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Disarmament DocumentationBack to Disarmament Documentation 'Russia has... the right to eliminate or reduce the threat of terrorist acts', Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, September 10, 2004'Replies by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov to Questions from Al-Jazeera TV Channel', September 10, 2004. Question: Recently the Russian Defense Minister said that Russia has a right to strike blows at terrorists' bases at any point of the world. Does his statement not contradict your assertion that it is necessary to respect international law? Answer: It is necessary to respect international law. In particular, Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations confirms the right of states to self-defense. The resolutions of the UN Security Council adopted after the 11th of September, 2001, unanimously decreed that the right to self-defense extends not only to classical armed attacks, but also to armed attacks which are made by means of a terrorist act. Contemporary international law presumes that if a country is subjected to a terrorist attack and if there are serious grounds to assume that this attack may continue, then the state by way of the exercise of its right to self-defense can take necessary measures to eliminate or diminish such a lingering threat. The point is that the threat of terrorist acts against Russia lingers on. No one has any doubt about this. Question: Yesterday Jack Straw and Donald Rumsfeld actually supported Russia in such an approach. Do you not fear that the Americans and British will first allow Russia to deliver such blows and then start talking about aggression and human rights abuses? Answer: This is a theoretical, hypothetical question. Russia has the right to self-defense from terrorist acts and the right to eliminate or reduce the threat of terrorist acts. This does not at all mean that we tomorrow will begin to use this right. Our representatives have repeatedly stressed that the right will be exercised in cases when we have necessary evidences, and that the use of methods of force in accordance with our right to self-defense will be a last resort. They also stressed readiness to continue fighting international terrorism in coordination and cooperation with the world community in the framework of the antiterrorist coalition. To speculate therefore who and how can react to some or other actions will be unproductive, because it is not a sweeping right, but a right specific, linked to specific threats. Source: Russian Embassy to the United States, http://www.russianembassy.org. © 2003 The Acronym Institute. |