Question of Authorization

The provisions of the UN Charter and North Atlantic Treaty, specifies that NATO’s particular field operations are overseen under the authorization of Security Council.¹⁴⁹ Chapter VII of the UN Charter specifically indicates that use of force which includes collective self defence or does not serve for the sake of individuals, may only be used on the basis of a Security Council mandate.¹⁵⁰ Thus, the Security Council is the only body which has de jure authorization over non-self defensive use of force.¹⁵¹ However, the Treaty does not refer any of the matters which exist in the Chapter VIII of the Charter focusing on the “regional organizations”.¹⁵² Thus, it may lead for the Charter to undermine the NATO’s freedom of action since NATO itself is a regional organization¹⁵³ and as it is enforced in the Article 54 of the Charter that;

“The Security Council shall at all times be kept fully informed of activities undertaken or in contemplation under regional arrangements or by regional agencies for the maintenance of international peace and security.”¹⁵⁴

This would lead NATO to take actions only if permission is given by the UN Security Council.¹⁵⁵ As a consequence, Russian Federation and PR China would veto all the alliance decisions.¹⁵⁶ Instead of mentioning those clauses, the Treaty refers to the Article 51 of the Charter which enforces NATO to report to Security Council after self defence measures have been taken.¹⁵⁷

NATO’s 2010 strategic concept includes that “Alliance is firmly committed to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations”, affirming “the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security”.¹⁵⁸ It also states that NATO will “fulfil its task always in accordance with international law”.¹⁵⁹

Nevertheless, neither NATO’s being a regional organization as defined in Chapter VIII of the Charter, nor the explicit expression of excluding NATO from undertaking offensive military actions without UN authorization, exists in the strategic plan.¹⁶⁰

Both in the Middle East and North Africa there were post-colonial autocratic regimes governed by military or reign based rulers.¹⁶¹ As a consequence, there was a strict distance between the governments and peoples. In certain regimes the governments drew their strengths from different aspects such as by; having the control of natural sources, taking the support of military forces and securing the domestic political balances.¹⁶² Not having democratic elections enabled the leaders to protect their status in the governments.¹⁶³ Within this regard, the tensions were rising on the grounds of economic instability, income inequality, unemployment, and religious and sectarian tension.¹⁶⁴ Therefore the governments were taking violent measures in order to suppress opponents and non-governmental organizations. Consequently, the methods of the governments were considered as challengeable by the people.¹⁶⁵

Being the outcome of the combination of poverty, unemployment and political repression which are the three characteristics of most Arab countries; the Tunisian uprisings started after the self-immolation of a man named Mohamed Bouazizi in front of a government building in 17 December 2010.¹⁶⁶ Four weeks of protests and demonstrations led the President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to be forced out in 14 January 2011.

The spread of the news from Tunisia through social network triggered Arab world to take initiative to oust their leaders.¹⁶⁷ Most of the demonstrations have been met with violent responses from the governments. During the uprisings, more than 200 people died and more than 90 people were injured.¹⁶⁸

Uprisings were welcomed by Al-Qaida leaders, stating that "Our mujahedeen brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the rest of the Muslim world will get a chance to breathe again after three decades of suffocation," while Qaddafi condemned the uprisings.¹⁶⁹

The Tunisian revolution was considered as a breakthrough and inspired numerous uprisings in various countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Libya and Syria, which soon was called as “Arab Spring” which is seen as one of the most important political and social movements in the last decades.¹⁷⁰

III. Egypt

Following the withdrawal of Britain from Egypt after the Second World War, in 1947, the opposing views arose against King Farouk I who was installed by the British authorities.¹⁷¹ Being accused of poor economic and military performance in the country and corruption, King Farouk was overthrown by a military group named Free Officers with a coup d’état in July 29, 1952.¹⁷² The movement against constitutional monarchy was accomplished and in July 19, 1953; the existing constitution was abolished and the Free Officers declared Egypt a republic.¹⁷³

Although it was a republic, until Hosni Mubarak became the president in 1981, elections had never been held by the government.¹⁷⁴ The vice-presidents were deemed to be the successors of the presidents. Hosni Mubarak's predecessor, Anwar el-Sadat, was assassinated by the Islamist groups which opposed to peace with Israel.¹⁷⁵ Then, Hosni Mubarak acceded and ruled Egypt for almost 30 years until the country was overcome by the wave of mass protests, in February 2011.¹⁷⁶

1. 
   Before the protests: Rule of Hosni Mubarak and Causes of a Rebellion
   

Notwithstanding that Mubarak was accused by imprisoning critics,¹⁸⁰ squelching opposition parties¹⁸¹ and manipulating the elections,¹⁸² from the very beginning of his presidency, Mubarak preserved amity with Israel and USA which led him to sharply suppress Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.¹⁸³

Mubarak is usually referred to as Egypt's modern pharaoh, not in an explicit way but quiescently, for the reason that government critics were consistently imprisoned and freedom of expression was restricted.¹⁸⁴ For the reason that Mubarak had systematically eliminated civil and political institutions, there were no opponent decisions for him to negotiate with, therefore a system was formed which provides opportunity to his party and allies to change the policies in their will.¹⁸⁵

From 1967 to 2012, with 18 months of suspension in 1980, the Egyptian government had used Emergency Law No. 162/1958 which was enacted after the Six-Day War with Israel.¹⁸⁶ The law enforced the legalization of censorship, extension of police powers, suspension of constitutional rights, and prevention of street demonstrations and gives the government the right to imprison one without a reason.¹⁸⁷ Based upon that, the terrorism and opposition groups such as Muslim Brotherhood as a threat to the national security, Mubarak extended the emergency law and manipulated the elections with arresting activists without trials.¹⁸⁸ Human rights activists estimated that the Egyptian government had arrested 5,000 to 10,000 people without trial in 2010.¹⁸⁹

One of the main issues was that Mubarak did not appoint a vice-president, while Article 82 of the constitution enforces that when the president is not capable of fulfilling his duties, all his executive powers shall be delegated to the vice president.¹⁹⁰ Thus the successor of the presidency was a contradiction. It was argued that Gamal Mubarak, one of the two sons of Hosni Mubarak, would come to power after his father for the reason that he was already in charge of various domestic policy making matters.¹⁹¹ That would lead the way for the inheritance of power which was opposed by both left and right political groups in the country.¹⁹²

Along with the governmental arguments, police brutality was another issue which was laid stress on, in Egypt.¹⁹³ The international and national reports show that, under the authorization of the emergency law, the human rights were being violated by the police.¹⁹⁴ Although the Mubarak regime denied; it was proven by the videos taken that torture, assault and abuse were used by the police to make people confess, take information or without any reason.¹⁹⁵ Deployment of Mubarak’s own plainclothes officers called Baltageya which caused hundreds of deaths and wounds raised the tension among people.¹⁹⁶

With the poor economy, income inequality and unemployment, discomposure gradually increased and it led the situation to get disordered.¹⁹⁷

2. 
   Initial Protests and the Tunisian Influence
   

On 25 January, thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Ismailia simultaneously in order to stress the fact that Mubarak is no different than Ben Ali.²⁰¹

3. 
   The Muslim Brotherhood
   

Setting a paramilitary wing after the Second World War, the movement started to practice violent activities such as assassinations and bombings. Hence, it was banned and suspended by the Egyptian government in 1940s.²⁰⁶

During the Mubarak era, the conflict remained still between government and the Brotherhood. Therefore, the movement tried to re-enter the political arena and participated in all elections as a part of various coalitions.²⁰⁷ In the elections of 2005, they managed to gain 88 seats in the parliament which was equal to 20% of all, in spite of the repression by the government and electoral irregularities.²⁰⁸ Thus, along with being a forceful movement in society, it was now the strongest political opposition against Mubarak's party.²⁰⁹ After the elections, having been selected again, Mubarak put pressure on the Brotherhood and imprisoned hundreds of people.²¹⁰

Once the protests began, the Brotherhood was involved with individual participation but not organizational.²¹¹ In the third day of the uprisings, on 27 January 2011, the Muslim Brotherhood declared its support to the protests.²¹² As the government made more concessions, the Brotherhood took part in the demonstrations in a more confident way.²¹³ During the protests, Mohammed Mursi who was a senior Brotherhood leader stated their intension on the protests as; "We are not pushing this movement, but we are moving with it. We don't wish to lead it but we want to be part of it."²¹⁴

4. 
   Timeline of the Revolution
   

On the 31^st of January, 250.000 people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square²²⁴ regardless of the continuing service shortages in Internet²²⁵, the international community, led by United States of America and the European Union acted in unison and called for a democratic transition in Egypt.²²⁶ The following day Mubarak stated he will not run for presidency in the up-coming elections but would not step down from power.²²⁷ February 4^th, known as the ‘Day of the Departure’, the opposition consisting of thousands protestors, gathered in the Tahrir Square as the uprising continued.²²⁸ The next day the leaders of the leading party started resigning from their posts, one by one, including the son of President Mubarak, Gamal Mubarak.²²⁹ The Egyptian Health Minister stated 11 were dead, the United Nations stated that 300 might be killed since the initiation of the protests.²³⁰ On the 6^th of February, the Muslim Brotherhood made a statement that the group: “has decided to participate in a dialogue round in order to understand how serious the officials are in dealing with the demands of the people”.²³¹ On the 10^th of February Mubarak stated he will transfer some of his powers to the Vice-President, yet refused to step down.²³² However the following day, after 18 days of violent mass protests, Mubarak resigned from his duties as the President of Egypt, leaving the governmental duties to the Army.²³³

Subsequent to the resignation of the 30-year-old ruler, celebrations started in Egypt, the state announced it will keep its current obligations under international treaties as Tahrir Square was being cleared out of protestors, signs and tents.²³⁴

5. 
   Post-Revolution Egypt
   

Following these events, a new assembly was gathered to draft the new constitution, yet its proceedings got hampered when the Liberal parties and the Church-members of Egypt protested and not attended sessions in the face of the overwhelming majority and pressure of the Islamists.²⁴⁰ The date of the constitutional referendum was set as the 15^th of December 2012, prior to it, more than 100.000 protesters walked to the Presidential Palace, asking the cancellation of the constitutional process.²⁴¹ The referendum, however, took place with a low turnout and 63% of the voters in favour of the new constitution.²⁴²

On 25^th of January, 2013 Tahrir Square was filled again with protestors, on the second-year anniversary of ‘the day of rage’, this time to protest President Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood²⁴³, who has been unilaterally giving himself immunities, such as excluding his decisions from under the scope of judicial review.²⁴⁴ During January 2013, more than fifty people were killed as protests got violent one more time.²⁴⁵ In the following six-month period Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government extended its power as 13 of 27 governors were elected from Islamist groups.²⁴⁶ On the 30^th of July 2013, a year after Morsi was inaugurated²⁴⁷, massive protests consisting of millions of people around Egypt against the Morsi government erupted, and sixteen people were killed in the clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters in Cairo.²⁴⁸

On the 3^rd of July, 2013 the military headed by General al-Sisi took control with an organized coup d’etat, suspending the constitution.²⁴⁹ Morsi was taken to an undisclosed location and is being held under house arrest.²⁵⁰ The head of the Supreme Court of Justice of Egypt, Adly Mansour was sworn in as an interim-president.²⁵¹

In August 2012 the most violent clashes, where 600 people were killed²⁵², occurred between the security forces and the supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood who were camping in protest of the military regime²⁵³ in various places in Cairo, The Muslim Brotherhood called for the continuation of the protests.²⁵⁴ On 14^th of July, 170 people were killed in the clashes in Ramses Square, Cairo.²⁵⁵

As of October 2013 the military rule continues as Egypt remains unstable.²⁵⁶ The military regime, having suspended the constitution and overthrown the only non-military President to be democratically elected in Egypt in the past 60 years, is subjected to criticism as whether it would bring back the authoritarian elements of the Mubarak regime.²⁵⁷

1. 
   Before the protests: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and 40 years of his rule
   

In 1988, a Pan Am passenger Flight 103 going from London to New York was blown up as it was flying over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all of the 259 passengers and crew members on the plane and 11 on the ground.²⁷⁰ Two Libyan intelligence officers were suspected to have an involvement in the deadly terrorist attack and Gaddafi refused to hand them over.²⁷¹ In 1992 the United Nations Security Council announced sanctions against Libya and the regime was shunned by the international community.²⁷² Although weakened by the sanctions, it took 7 years of military embargoes and reduction of all diplomatic relations for Libya to hand over the 2 suspects, on the terms that they would be tried in a third party's Court.²⁷³ In 2001 one of the suspects was found guilty by the Scottish court set up in Netherlands.²⁷⁴ In 2003, Libya officially accepted the responsibility of the Lockerbie bombing and paid $2.7 billion as compensation to the 270 families.²⁷⁵

Following the events relating to the Lockerbie bombings, Libya’s attitude towards the West softened; in 2003 the government announced it would dismantle unconventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction.²⁷⁶ In 2004 Libya paid compensation $35 million for the nightclub bombing in Berlin,²⁷⁷ and in 2006 diplomatic relations with the US were restarted.²⁷⁸

In 2008 Gaddafi spoke at a conference in Columbia University, New York, stating: "There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet."²⁷⁹ The same year, Secretary of State of the US, Condoleezza Rice visited Libya as an indication of the level of diplomatic relations reached and Libya was the president of the Security Council in its monthly rotation and Gaddafi addressed the United Nations, first time since he took over in 1969.²⁸⁰ Overall, by the time the Arab Spring began, although relations with the international community were strained from the terrorist act, at the time the Arab Spring movement started, the Gaddafi regime was working towards a more cooperative diplomatic approach.²⁸¹

2. 
   Protests, Clashes and the Security Council Response
   

On 15^th of February 2011, the protests burning through the Middle East reached Libya, when human rights activist Fethi Tarbel was arrested.²⁸⁵ On the 17^th of February 2011, ‘day of rage’²⁸⁶or ‘the day of the revolt’²⁸⁷, widespread anti-authoritarian protests started in Benghazi, Ajdabiya, Darnah and Zintan, government forces responded by opening fire at them, reportedly killing a dozen protestors.²⁸⁸ By the 20^th of February the anti-Gaddafi rebellion had taken control over Benghazi²⁸⁹ and violent clashes continued.²⁹⁰ On the 21^st of February, Gaddafi vowed to crush the rebels uprising against him.²⁹¹ On the 26^th of February, the United Nations Security Council, in unanimity, passed resolution 1970 under Chapter VII, initiating an arms embargo to Libya, referring the situation to the International Criminal Court and freezing the assets of Col. Gaddafi and his immediate family members.²⁹² The National Transitional Council was founded on the 27^th of February with wide-participation from the rebel forces, shortly followed by a declaration stating it is the sole representative of Libya.²⁹³

For the following 15 day period, the violence increased and no one seemed to have the upper-hand.²⁹⁴ On the 17^th of March, the United Nations Security Council, passed resolution 1973 under Chapter VII.²⁹⁵ Resolution passed with 10 votes in favour and 5 states abstaining –Russia, China, India, Germany and Brazil.²⁹⁶ The resolution condemned the “gross and systematic violation of human rights, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture and summary executions”²⁹⁷ and authorized all states to take measures necessary to protect civilians and initiated an enforceable no-fly zone. ²⁹⁸

“4. Authorizes Member States... acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements... to take all necessary measures... to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory...”(United Nations Security Council Resolution S/RES/1973 (2011))²⁹⁹

On March 19^th, the French military was the first to strike Libyan government targets³⁰⁰, followed by British and American action under the name Operation Odyssey Dawn.³⁰¹

It was not until 22^nd of March when NATO took the first step by enforcing the arms embargo via sea as NATO ships in the Mediterranean started searching ships and preventing mercenaries to transmit weapons or any related material to Libya.³⁰² By the 31^st of March, the Alliance had taken control over all the international operations under the scope of the Security Council Resolution 1973, under the name Operation Unified Protector.³⁰³

The intense fighting went on for a couple of months, as NATO continued air-strikes. By the end of August, Tripoli was captured after days of violent fighting.³⁰⁴ By mid-September, 2011, it was clear that the Gaddafi regime was in its last days.³⁰⁵ The British Prime Minister and French President visited Libya, welcomed by cheering big crowds.³⁰⁶ In the meantime an interim government was formed by the National Transitional Council and recognized by the United Nations General Assembly on 16^th of September.³⁰⁷ Even though the rebels had effectively taken control of the entire country, the last strong-hold of Gaddafi – his hometown Sirte- fell October 20^th as the Colonel himself was captured and killed.³⁰⁸ On October 31^st Operation Unified Protector was ended as all ships belonging to the Allies left Libyan waters to return home.³⁰⁹

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