Topic: 2025 – Responsibility of International Organizations
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Dimitri Hong
Committee: GA 6 Legal
Delegation: Türkiye
International organizations/IOs are the cornerstone of aid for many conflict areas, but when they fail to act in some cases, it is unclear if IOs are liable and responsible for that failure (Klabbers). Enforcement is the hardest part of the responsibility of these IOs because it’s unclear if IOs are obligated to follow international law (Klabbers). It also makes it harder with these IOs having immunity from national courts however there is no international court with a jurisdiction over these IOs (Hartwig). The most exemplar case of omission of an international organization was the UN failure to stop the Rwandan genocide (Klabbers). Instead of protecting the citizens they withdrew troops even when the UN had received reports about bad events in the future for Rwanda (Klabbers). Then when the genocide happened, they did not try to stop or intervene and after the fact they established a criminal tribunal to prosecute war criminals (Klabbers). The UN’s approach to this genocide was frowned upon by the public, but there was no legal obligation for the UN to interfere in matters like this (Klabbers). This situation was made worse because it was hard to find peacekeepers, then some of those that were sent had orders to not take risks (Klabbers). Also, with this the civilian police arrived late and did not truly have passion to fix the situation (Klabbers). Then finally this mission did not get any advisors to help the situation on the ground which was needed for a ethically motivated genocide (Klabbers).The mandate rule then applies to every organization, meaning if a responsibility is not written in their mandate, they then do not have to act in certain matters (Klabbers, Hartwig). The logistics part of when a UN assistance mission was sent was terrible with some peacekeepers going for the weapons and training or just simply being unqualified for peacekeeping (Klabbers). When the UN assistance mission arrived, they did not get much UN backing with civilian police arriving late, no legal advisor, human rights officer or a humanitarian coordinator (Klabbers). If these officials had been sent, they could have helped a lot with this mission and made it much more successful (Klabbers). The problem with many international legal documents and Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (ARIO) is that it is very unclear (Klabbers, Hartwig). In ARIO article 4 it says that responsibility can cover actions but also omissions, but it does not explain what an omission and action would be by an organization (Hartwig). Organizations are also only recognized as international organizations when they are recognized by member states (Hartwig). So, if not recognized, they technically are not under international law (Hartwig). States could also use IOs to throw responsibility of a breach on these IOs instead of themselves which has not yet happened. However, in the ARIO it does state if a member state helps an IO commit a breach of international law, they are liable for that breach (Hartwig). For normal breaches if IOs fail to pay for their breach of international law, the member state of the IO is required to pay for it but does not assume responsibility for such breach (Hartwig).
Since the creation of the nation of Türkiye and during Ottoman rule, we have always committed to international organizations, which is a major part of our foreign policy (Küçük). Through these organizations we wish to show our solidarity with the west and to maintain the status quo in the world (Küçük). We followed this principle due to our focus of preserving our national independence during an era of tension (Küçük). During the Cold War due to Soviet claims on our land we chose the side of the west and joined many international organizations such as NATO, European Economic Community, and many more (Küçük). Then with the slow end of the Cold War we involved ourselves in many other organizations like the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and the D-8 which we proposed (Küçük). Most recently we have been joining and involving ourselves in more regional organizations such as the African Union and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Küçük).
The Delegation of Türkiye believes that an IO should be held legally responsible for an action that causes harm or destruction when it is a responsibility under their mandate or treaties. This would also require a case-by-case basis, for example the WHO should not be held legally responsible if an employee spreads misinformation. However, if it is a senior staff member or multiple staff, the IO should be legally responsible, especially if lives are lost or have been hurt. For accountability IOs cannot be legally prosecuted in national courts, and there is no system for an international court on IO failure to act. In the rare case of a state using an IO to take responsibility of their misconduct, legal responsibility should be applied to the state, not the IO. So, the Delegation of Türkiye proposes a new legal branch which would create and expand law on the responsibility of IOs by taking cases of these cases of omission. The Delegation of Türkiye believes that getting judges from all over the world, including one from every country, will hopefully make this branch fair and just. GA 6 would interview these judges to make sure they are credible. Due to limited funds that IOs possess sometimes they will not be able to pay for repatriation of their omissions. So, the Delegation of Türkiye believes that the solution to this is to make the member country of this IO pay for repatriation. This principle has already been established in international law.
Work Cited:
Responsibility of International Organizations
Klabbers, Jan. “Reflections on Role Responsibility: The Responsibility of International Organizations for Failing to Act | European Journal of International Law | Oxford Academic.” European Journal of International Law, 16 Feb. 2018, academic.oup.com/ejil/article/28/4/1133/4866310.
Hartwig, Matthias. “Oxford Public International Law: International Organizations or Institutions, Responsibility and Liability.” Oxford Public International Law, May 2011,
Küçük, Ömer, et al. “Türkiye’s Increased Activism in International Organizations as an Initiator State, Articles Muhittin Ataman, Metin Yücekaya, Ömer Naim Küçük | Insight Turkey.” Insight Turkey, 11 Apr. 2025, www.insightturkey.com/articles/turkiyes-increased-activism-in-international-organizations-as-an-initiator-state.
