Annexation
Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to be an illegal act. It is distinct from the concepts of conquest, which describes the gaining of physical control, and cession, in which territory is given or sold through treaty.
Annexation can be legitimized if generally recognized by other states and international bodies.
The illegality of annexation means that states carrying out such acts usually avoid using the word annexation in describing their actions; in each of the unresolved annexations by Israel, Morocco and Russia, the states have avoided characterizing their actions as such.
Evolution of international law
Illegality
International law regarding the use of force by states evolved significantly in the 20th century. Key agreements include the 1907 Porter Convention, the 1920 Covenant of the League of Nations and the 1928 Kellogg–Briand Pact, culminating in Article 2 of Chapter I of the United Nations Charter, which is in force today: "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations".These principles were reconfirmed by the 1970 Friendly Relations Declaration. Since the use of force against territorial integrity or political independence is illegal, the question as to whether title or sovereignty can be transferred in such a situation has been the subject of legal debate. 'nnexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof' is an act of aggression according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Occupation and annexation
Illegally annexed territory is considered as still occupied under international law and the provisions of international humanitarian law continue to apply. For precision, such territory may be referred to as "occupied and illegally annexed". In a report to the United Nations General Assembly, Michael Lynk contrasted de jure annexation as a formal declaration by a state that it is claiming permanent sovereignty over territory and de facto annexation without the formal declaration as a descriptive term for a state establishing facts on the ground as the prelude to a future claim of sovereignty.The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 amplified the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 with respect to the question of the protection of civilians, and the rules regarding inviolability of rights have "an absolute character", making it much more difficult for a state to bypass international law through the use of annexation.
Annexations since the founding of the United Nations
Unresolved
Israeli annexations
East Jerusalem
During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured East Jerusalem, a part of the West Bank, from Jordan. While Jordan had annexed the West Bank in 1950, it was considered an illegal occupation and Jordan was recognized as the legal sovereign by the United Kingdom and possibly Pakistan. On 31 July 1988, Jordan relinquished this claim. It has remained occupied until the present day. On 27 June 1967, Israel unilaterally extended its law and jurisdiction to East Jerusalem and some of the surrounding area, incorporating about 70 square kilometers of territory into the Jerusalem Municipality. Although at the time, Israel informed the United Nations that its measures constituted administrative and municipal integration rather than annexation. Later rulings by the Israeli Supreme Court indicated that East Jerusalem had become part of Israel. In 1980, Israel passed the Jerusalem Law as part of its Basic Law, which declared Jerusalem the "complete and united" capital of Israel. In other words, Israel purported to annex East Jerusalem. The annexation was declared null and void by United Nations Security Council resolutions 252, 267, 271, 298, 465, 476 and 478.Jewish neighborhoods have since been built in East Jerusalem, and Israeli Jews have since also settled in Arab neighborhoods there, though some Jews may have returned from their 1948 expulsion after the Battle for Jerusalem. Only Costa Rica recognized Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, and those countries who maintained embassies in Israel did not move them to Jerusalem.
The United States Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which recognizes Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel and requires the relocation of the U.S. embassy there in 1995. The act included a provision permitting the president to delay its implementation due to national security concerns. This waiver was used by presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump, but was allowed to expire in 2019.
West Bank excluding East Jerusalem
Law professor Omar M. Dajani and others discuss de facto annexation. The debate considers whether, in all the circumstances, there is a pattern of behavior sufficient to conclude that Israel is in violation of the international prohibition against annexation, even absent a formal declaration.Golan Heights
Israel occupied two-thirds of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War, and subsequently built Jewish settlements in the area. In 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law, which extended Israeli "law, jurisdiction, and administration" to the area, including the Shebaa farms area. This declaration was declared "null and void and without international legal effect" by United Nations Security Council Resolution 497. The Federated States of Micronesia recognized the annexation and in 2019, the United States joined in recognition.The vast majority of Syrian Druze in Majdal Shams, the largest Syrian village in the Golan, have held onto their Syrian passports. When Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, 95% of the Majdal Shams residents refused Israeli citizenship, and are still firmly of that opinion, in spite of the Syrian Civil War.
On 29 November 2012, the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed it was "eeply concerned that Israel has not withdrawn from the Syrian Golan, which has been under occupation since 1967, contrary to the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions," and "tress the illegality of the Israeli settlement construction and other activities in the occupied Syrian Golan since 1967." The General Assembly then voted by majority, 110 in favour to 6 against, with 59 abstentions, to demand a full Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian Golan Heights.
On 25 March 2019, the United States recognized the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory.
In response, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated "the status of Golan has not changed", and the decision received worldwide condemnation with European members of the United Nations Security Council noting "we raise our strong concerns about the broader consequences of recognizing illegal annexation and also about broader regional consequences" and that "annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law", adding that unilateral changes to borders violate "the rules-based international order and the UN Charter".
Moroccan annexation of Western Sahara
The annexation of Western Sahara occurred in two stages: 1976 and 1979.In 1975, and following the Madrid Accords between Mauritania, Morocco, and Spain, the last Spanish troops withdrew from the territory and ceded the administration to Mauritania and Morocco. On 14 April 1976, the two countries annexed it between themselves via the Western Sahara partition agreement. This was challenged by an independentist movement, the Polisario Front that waged a guerrilla war against both Mauritania and Morocco. On 14 August 1979, after a military putsch, Mauritania renounced all territorial claims to Western Sahara and withdrew its troops. This prompted Morocco to extend its annexation to formerly Mauritanian-controlled areas.
A United Nations peace process was initiated in 1991, but it has been stalled, and as of mid-2012, the UN is holding direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario front to reach a solution to the conflict. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a partially recognized state that has claimed the entire region since 1976.
Russian annexations
In March 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, which had been a part of Ukraine since 1991 and administers the territory as two federal subjects – the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. The UN General Assembly considers the Russian possession of Crimea and Sevastopol to be an "attempted annexation" and the Russian Federation an "occupying power".Russia rejects the view that this was an annexation and regards it as an accession to the Russian Federation of a state that had just declared independence from Ukraine following a disputed referendum, and considers it secession as a result of irredentism. A term often used in Russia to describe these events is "re-unification" to highlight the fact that Crimea was a part of the Russian Empire from 1783 to 1917, and part of the Russian SFSR from 1921 to 1954. Few states recognize this view. Ukraine considers Crimea and Sevastopol its own territory, and oversees the Crimea Platform, an international diplomatic initiative to restore its sovereignty.
In September 2022, during the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Russian Federation, following referendums, declared the annexation of territories in southern and eastern Ukraine. As a result, Russia claimed sovereignty over the territories of five Ukrainian oblasts – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv – and recognised as its federal subjects Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts.