Self-Defense by Non-State Actors in States of Fragmented Authority

Abstract

Abstract The current article focuses on Events in the Middle East in relation to non-state actors and the right of self-defense. As study-case is adopted for Yemen, where the Houthis, as the de facto authority—and, according to their own standpoint as the de jure authority too—of the state, or at least large parts of it, declare that they exercise a right to self-defense against the Saudi-led intervention. The theme is examined in the context of protracted conflicts, which from non-international become internationalized armed conflicts, in states of fragmented authority and sovereignty. The argument is that while non-state actors (NSAs) do not autonomously possess a right of their own to self-defense, in cases involving states of fragmented authority and sovereignty they may exercise this right, on behalf of the state which is suffering the attack for as long as the government is not in a position to fulfill its responsibility regarding the defense of the state. The article does not advocate a contra legem interpretation of Article 51, expanding its application to non-state actors. It argues in favor of the substitution of the entity that is entitled to implement Article 51, when the government of a state is absent or incapable of carrying out its duties. It is in this sense that non-state actors are linked to the right of self-defense.