英文摘要 |
While the violent fighting between the warlords in the Liberian civil war caused hundreds of thousands refugees to swarm into neighboring countries, it scarcely captured international attention. Without obtaining a prior authorization by the United Nations Security Council, ECOWAS dispatched a combined force to Liberia in 1990 to contain the conflict and finally succeeded in bringing peace to that country. ECOWAS justified its intervention on humanitarian grounds and on the fact that the Liberian conflict posed a threat to the region's peace and security. It is generally accepted among international lawyers that grave breaches of human rights may constitute a threat to international peace. In addition, Chapter Ⅷ of the UN Charter does not preclude the existence of regional arrangements or agencies for dealing with matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action. According to Art. 53 of the Charter, no enforcement action can be taken by regional organizations without the authorization of the Security Council. However, there are no further regulations about the way and the right time for authorization. Today, the military operation of ECOWAS has come to an end, but its international legal questions still need to be answered, such as : Does ECOWAS qualify as a regional organization under the meaning of Chapter Ⅷ of the UN Charters? Can the intervention of ECOWAS' multinational forces in Liberia be justified? Has it met the procedure requirements of both Community and international law? It is recommended that, in this post-Cold War era, regional organizations should be integrated into the global collective security system. Moreover, in order to prevent or address regional conflicts, this paper argues for the promotion of collaboration embodied in Chapter Ⅷ by establishing a new division of labor between the the United Nations and regional organizations, particularly with respect to matters relating to timely humanitarian assistance and humanitarian intervention. |