UNDOF

DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

2015-16

FINAL DRFT

PIL

UN DISENGAGEMENT FORCE IN
GOLAN.

Under Guidance of:

Submitted
Dr. A. P. Singh by Srijan Jha (143)

Associate Professor (Law) IVth Semester

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya Section- B

National Law University.

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CONTENTS

UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS......................................................................................2

CONCEPT..............................................................................................................................2

LEGALITY............................................................................................................................2

UTILITY................................................................................................................................3

BACKGROUND OF THE GOLAN HEIGHTS........................................................................3

GEOGRAPHICAL PLACEMENT........................................................................................3

HISTORICAL OCCURANCES.............................................................................................4

ANALYSIS OF GOLAN HEIGHTS SITUATION..................................................................6

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UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

Chapter VII of the UN Charter is based on the philosophy of resolution of International

conflicts through collective security measures (peacekeeping).1

CONCEPT

With over 120,000 personnel worldwide, UN peacekeeping is helping countries torn by

conflict to create lasting peace. From strengthening government ministries in South Sudan to
supporting elections in Haiti, from protecting civilians in Eastern Congo to maintaining
ceasefire lines along the Golan Heights, military, police and civilian staff are working in 16
missions around the world to assist the governments and people of our host countries to
prevent a recurrence of conflict. The United Nations (UN) itself was founded in 1945 in the
aftermath of a devastating world war. Since its inception, the UN has been called upon to
maintain international Peacekeepers patrolling the roads of Ituri, DRC Chapter 1 | Brief
introduction to UN peacekeeping This chapter provides an introduction to UN peacekeeping,
including guiding principles such as consent, impartiality and the non-use of force. This is
followed by a brief history of UN peacekeeping, a description of what happens at UN
headquarters in New York and a discussion of recent key trends and reforms in the world of
peacekeeping. Brief introduction to UN peacekeeping Civil Affairs Handbook peace and
security, and to support the establishment of environments in which peace processes can be
consolidated. 1948 saw the deployment of the first UN field mission to support peace. With
over 60 years of experience, todays multidimensional peacekeeping operations work closely
with UN agencies, funds and programmes to deliver a joint UN response to conflict
worldwide.

LEGALITY

The legality of the peace keeping operations, particularly the UNDOF could be understood by
the help of this flow of legal and international provisions. Chapter VII of the UN Charter
speaks about the resolution of International conflicts in such a way that the International
peace is maintained and the inertness of chaos remains as it is. This leads us to A.2 of the UN
Charter, which is a document, supporting the same concept. Now this provision gives the
1 International Law, Dr. Gurdip Singh (3rd edn, Eastern Book Company, 2015).

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General Assembly the power to contact/consult the Security Council for such tasks.
Strengthening the very same, A.41 and A.42 of the UN Charter come up. These provisions
talk about the non-armed and armed measures that the Security Council can take.

Now, as we are in the realm of the functions and work of the Security Council, we have
Resolution 350 of the Security Council which has gone without rejection and hence a 6
month UNDOF was stationed in Golan. Now as per Resolutions 242 and 338, the ceasefire of
the war was brought into picture, and it served as a precursor to the entire setting.

UTILITY

The world has seen a shift from war to peacekeeping operations. The former was more of a
trial by combat nature and the latter is concerned more with human welfare. The utility of
war is hence decreasing and the UN Peacekeeping missions are coming more to the surface,
thanks to the active participations of all the countries who dont want there to be any more
bloodshed. A yet simpler explanation to the ever-growing shift is in the analysis of the
aftermaths of war. In the aftermath of war, there is a huge loss of capital and human force of
both the parties, whereas there is mutual and global money is spent in the peacekeeping
forces. Not only this, peacekeeping is also working for the best of developed countries and
developing countries alike. For the developed, there is an inherent desire that the developing
dont go through a Clandestine reformation and there is guns and barrels everywhere and for
the developing it is an interest to use all the given resources in the best way possible.

BACKGROUND OF THE GOLAN HEIGHTS

The place called Golan Heights is buffer demography between the countries of Syria and
Israel, with tremendous issues of superior sovereignty in place. After the end of the 1973 war
between Israel and Syria, United Nations Organization came in for damage limitation and a
disengagement force was stationed in the basaltic plateau of Golan, or Syrian Golan or Golan
Heights, which is a region in Levant.

GEOGRAPHICAL PLACEMENT

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The demography of Golan is that of a plateau, which has been in question since the first holy
wars. The plateau of Golan Heights is surrounded by Mount Hermon in the North. This
mountain range is strategically the superior point and is under the control of the Israeli
Government. As a highland holds an advantage in military operations, primarily because of
two reasons:

First, a highland is difficult to infiltrate if the adjoining province is not a mountain or

a yet higher land.
Second, tactically it is easier for the country with a border in the higher land to attack
the country with a comparatively low altitude.

the mountains have been in hot demand for both the countries at rift. Israeli Government
doesnt want to compromise anything on the range because of it falling in its domestic
boundaries. The Syrian counterparts have advocated since some time now that the highlands
give an undue advantage and a bullish outlook to Israel, who is the accused in this case.

Towards west, we find that the Golan Heights is surrounded by Hula Valley which leads
further to the Sea of Galilee. The only problem with this part is the aspect of probable
tourism: Israeli Government has made serious endeavours for converting the valley into a
tourist destination, but the existence of this crisis has prevented the plan to turn into reality.
On its eastern side, it is surrounded by Wadi Raqqad, which is another valley, but in the
Syrian province. Towards south, there is Yarmouk River, which is one of the prime water
sources of the Syrian population.

The western 2/3rd of the Golan Heights is under the de facto rule of Israel and the rest 1/3rd is
under the Syrian control. The Israeli forces won their share of possession after a 6 day war in
1973, and the boundary running through Golan Heights between Israel and Syria is called
Purple Line. Internationally, the entire place is recognised to be a Syrian province, but in
reality, more than a half is controlled by Israel. The buffer zone is about 80 km long, and
between 0.5 to 10 km wide, forming an area of 235 km. The zone straddles the Purple Line,
separating the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights and the rest of Syria, where the
west line is known as "Alpha", and the east line as "Bravo". The zone also borders the
Lebanon Blue Line to the north and forms a border of less than 1 km with Jordan to the south.

HISTORICAL OCCURANCES

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On 6 October 1973, in a surprise joint attack, Egypt attacked Israeli forces on the Suez
Canal and in the Sinai while Syria attacked Israeli forces on the Golan Heights. The Israelis
stopped the attacks and retook most of the lost ground. Israeli forces then pushed deeper into
Syria and Egypt. Fighting continued until 22 October 1973, when United Nations Security
Council Resolution 338 called for a ceasefire. Two days later, Israel and Egypt violated the
ceasefire and resumed fighting, resulting in United Nations Security Council Resolution 339,
which ended the war. The conflict is now known as the Yom Kippur War. The United Nations
Emergency Force II moved into place between Israeli and Egyptian armies in the Suez Canal
area, stabilizing the situation.

Resolution 339 primarily reaffirmed the terms outlined in Resolution 338 (itself based
on Resolution 242). It required the forces of both sides to return to the position they held
when the initial ceasefire came into effect, and a request from the United Nations Secretary-
General to undertake measures toward the placement of observers to supervise the ceasefire.

Tension remained high on the Israel-Syria front, and during March 1974 the situation became
increasingly unstable. The United States undertook a diplomatic initiative, which resulted in
the signing of the "Agreement on Disengagement" (S/11302/Add.1, annexes I and II)
between Israeli and Syrian forces. The Agreement provided for a buffer zone and for two
equal areas of limitation of forces and armaments on both sides of the area. It also called for
the establishment of a United Nations observer force to supervise its implementation. The
Agreement was signed on 31 May 1974 and, on the same day, the UN Security
Council adopted Resolution 350 to set up the UNDOF.

On 3 June 1974 General Briceno from Peru arrived, from Cairo, at the headquarters of
the UNTSO ISMAC House, in Damascus and assumed operational command of all UNTSO
Observers detailed to UNDOF. The first phase of the operation was manning the observation
posts. The UNTSO observers were transferred to UNDOF on 1 June 1974 and were joined by
advanced parties from both Austria and Peru on 3 June with Canadian and Polish personnel
transferred from UNEF II to the UNDOF Area of Responsibility. From 6 June 1974 to 25
June 1974, the second phase which included the physical disengagement of Syrian and Israeli
forces was initiated. The Austrians and Polish shared a base camp at Kanikir near the town of
Sassa. The Peruvians were deployed south of Quneitra near Ziouani. The Canadian logistics
company and signal element were situated in Ziouani near Quneitra. The force headquarters
remained in Damascus. When UNDOF was re-organized in 1993 (the Finnish Government

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had decided to pull its troops from UNDOF), the UNDOF HQ moved from Damascus to
Camp Faouar, the Austrian base camp situated half-way between the Sassa checkpoint and
Quneitra, some 60 kms from Damascus.

The initial composition of the UNDOF in 1974 was of personnel from Austria, Peru, Canada
and Poland. Today, about a thousand troops are provided by Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal,
and Netherlands.

ANALYSIS OF GOLAN HEIGHTS SITUATION

The UNDOF or United Nations Disengagement Force has maintained journal since 2004 to
keep the entire world informed about the happenings. In its October- December, 2011 edition
named GOLAN n 129 , the Chief of Staff was found saying, and as I quote:

The peace in the region is very fragile indeed, as recent events in Israel,
Gaza, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria have proven. The geopolitical
landslide in the Middle East challenged UNDOF and its mandate in 2011 like
never before. The wave of the so called Arab Spring swept over Syria and its
neighboring countries, and also impacted the Area of Operations of UNDOF.
UNDOF and OGG peacekeepers have been confronted with the most serious
incidents not only on the NAKBA and NAKSA Day in the Area of Separation
and in the Area of Limitation since its establishment in 1974. Having said this,
it is obvious and has already been proven that due to the recent developments
in the region and the international and diplomatic actions taken, UNDOF
gained more strategic importance than ever before in keeping the peace along
the ceasefire line on the Golan Heights.

Similar was the stance taken by the Security Council report on Golan Heights. They were
found saying that the spillover of the Syrian civil war into UNDOFs area of operations has
significantly affected the way the mission carries out its mandate. In September 2014, after
Al-Qaida affiliated Al-Nusra Front overran Syrian government forces in Quneitra (a Syrian
district close to the Israeli-occupied Golan), the majority of UNDOF peacekeepers relocated
from the Bravo (Syrian) side to the Alpha (Israeli) side of the ceasefire line. A small number

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of peacekeepers are still deployed on the Syrian side on Mt. Hermon, and UNDOF command
has moved to Damascus. 2

The concern that I have over here is that, even when there has been a landslide change in the
scenarios around, the aspect and functions of UNDOF have been properly carried out. From
just being a peacekeeping mission in the Gulf belt, we can see that now UNDOF observed the
transfer of people and cargo trucks across the ceasefire line, as well as Israeli forces
interacting with members of armed groups. Israel characterises these transfers and
interactions as humanitarian in nature, while the Druze and the Tehran-backed Lebanese
militia Hezbollahalso active in the Golan on behalf of the Syrian regimesuspect Israel of
aiding Al-Nusra in the south.

Coming on the legal point of view, the Resolution 497 of 1981 of the Security Council has
clearly said that the assertion of jurisdiction, administration and laws in the acquired Golan
province is illegal and has no backing in any of the International accoldes or UN
charters/resolutions, and has hence asked the Israeli forces to retreat and leave the civilians of
the Golan as per the discretion of the Syrian Government.3

In a meticulously researched and very well-written book, she focuses on six case studies, and
analyses in particular, also from a doctrinal perspective, the effect of transition from an illegal
regime on treaty relations of the territory, the domestic law of the territory, settlers implanted
by illegal regimes, and land titles. The selection of the case studies is defensible, and the
cases are painstakingly investigated in minute detail, including on the basis of field visits and
interviews where legal texts and existing analysis were lacking, eg in respect of the
artificially created South African Bantustans. As a minor point, it surprises that Israel's
annexation of the Golan Heights and the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank,
accompanied by the implantation of a large number of settlers, is not addressed. The fact that
the current status of these territorial entities resulted from Israel's exercise of self-defence,
that there is little actual discussion of transition with regard to these entities, and that the law
of occupation is considered a more appropriate legal framework, does not seem to be fully

2 Available at http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2015-
09/undof_golan_heights_11.php.

3 International Legal Materials, Vol. 21, Issue 1 (January 1982), pp. 214-215 21 I.L.M. 214
(1982) .

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convincing. This issue, nonetheless, does not cast a shadow over the structure and the
analytical quality of the work.4

The activities of the UNDOF include:

1) Overall supervision of the buffer zone
2) Monitoring of Syrian and Israeli military presence in the area (from
permanent observation posts and by patrols day and night, on foot and motorized)
3) Intervention in cases of entry to the separation area by military personnel from either
side, or attempted operations
4) Bi-weekly inspections of 500 Israeli and Syrian military locations in the areas of
limitation on each side to ensure agreed limits of equipment and forces are being
followed
5) Assistance to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the passing of mail and
people through the area, and in the provision of medical services
6) Identifying and marking of minefields
7) Promotion of minefield awareness amongst civilians and support of the United
Nations Childrens Fund activities in this area
8) Work to protect the environment and to minimize the impact of the UNDOF on the
area.
On a concluding note I would like to say that even if what has been done by Israel is prima
facie illegal and wrong, and the only reason that Syria is not handling this problem is because
of its entanglement in its civil war and its recent rift with the United States of America, the
UNDOF is more of a damage limitation done rather than a punitive action which the Security
council could have taken, in the form of embargos and restrictions.

4 Publication Review: Transition from Illegal Regimes in International Law, International & Comparative Law
Quarterly 2015, 64(1), 231-233.