CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

VERONIKA BÍLKOVÁ CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ US, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), whereas other States have intervened solely in Syria (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE). 31 The second coalition is made up of the Russian Federation, Syria, Iraq and Iran ( RSII coalition ): this coalition has intervened mostly, albeit not exclusively, in the territory of Syria. The two coalitions have a loose structure. They are not subject to a unified command and their members have large discretion in deciding on their military involvement. This makes it difficult to determine which actions take place within the coalition and which are undertaken on a unilateral basis (e.g. Turkish incursions into Iraq). States, moreover, are not the only parties to the armed conflict against the IS. Various non-state actors, some with a high level of autonomy (Kurdish forces in Iraq) also take part in the conflict. It is important to recall that the campaign against the IS is not limited to the direct use of military force. Other States have contributed to the campaign by training Iraqi armed or police forces, supplying weapons and ammunition to those fighting against the IS, or providing material or financial help to them. In addition to countries such as Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, or Spain, the Czech Republic has also had a small role to play in this respect, as it has shipped weapons and ammunition to Iraq. 32 In the course of 2016, moreover, the Czech Republic proposed, and proceeded with, the deployment in the territory of Iraq of the Military Advisory Team 33 and of the Field Surgical Team. 34 Such supporting activities not involving the direct use of military force fall outside the scope of this analysis. This is so, because the prohibition of the use of force under international law solely applies to the use of military force and not, as the International Court of Justice (hereafter ICJ) made it clear in the Nicaragua Case (1986), to “assistance /…/ in the form of the provision of weapons or logistical or other support”. 35 The preparatory works of the UN Charter confirm that the “force” in the “use of force” is solely military force (not political or economic force). 36 2.2 The Use of Force against the Islamic State – Law Current international law prohibits the use of force, as well as the threat of force, in international relations. The prohibition is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter which stipulates that “/a/ll 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”. It is generally accepted that this rule has a customary nature and belongs among the peremptory norms of international law ( jus cogens ) that cannot be unilaterally derogated from. In the traditional interpretation, the prohibition “only protects and is only addressed to States” . 37 Non-state actors using force against their own State or a foreign State do not violate Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. At the same 31 Operation Inherent Resolve. Targeted Operations Against ISIL Terrorists, US Department of Defense, online at https://www.defense.gov/News/Special-Reports/0814_Inherent-Resolve/ (29 April 2017). 32 See Czech Republic ready to do more in war against ISIS, Radio Prague, 19 November 2015. 33 STROPNICKÝ, Martin, Česká republika se stane aktivním účastníkem v boji proti Islámskému státu, Poslanecká sněmovna, 4 May 2016. 34 Czech field surgical team leaves for Iraq to operate at U.S. base, Prague Daily Monitor , 6 December 2016. 35 ICJ, Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Judgment, 27 June 1986, par. 195. While the statement focused on the assistance to non-state armed opposition groups, there is no reason why the conclusion should be different when the assistance is provided to a State. 36 RANDELZHOFER, Albrecht, Article 51, in SIMMA, Bruno (ed.), The Charter of the Unite Nations: A Commentary, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 117-121. 37 Ibidem , p. 121.

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