Sense and Nonsense about Disproportionate Force

In other words, force becomes disproportionate when the costs of using it are too high.

As the war in Lebanon continues, the term disproportionate force is being bandied about as if some crystal clear principle of international law lay behind it, telling us when force is disproportionate and why it is illegal.

However, this does not mean that force becomes disproportionate simply when the costs outweigh the benefits.

How, then, do we know when force is disproportionate? This is a matter of constant debate.

In response to Hamas rockets, Israel is now using disproportionate force, just as it did in Lebanon.

So what, then, does disproportionate force mean, and what is its place in the law of war?

The problem of disproportionate force has different contours on the battlefield, when soldiers are already at war.

Among all the dozens of war crimes in international law, none mentions the element of disproportionate force.

And resolving internal problems through a disproportionate use of force reassured even the regime s security obsessed ex KGB men.

Norway was especially concerned about the Israeli army's recent disproportionate use of force in densely populated areas of Gaza.

But civilian deaths as a result of military combat are not enough to say that disproportionate force has been used.

55. Violations of physical integrity due to excessive use of force imply that despite of the fact that the use of force is legitimate in principle, the force used by the official was disproportionate.

the force applied in a particular situation. Disproportionate or excessive exercise of police powers amounts to CIDT and is always prohibited.

Apart from Palestinian fighters killed and injured, civilian casualties are mainly caused by the Israeli army's disproportionate use of force.3

Disproportionate exercise of police powers

It further condemned the disproportionate use of force against civilians and the creation of a humanitarian crisis by Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

Incidental injuries, such as civilians suffer, are not violations of the international rules of war unless the attackers used indiscriminate or disproportionate force.

It is neither disproportionate nor excessive.

This is wrong, disproportionate and dishonest.

In its efforts to ensure its security, Israel should not resort to disproportionate force and extrajudicial killings and must prevent non combatant civilian casualties.

But the Americans used a modest amount of force to remove the Taliban government, avoided disproportionate civilian casualties, and were able to create an indigenous political framework.

(a) Eyewitness reports of indiscriminate and disproportionate force used by government troops to quell demonstrations in Andijan in May 2005 resulting in the death of many civilians

Africa has a disproportionate share of the infection.

First, countries with a diminishing stake retain disproportionate power.

For the EU to succeed, it must pursue the policy launched by the French Presidency, giving priority to stopping the war and distancing itself from Israel s disproportionate use of force.

Progress has also been disproportionate in relation to the Goals.

The Government's response to the insurrection was ruthless and disproportionate.

Africa has a disproportionate share of the numbers of doctors.

(9) The Committee is concerned about reported cases of disproportionate use of force by the police, including fatal shootings, and ill treatment at the time of arrest and during police custody.

There are a number of ways to account for Jews disproportionate achievement.

An increasingly disproportionate number of girls are being infected with HIV AIDS.

And as you can see, Africa has a disproportionate share of the infection.

Such a consequence would, however, be disproportionate under article 26 of the Covenant.

Inherent in the concept of CIDT is the disproportionate exercise of police powers.

(h) Forced displacement of its citizens, including a disproportionate displacement of ethnic minorities

The report described the brutality of Israel's military campaign against the Palestinian people over the past five years, which had involved excessive and disproportionate use of force and made a policy of targeted extrajudicial killing.

However, this does not mean that force becomes disproportionate simply when the costs outweigh the benefits. After all, a woman may use deadly force to avoid being raped, even though the life of the aggressor, one would think, is worth more than the sexual integrity of the potential victim.

Instead, certain members now do a disproportionate amount of the fighting, funding, and dying.

Compared to developed countries, rogue actors do disproportionate damage in a country like Guinea.

It is also women who suffer the disproportionate health impacts of unsustainable energy sources.

Reprisals that are disproportionate by comparison with the provocation that preceded them are prohibited.

Reprisals which are disproportionate in comparison with the provocation which preceded them are prohibited.

It exemplifies Western hypocrisy whether over nuclear non proliferation, the refusal to deal with the elected Hamas, or readiness to criticize Russia for disproportionate use of force in Georgia while remaining quiet over 1,300 deaths in Gaza.

The Committee remains much concerned about the actions and policies of the occupying Power, including the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force, the practice of collective punishment and extrajudicial assassinations and the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians.