Forced Displacement and Sovereignty: Legal Challenges and Accountability Under International Criminal Law
Main Article Content
Abstract
Abstract: This article examines forced displacement and eviction as crimes under international criminal law. It explores how international legal frameworks, including the Rome Statute and the Geneva Conventions, define and criminalize these acts, while also analyzing the challenges in enforcement due to political and jurisdictional limitations. The study highlights the case of forced displacement in Gaza as a concrete example of how such acts violate international humanitarian law and expose the weaknesses of international legal mechanisms in ensuring accountability.
Purpose: The study aims to analyze the legal framework governing forced displacement under international law, assess the challenges in prosecuting perpetrators, and propose ways to strengthen enforcement mechanisms.
Design/Methodology/Approach: This research employs a descriptive-analytical approach by examining legal texts, international agreements, court rulings, and academic literature. It also analyzes case studies, particularly focusing on Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, to illustrate the legal, political, and humanitarian implications.
Findings: The study finds that while international law clearly defines forced displacement as a crime, enforcement remains selective and politically influenced. The research underscores the limitations of international legal bodies, such as the ICC, in holding powerful states accountable. It also highlights the need for strengthening universal jurisdiction mechanisms to prevent states from using sovereignty as a shield against accountability.
Originality/value: This study contributes to the discourse on state sovereignty and international criminal law by critically examining the legal gaps in addressing forced displacement. It provides new insights into how international legal frameworks can be reinforced to ensure greater accountability for human rights violations.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Adeola, Romola. 2021. “The Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons under the Kampala Convention: An Institutional Approach.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 40, no. 2 (September): 173–202. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdaa014.
Advitama, Dave, Tuti Widyaningrum, and Rio Christiawan. 2024. “Israeli War Crimes in Palestine from the Perspective of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.” Journal of Law and Regulation Governance 2, no. 10 (November): 343–49. https://doi.org/10.57185/jlarg.v2i10.69.
Angwaomaodoko, Ejuchegahi Anthony. 2024. “The Re-Examination of the Israel-Hamas War in the Light of the Just War Theory.” Journal of Asian Development 10, no. 1 (June): 40–56. https://doi.org/10.52941/jad.v10i1.58.
Becker, Sascha O. 2020. “Long-Term Consequences of Forced Displacement: Three Salient Themes.” Quarterly Digest on Forced Displacement, July (July), 2–7. https://doi.org/10.47053/jdc.010720/ar.01.
Buck, Kerrin Geoffrey. 2017. “Displacement and Dispossession: Redefining Forced Displacement and Identifying When Forced Displacement Becomes Pillage under International Humanitarian Law.” Journal of International Humanitarian Action 2, no. 1 (December): 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41018-016-0016-6.
Caporaso, James A. 2000. “Changes in the Westphalian Order: Territory, Public Authority, and Sovereignty.” International Studies Review 2, no. 2 (September): 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/1521-9488.00203.
Chetail, Vincent. 2016. “Is There Any Blood on My Hands? Deportation as a Crime of International Law.” Leiden Journal of International Law 29, no. 3 (September): 917–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156516000376.
Colvin, Victoria, and Phil Orchard. 2022. “Forced Deportations and the Ukraine War: Russian Culpability in Atrocity Crimes.” Violence: An International Journal 3, no. 2 (October): 281–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/26330024231167184.
Cryer, Robert. 2005. “International Criminal Law vs State Sovereignty: Another Round?” European Journal of International Law 16, no. 5 (November): 979–1000. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chi156.
Cutler, A. Claire. 2001. “Critical Reflections on the Westphalian Assumptions of International Law and Organization: A Crisis of Legitimacy.” Review of International Studies 27, no. 2 (April): 133–50. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210500001339.
Dinicu, Anca. 2018. “Sovereignty, a Swinging Concept Between International Law and Political Reality.” Land Forces Academy Review 23, no. 3 (September): 181–85. https://doi.org/10.2478/raft-2018-0021.
Evans, Gareth. 2009. “The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and for All.” Irish Studies in International Affairs 20, no. 1 (January): 7–13. https://doi.org/10.3318/ISIA.2009.20.7.
Fenrick, W.J. 1998. “The Development of The Law of Armed Conflict Through The Jurisprudence of The International Criminal Tribunal for The Former Yugoslavia.” Journal of Conflict and Security Law 3, no. 2 (December): 197–232. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcsl/3.2.197.
Fink, Jason Benjamin. 2005. “Deontological Retributivism and the Legal Practice off International Jurisprudence: The Case of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.” Journal of African Law 49, no. 2 (October): 101–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855305000100.
Haenen, Iris. 2013. “Classifying Acts as Crimes Against Humanity in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.” German Law Journal 14, no. 7 (July): 796–822. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200002029.
Hasballah, Belal Ali Abu. 2024. “The Crime of Displacement and Forced Eviction in Light of the Provisions of International Criminal Law ‘An Applied Study on the Israeli War on Gaza 2023-2024.’” International Journal Papier Public Review 5, no. 4 (December): 133–44. https://doi.org/10.47667/ijppr.v5i4.340.
Indriani, Susi, and Yati Sharfina Desiandri. 2024. “HAM Dan Hukum Humaniter Internasional: Analisis Konflik Israel Dan Palestina.” Politica: Jurnal Hukum Tata Negara Dan Politik Islam 11, no. 1 (May): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.32505/politica.v11i1.7610.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. 2024. “Palestine - Conflict in Gaza Leaves 83 per Cent of the Population Internally Displaced in Less than Three Months.” Www.Internal-Displacement.Org. May 14, 2024. https://www.internal-displacement.org/spotlights/Palestine-Conflict-in-Gaza-leaves-83-per-cent-of-the-population-internally-displaced-in-less-than-three-months/.
Islam, Md Syful, Md Muhıbbullah, and Zobayer Ahmed. 2024. “Challenges in Protecting Rohingya Refugees: Pathways for International Intervention.” International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research 10, no. 1 (March): 12–21. https://doi.org/10.24289/ijsser.1439506.
Ittersum, Martine Julia van. 2009. “Dating the Manuscript of De Jure Praedae (1604–1608): What Watermarks, Foliation and Quire Divisions Can Tell Us about Hugo Grotius’ Development as a Natural Rights and Natural Law Theorist.” History of European Ideas 35, no. 2 (June): 125–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.histeuroideas.2009.01.004.
Jackson, Robert. 1999. “Sovereignty in World Politics: A Glance at the Conceptual and Historical Landscape.” Political Studies 47, no. 3 (August): 431–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.00211.
Jacovides, Michael. 2003. “Locke’s Construction of the Idea of Power.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 34, no. 2 (June): 329–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(02)00034-1.
Katselli Proukaki, Elena. 2022. “Forced Displacement, Prevention from Returning and the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.” Nordic Journal of International Law 91, no. 3 (August): 355–89. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718107-91030001.
Kramer, Matthew H. 2021. “The Legal Positivism of H. L. A. Hart.” In The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism, 301–24. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108636377.013.
Leaning, Jennifer. 2011. “Enforced Displacement of Civilian Populations in War: A Potential New Element in Crimes against Humanity.” International Criminal Law Review 11, no. 3: 445–62. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181211X576357.
Lobban, Michael. 2021. “John Austin.” In The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism, 225–47. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108636377.010.
Luna, Alden Reuben. 2021. “Is It Better to Be Good than Lawful? A Critical Analysis of Austinian Legal Positivism in the Philippine Legal and Jurisprudential Systems.” Scientia - The International Journal on the Liberal Arts 10, no. 1 (March). https://doi.org/10.57106/scientia.v10i1.130.
Marshall, Eugene, and Susanne Sreedhar. 2019. “John Locke.” In A New Modern Philosophy, 160–232. 1 [edition]. | New York : Routledge, 2019.: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351052269-9.
Menkes, Jerzy, and Anna Kociołek-Pęksa. 2019. “Heterogeneity, Compliance and Enforcement of Public International Law Remarks on Sanctions and Countermeasures.” Politeja 16, no. 6(63) (December): 7–25. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.16.2019.63.01.
Murad, Murad Abu. 2024. “Jurisdiction of ICC Over Alleged War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Against Palestinians Under the Complementarity Principle.” Brawijaya Law Journal 11, no. 1 (October): 112–34. https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.blj.2024.011.01.06.
Orts, Eric W. 1993. “Positive Law and Systemic Legitimacy: A Comment on Hart and Habermas*.” Ratio Juris 6, no. 3 (December): 245–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9337.1993.tb00151.x.
Peskin, Victor. 2005. “Beyond Victor’s Justice? The Challenge of Prosecuting the Winners at the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.” Journal of Human Rights 4, no. 2 (April): 213–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/14754830590952152.
Simeon, James C. 2022. “Explicating the Interrelationships between and among Serious International Crimes, Human Rights and Human Dignity, and Forced Migration.” In Serious International Crimes, Human Rights, and Forced Migration, 347–72. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003094388-20.
Snyder, David C. 1986. “Locke on Natural Law and Property Rights.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 16, no. 4 (December): 723–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/00455091.1986.10717145.
Straumann, Benjamin. 2009. “Is Modern Liberty Ancient? Roman Remedies and Natural Rights in Hugo Grotius’s Early Works on Natural Law.” Law and History Review 27, no. 1 (August): 55–86. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0738248000001656.
Tamanaha, B.Z. 2001. “Legal Positivism.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 8654–60. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02922-3.
Tetelepta, Dio Boy, Arman Anwar, and Richard Marsilio Waas. 2022. “Pemindahan Penduduk Secara Paksa Dalam Konflik Bersenjata Di Filipina Dan Akibat Hukumnya Menurut Hukum Humaniter Internasional.” TATOHI: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum 2, no. 10 (December): 987. https://doi.org/10.47268/tatohi.v2i10.1438.
Tobing, Dio Herdiawan. 2021. “Connecting the Obligation Gap: Indonesia’s Non-Refoulement Responsibility Beyond the 1951 Refugee Convention.” Asian Journal of Law and Society 8, no. 3 (October): 521–35. https://doi.org/10.1017/als.2021.7.
Vanda, Velenczei Dóra. 2022. “A Progressive Program of Starvation: The Gaza Strip Blockade as the Crime against Humanity of Extermination.” ELTE Law Journal, no. 2: 85–100. https://doi.org/10.54148/ELTELJ.2022.2.85.
Wijaya, Dion Untung, Feri Irawan, and Gilang Respati. 2024. “The Role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Resolving Israeli War Crimes Against Palestinian Civilians.” Formosa Journal of Sustainable Research 3, no. 4 (May): 853–64. https://doi.org/10.55927/fjsr.v3i4.8958.