Dilemmi morali e legali dell'intervento militare umanitario: il caso della Libia- Legal and Moral Dilemmas of Military Humanitarian Intervention: the case of Libya

The analysis of this work is focused on the “Military Humanitarian Interventions”. D. Chatterje and D. Scheid define them as “military actions with humanitarian purposes, intended to rescue and protect people in a foreign territory from gross violations of their basic human rights”. The word “intervention” is referred to a coercive action by a foreign party (or parties) that takes place within a sovereign state. Another definition is provided by S. Hoffman that argue they are “outside interventions entailing a resort to force, or to forces, in the domestic affairs of a country, in order to protect people from extreme violence”. Recent international conflicts, especially in the last decades, put in evidence the increasing relevance of the notion of “military humanitarian intervention”. The use of military force for humanitarian purposes led by one, or by a coalition of states, against a member of the International Community, raises several questions on different dimensions of analysis, all considered in this work. Regarding the legal side, it is necessary to understand how and if it is legally possible to intervene against a state for humanitarian reasons whereas from a moral point of view, the question is how and if this kind of intervention could be considered either permissible, or obligatory. About the first dimension, it becomes necessary to analyse the normative antinomies that raise from the legal protection of different international values in the International Community, such as the territorial sovereignty of states , the safeguard of basic Human Rights and the maintenance of Peace and International security. In general, we should answer the question of whether it is legally possible to intervene militarily against a sovereign state for humanitarian reasons and if so, how. So, who has the authority to authorise a military operation of this kind? And following what rules and criteria? For what kind of violations is it possible, or mandatory, to intervene? Regarding the moral concerns, it seems necessary to understand if these kinds of interventions could be permissible, or maybe if, in some situations, the use of military force for humanitarian purposes represents a moral duty for the International Community. Here the questions that arise are quite similar: Is it possible (and if so, in what cases), to find a moral justification of an intervention in the name of Human Rights? Who should have the moral authority to decide? Is it possible to find ethical criteria for a military intervention? Moreover, crucial problems such as the effective implementation of these military operations and their consistency arise around this issue. The aim of this work is not to establish absolute truths, but to analyze critically every aspect of a fundamental issue in which every decision of the International Community (action or inaction), corresponds to a different attitude towards the behaviour of the states, and, as a consequence, towards millions of individuals. In this context, the analysis of the recent dramatic events in Libya, in the second section of this work, will provide concrete opportunities for reflexion. In the final section of the work, I will support the idea that the International Community has a duty to intervene, in extreme situations, assessing both the legal and moral concerns previously analyzed.