Entebbe Hostage Crisis (From Terrorism, Political Violence and World Order, P 559-602, 1984, Henry H Han, ed. - See NCJ-98738)

• NCJ Number: 98750
• Author(s): F A Boyle
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 44 pages
• Sale Source: University Press of America
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study uses the Entebbe hostages crisis to develop a theoretical framework for analyzing the functions performed by international law and international organizations during international crises.

Abstract

The author delineates five functions performed by international law and international organizations during the Entebbe crisis: (1) definition, (2) decision, (3) adjudication, (4) resolution, and (5) redefinition. International law provided legal judgments that define the incident as involving the internationally proscribed offenses of hijacking, piracy, and hostagetaking and determined the standard for evaluating Uganda's (the country where the hijacked plane was forced to land) responsibility in the incident. In terms of decisionmaking, international law influenced the decisionmaking process of the Israeli government in determining how to respond to the incident. International law allowed adjudication of the outstanding dispute between Israel and Uganda after the successful Israeli raid on the Entebbe airport. This discussion reviews issues and processes in the adjudication of the incident by the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Security Council. The outcome of adjudication was a consensus condemnation of hijacking and hostagetaking and a refusal to hold Israel at fault for the raid, although the practice of unilateral forceful intervention in another state's terriroty was condemned. The fourth function of international law and organizations in resolving the crisis (resolution) in this case is the Security Council's inhibiting of Ugandan retaliation against Israel. The final function is seen in the redefinition of international standards for state behavior following the incident. The author believes that this functional analysis elucidates the interaction of law and politics throughout the crisis, providing knowledge to assist in improving the effectiveness of international law and forums in resolving crises. A total of 177 footnotes are provided.