TJC_H1_HISTORY_P1_ANS

Temasek Junior College Preliminary Examinations 2015 H1 History (8814)/H2 History (9731/01) – Mark Scheme © Temasek Junior College 2015 Section A: Source-based Study THE UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW 1 Read the Sources and then answer the question that follows. Source A The General Assembly established several conventions that addressed specific terrorist acts – such as aircraft hijacking, the kidnapping of diplomats and the taking of hostages – and considered such acts as criminal offences. It favoured a domestic law enforcement approach that obligated states to either prosecute or extradite those accused of terrorist acts. The changing nature of terrorism in the 1990s – in particular, its more global reach – exposed this a pproach as less than effective… As terrorism became increasingly seen as a threat to international peace and security, states started to favour a firmer approach that allowed for the use of economic sanctions and military force. The Security Council’s resolutions in the 1990s codified this approach. Sanctions made support of terrorist a ctivities more costly, and the state sponsors of terrorists, such as Libya and Iran, more responsive. Adapted from an academic article, “The UN and the Campaign against Terrorism”, 2004. Source B Evaluation of the ICJ frequently dwelled on its relatively light case load due to the reluctance of states to submit disputes, but other opinions stress its contributions to the process of systematizing, consolidating, codifying and progressively developing international law…the ICJ has contributed to peaceful settlement of disputes of several different kinds, most particularly involving land and maritime boundaries, and to restoring peace between parties, although governments still prefer to use political methods in many cases. Adapted from an academic book on the history of international organisations, 2004. Source C The Palestinians’ near -monopoly on terrorism during the 1960s led the UN to treat the problem as a local issue. High -profile acts of terrorism did not extend beyond these bounds until Ju ly 1968, when members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked El Al Flight 426, which carried scores of non -Israeli citizens – an incident that effectively laid the foundation for al -Qaeda's September 11 attacks decades later. Yet eve n after a series of plane hijackings in September 1970 and the murder of eleven athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics, the UN Security Council (UNSC) still refrained from passing a resolution to crack down on terrorist groups. Not until the end of the C old War, the drafting of the Oslo Accords, and the rise of al -Qaeda in the 1990s did the UN begin to view terrorism as something more than an Arab -Israeli issue…the UNSC Resolution 1267 (1999) had already imposed targeted sanctions on al -Qaeda and its supp orters, as well as the Taliban. Yet this resolutio