Demilitarized Zone
A demilitarized zone (short EMZ ) or demilitarized zone (short DMZ , English demilitarized zone ) is an area in which no military may be stationed or moved and which is therefore only open to civilian use. Usually such an area lies in the borderland between two or more rival groups or states . It is not uncommon for such zones to be contractually agreed - for example in a ceasefire agreement. These contracts restrict the state concerned - on whose territory the demilitarized zone is located - in the use of this area. However, he retains full sovereignty over the area. Often these zones are located on the control lines and form a de facto inter-state borders .
Without intending to do so, some demilitarized zones have become retreats for nature and wild animals because building houses there is too dangerous or is prohibited.
Establishing a demilitarized zone by reducing the army and weapons stocks is called demilitarization .
Examples of demilitarized zones
Demilitarized zones exist, for example, on the border between North and South Korea ( Demilitarized Zone (Korea) ), on Cyprus ( Cyprus conflict ), between Syria and the Syrian Golan Heights occupied by Israel ( UNDOF ) and on the Spitzbergen archipelago (Svalbard) based on the Spitzbergen Contract .
The Antarctic is also a demilitarized zone. The Antarctic Treaty of 1961 stipulates that the Antarctic is reserved exclusively for peaceful uses and scientific research . In contrast to other demilitarized zones, it should be emphasized that the Antarctic is not a buffer zone and it was not militarized when it was established.
There have also been demilitarized zones in the past during the United Nations Observer Mission to Iraq and Kuwait (UNIKOM) and the Vietnam War .
A 50 km wide strip of territory along the eastern bank of the Rhine was declared a demilitarized zone in the Versailles Treaty (Article 43) after the First World War . After the Allied occupation of the Rhineland in 1929/30 until the remilitarization in 1936 , the entire Rhineland was demilitarized.
Monitoring of demilitarized zones
In some cases, neutral third parties are used to oversee agreements in demilitarized zones, using both civilian and military personnel:
- Golan Heights : United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), since 1974
- Iran - Iraq : United Nations Iraq – Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), 1991–2003
- Korea : Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission NNSC (Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea), see Demilitarized Zone (Korea) , since 1953
- Lebanon : United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), since 1978
- Sinai Peninsula : Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), since 1981
- Cyprus : United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), since 1964
Use of the term in computer science
The concept of the demilitarized zone is also used in a figurative sense in computer science. At the border between a protected network and the open Internet, a demilitarized zone denotes a network in which external access is treated less restrictively. See demilitarized zone (computer science) .
Individual evidence
- ^ Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-926071-3 , p. 112.