Regimewechsel und Interventionsverbot: die Elfenbeinküste und Libyen als Fallstudien

d the government's opponents, and finally imposed military sanctions (which ultimately led to the detention of one Head of State and the death of the other). According to the Declaration on Friendly Relations of 1970 »no State shall organize, assist, foment, finance, incite or tolerate subversive, terrorist or armed activities directed towards the violent overthrow of the regime of another State, or interfere in civil strife in another State«. This prohibition on intervention in the internal affairs of other States constitutes an established rule of customary international law. The incidents in Côte d'Ivoire and Libya accordingly raise the question whether any of the various measures taken by the international community violated the principle of non-intervention. The paper concludes that some military actions in Côte d'Ivoire, the work of the Libya Contact Group, and military support to the Libyan rebels constituted prohibited interventions in the internal affairs of the respective States – unless we accept that public international law is evolving towards a requirement for the international legitimacy of governments.