UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — UN panel’s report says genocide continues in Gaza

Q1. With reference to the core international crimes, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Crimes against humanity can be committed in peacetime, even when no armed conflict is taking place.
  2. War crimes can be committed only against members of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
  3. War crimes can be committed in non-international as well as international armed conflicts.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 only

Q2. In peacetime, with no armed conflict under way, a government's security forces carry out a nationwide campaign of killing and arbitrary imprisonment against members of an opposition political party. They act under a deliberate state policy and know that the acts are part of that campaign. Under international criminal law, which of the following best characterises these acts?

  • A. War crimes, since state forces are deliberately targeting civilians who take no part in hostilities
  • B. Genocide, since the killings follow a state policy and are carried out on a large scale
  • C. Crimes against humanity, since it is a widespread attack on civilians made under a state policy
  • D. No international crime, since the acts take place in peacetime inside the state's own territory

Q3. With reference to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. Genocide is treated as a crime under international law whether it is committed in time of peace or in time of war.
  2. States parties undertake not only to punish genocide but also to prevent it.
  3. Political groups are among the groups whose intended destruction can constitute genocide under the Convention's definition.
  4. Forcibly transferring children of a protected group to another group can constitute genocide even if no member of the group is killed.
  • A. 3 and 4 only
  • B. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 4 only

Q4. With reference to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Unlike its advisory opinions, the ICJ's judgments in contentious cases create a binding obligation of compliance for the States that are parties to the dispute.
  2. The ICC, unlike the ICJ, is not a principal organ of the United Nations but a court created by a separate treaty.
  3. The ICJ can give advisory opinions only at the request of authorised UN organs and agencies, and not at the request of an individual State.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 only

Q5. With reference to international adjudication of mass atrocities, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The ICJ cannot decide a contentious case against a State unless that State has, in some form, accepted the Court's jurisdiction.
  2. The ICC can hold a State, as a legal person, criminally responsible for genocide in addition to trying individuals.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. Both 1 and 2
  • D. Neither 1 nor 2

Q6. With reference to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. The HRC is a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly and not one of the principal organs of the United Nations.
  2. Commissions of inquiry created by the HRC are confined to investigating the conduct of State forces and cannot examine non-State armed groups.
  3. The HRC can establish a commission of inquiry only with the prior approval of the UN Security Council.
  4. The mandate of this Commission extends to the root causes of recurrent tension and instability, not merely to individual incidents of violence.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 3 and 4 only

Q7. With reference to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. R2P was endorsed at the 2005 World Summit as a legally binding treaty obligation for all UN Member States.
  2. R2P permits a regional organisation to take military action without Security Council authorisation when the Council is deadlocked.
  3. Under R2P, each State bears the primary responsibility for protecting its own population, and the international community plays a supporting role.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 3 only

Q8. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Endorsement of the Responsibility to Protect has not guaranteed that the UN will take collective coercive action to halt a mass atrocity that is already under way.
  2. Under R2P, collective coercive action is to be taken through the Security Council, where a substantive decision requires the concurring votes of the permanent members.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct