists and those who support humanitarian intervention. Finally the article identifies some interventions undertaken on humanitarian grounds and analyzes the basis of the problem, how the problem may be reconciled, and the future of this debate between humanitarian intervention and state sovereignty. The article concludes that the problem that exists between intervention and state sovereignty is one that exists because of inconsistent principles set forth in the UN Charter and inconsistent applications of these provisions, and thus proposes a UN reform to provide for express provisions on humanitarian intervention. Keywords: Sovereignty, Humanitarian intervention, normative compatibility, International law, Human Rights 1. Historical perspective of the UN Charter and the Human Rights Provisions The UN was conceptualized as a result of World War II, as a growing international desire for peace and cooperation among nations developed1. The UN and its Charter were the fruits of the 1943 Declaration of Four Nations on General Security2. The idea was to bring together four major forces- -the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China--in an attempt to form an international organization to promote international peace and to prevent future atrocities as those experienced in the World Wars3. Petersen states that not only were the World Wars key factors in the formation of the UN but the failure of the League of Nations was also a catalyst in the formation4. The next year, the proposals to establish the new organization, commonly referred to as the 'Dumbarton Oaks proposals,' were brought to the discussion table, soon to become the foundation of the UN Charter'. *Mazi UDEGBULEM, LLM, BL, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Imo State University, Owerri. 1 Sean D. Murphy, Humanitarian Intervention, The United Nations in an Evolving World Order, 65 (Procedural Aspects of International Law Series, Vol. 21, 1996) but available on https://www.cambridge.org>core>article accessed on 10 September, 2018. 2 Ibid 3 See also Frederick J. Petersen, 'The Fagade of Humanitarian Intervention for Human Rights in a Community of Sovereign Nations', 15 Ariz. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 871, 875-76 (1998 4 Petersen, Ibid 'Murphy, Ibid Page 1 1

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