Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
Oftentimes, when a foreign state refuses to get involved when another country is subjected to a military coup, the foreign state uses the principle of non-intervention as the reason for inaction. The principle of non-intervention in those instances takes on the role of becoming a shield against preserving or protecting human rights. Specifically, in Myanmar, the principle of non-intervention is being used as a weapon by the military junta, allowing it to strengthen its grip on the levers of power and crush any fledgling opposition to its rule with unimaginable cruelty and violence. This article advances the premise that a limited exception on utilization of the principle of non-intervention must be recognized in situations where the duly elected government of the people of a State has been displaced by a military junta. Embracing interventions to dislodge a military junta, combined with a refusal by the global community to recognize the military junta as the legitimate government, collectively will serve to weaken the military's coup and lead to their ouster. In the absence of this proposed exception to the principle of non0intervention, the protections envisioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are betrayed by inaction and are essentially meaningless.
Recommended Citation
Ronnie R. Gipson Jr.,
Crafting an Exception to the Principle of Non-Intervention to End Military Coups, 31
Buff. Hum. Rts. L. Rev.
154
(2025).
Available at: https://insight.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/fac_works/524
Included in
Human Rights Law Commons, International Humanitarian Law Commons, International Law Commons