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MARITIME INTERCEPTION OPERATIONS(Sanctions Enforcement and the Proliferation Security Initiative)

M/V SO SAN INTERCEPTED WITH SCUD MISSILES

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Blockades

• Belligerent operation

• Prevent vessels from entering or exiting specified ports under control of enemy

• Stop enemy transport of goods and personnel

• Established in war, armed conflict, or as directed by UN Security Council

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Rules for Blockades

• Established by government with specified time and place

• Notification given to affected nations

• Non-interference with commerce to / from neutral ports

• Ships violating blockade subject to capture

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Maritime Interceptions

• Flexible concept

• Not clearly defined

• Not a belligerent act

• May be employed short of war or armed conflict

• Directed toward limited objectives

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Rules for Maritime Interceptions

• Violators are stopped or diverted

• Violators are not subject to capture

• Minimum force to be used to achieve objectives

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Persian Gulf - a case study

• UN Security Council resolution adopted

• Stringent economic sanctions imposed– economic embargo against Iraq

• U.S. moved quickly to enforce embargo

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UN Resolution 665- the Persian Gulf

• Called upon member states to use such measures necessary to halt maritime shipping

• Invited member states to cooperate as necessary

• Requested all member states to provide assistance as needed

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How to classify the operation in the Persian Gulf?

• Blockade - pertains to nations at war

• Quarantine - last used in 1960’s during Cuban Missile Crisis

• Came to be known as “maritime interception operation”

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Interception Force and its Mission in Persian Gulf

• Warships of over twenty nations participated

• Special rules promulgated to enforce embargo

• Focus was strict but reasonable enforcement of the embargo

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Recent Developments

• Termination of Arabian Gulf MIO

• Al Qaeda Leadership Interception Operations

• M/V KAREN A arms smuggler

• M/V SO AN scud carrier

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Recent Developments

• Proliferation Security Initiative– Announced May 2003– Create the basis for practical cooperation to

address the problem of WMD proliferation– Cooperation among states more effective than

individual state measures– Builds on existing international efforts to address

proliferation problem

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Proliferation Security Initiative

• Legal Foundation– UN Charter Article 51– UN Security Council Resolutions 1540 (April

2004) and UNSCR 1373 (Sept 2001)– Existing Treaty Law– Relevant domestic law

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Proliferation Security Initiative

• Core participants– Australia Poland– France Portugal– Germany Spain– Italy United Kingdom– Japan United States– Netherlands

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Proliferation Security Initiative

• Operational Undertakings– Effective measures to interdict WMD– Streamlined exchange of intelligence regarding

WMD– Strengthen domestic and international anti-

WMD proliferation laws– Prohibit transport or assistance to transport

WMD– Flag state boardings and searches

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Proliferation Security Initiative

• Operational Undertakings– Boarding and searching any suspect vessel– Flag state consent to another state boarding and

seizure of cargo– Coastal state boarding and searching suspect

vessel– Search of suspect aircraft – Prevent possible transshipment points from

being used as WMD transfer points

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Proliferation Security Initiative

• Vision “Our vision for PSI is that a year from now (June 2005) we will have

smooth, effective communication and operational procedures in place to interdict shipments and will have utilized them in specific cases; we will know more about how proliferators act and have devised strategies to work together to defeat them; we will have shut down the ability of persons, companies, or other entities to engage in this deadly trade; we will have undertaken effective outreach to the trade facilitation industry; and we will have made it increasingly difficult and costly for

rogue states and terrorists to engage in their deadly work. “

Statement by John R. Bolton Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security May 31, 2004 at the first anniversary PSI Conference held in Krakow, Poland.

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