Create an amendment to R09: * Protecting International Law Against Empires: to Infinity and Beyond

The Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) and its members organisations recognise imperialism did not end with the formal dismantling of colonial empires. Today, imperial domination is exercised through military occupation, economic coercion, debt dependency, control over knowledge and technology, and the monopolisation of global commons, including outer space.

International law exists to protect everyone, people and states, especially in an asymmetric geopolitical landscape where many small actors are challenged by few powerful empires. Many promoted the illusion that modern empires would balance their influence, resulting in peace. However, reality is different: while superpowers will not engage in direct confrontation, they express violent imperialistic attitudes against their neighbours.

In their eyes, international law is not valid within their regional spheres of influence, where they play by their own rules.

This crisis directly challenges core Green values: peace, democracy, climate justice, feminism, and anti-racism. Imperialism disproportionately harms marginalised communities, including women, racialised groups, and young people, while concentrating power in the hands of states and corporations. The urgency to act is therefore both global and European.

Clear contemporary examples illustrate these dynamics.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 represents a blatant act of territorial annexation that violates international law and sovereignty, denying Ukraine’s right to exist and aiming for a subordinate regime, while interfering with democratic processes across Europe.

Imperialism is also exercised through economic warfare and destabilisation. The United States intensified sanctions against Cuba through “maximum pressure 2.0”, demonstrating how economic coercion punishes sovereignty and constrains democratic choice. Similarly, the kidnapping and extraterritorial detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2026 highlights risks posed by unilateral interventions bypassing international legal processes.

Israel's strikes on Iran, with US support, and the invasion of Lebanon, including sieges and attacks on healthcare and civilian areas, constitute violations of international law and possible war crimes. The ongoing assault on Gaza, which UN bodies and genocide scholars deemed genocide in 2025, exemplifies imperial violence through occupation, collective punishment, and denial of Palestinian self-determination.

China, far from being a peaceful superpower, has extended sovereignty over Hong Kong, pressures Taiwan toward annexation, and commits human rights violations such as the persecution of Uyghurs.

The pattern is clear: modern empires seek to delegitimise international law and multilateral institutions, presenting themselves as the only legitimate providers of security. This reflects a system where power is concentrated among a few states and corporations, benefiting dominant actors while harming smaller states, marginalised communities, and future generations.

For young people, this system undermines democratic participation, economic justice, climate stability, and peace. Existing policies have failed because they allow selective application of international law and prioritise geopolitical interests over justice and accountability.

Europe plays a key role globally but often subordinates itself to these systems, as seen in energy dependence and extractive economic relations. Neocolonial practices persist, while human rights are inconsistently applied. Protecting international law also means protecting AFAB and marginalised communities globally.

This urgency extends beyond Earth. The increasing commercialisation, militarisation, and privatisation of space risks reproducing extractive and colonial logics beyond planetary boundaries, threatening both ecological integrity and global equity. Control over knowledge, data, infrastructure, and critical technologies has emerged as a central axis of imperial power. Monopolisation of digital platforms, satellite systems, and surveillance infrastructure enables a small number of states and corporations to exert outsized influence over populations, markets, and political processes. This concentration of power deepens global inequalities and erodes democratic accountability.

Such monopolisation raises serious concerns around surveillance, democratic oversight, and the privatisation of a shared global commons. Space exploration and infrastructure development are increasingly driven by geopolitical competition and private accumulation rather than collective benefit.

This expansion is fuelled by techno-optimist narratives that frame space exploration as humanity’s escape route from ecological collapse. The belief that humans will be able to escape Earth before it becomes uninhabitable is a betrayal of our role as a steward species.

We reaffirm that outer space is the common heritage of humankind. Any attempts to colonise, militarise, or privatise celestial bodies or orbits constitute a dangerous extension of imperial expansion and must be collectively resisted.

In line with this analysis, we call on FYEG, its Member Organisations, and the wider Green political family to:

• The EU end all economic and political relations with states that violate human rights. We call on the EU to completely repeal the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

• Strengthen relations and unity within the EU and also paneuropean countries and strategic democratic partners to have a more powerful voice in the international scenario

• Enforcing a swift transition from fossil fuels to end reliance on authoritarian countries and guarantee energy independence

• Develop EU-technology, (explore the possibility of higher public ownership or control in these areas)

• International law has to be binding for every country. Democratic countries should explore measures to enforce it. For instance: protecting ICC officials from US sanctions.

• Strategic autonomy, we shouldn‘t rely on weaponry and external forces

• that European governments refrain from engaging in the Board of Peace, a unilateral organisation created with the only aim of challenging multilateral institutions

• that all political leaders face equal accountability for war crimes. ICC
  arrest warrants must be enforced without geopolitical bias, and any sanctions or pressure to obstruct the Court must be abolished.

• a fundamental reform of the UN Security Council, specifically the abolition of the Veto Power under Article 27 of the UN Charter. The veto must never be used to obstruct justice for war crimes or genocides. We support the "Veto Initiative" (UNGA Res 76/262) to ensure transparency and accountability.

• that all European states, immediately ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). We insist that nuclear-armed states fulfill their disarmament obligations under Article VI of the NPT, moving beyond deterrence toward total elimination.

• absolute adherence to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols.

• The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) must remain the non-negotiable legal floor, and all states must comply with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) without exception.

• the universal abolition of the death penalty. We call on all states to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, using European diplomatic and trade relations as leverage to end this violation of the fundamental right to life.

• the legal recognition of the Right to Food and Clean Water under the ICESCR. We condemn starvation as a method of warfare (Art. 8, Rome Statute) and demand the strict regulation of commodity trading hubs to end neocolonial extractivism that exploits the Global South.

• that international law applies equally to all, regardless of power. We demand full support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Rome Statute, including the protection of its officials from external sanctions and political interference.

• that states fulfill their obligation to protect human rights from climate
  change. Following the ECtHR ruling in KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, we affirm that Article 8 of the ECHR protects the right to a safe climate and demand science-based, legally binding targets for all.

• Advocate for enforceable international mechanisms that sanction unilateral acts of imperialism, including territorial annexation, economic coercion, and violations of sovereign self‑determination.

• Promote resource sovereignty – Advocate for transparency standards for multi-national corporations to ensure extraction of raw materials provides fair compensation and investment to the host community.

• Support transparency and accountability standards for multinational corporations, particularly in resource extraction, digital infrastructure, and space‑related industries, ensuring fair compensation, environmental protection, and local benefit.

• Advocate for ethical oversight of trade, investment, and lending practices, including the review of agreements that compromise long‑term fiscal autonomy. Moreover, encourage the restructuring of international institutions to provide low-interest credit facilities that prioritise developmental stability over external market access.

• Support knowledge sharing: devise and implement policies that prioritise ‘open’ learning initiatives and localisation of technology.

• Demand the strengthening of international space treaties to prohibit private or unilateral ownership of extraterrestrial resources and ensure that benefits derived from space activities are shared equitably.

• Apply the same ethical, ecological, and distributive standards to resource extraction in space as are demanded on Earth.

• Oppose monopolies in digital, technological, and space‑related sectors and promote open, cooperative, and publicly accountable alternatives.

• Protect the night sky as a shared cultural, ecological, and scientific commons.

• Promote reform of multilateral institutions, including addressing permanent veto powers and unequal governance structures that undermine accountability and justice

We call on governments, European institutions, international organisations, and the Green political family to move beyond rhetorical commitments and take concrete action to dismantle imperial systems in all their forms. Immediate steps must be taken to enforce international law, strengthen multilateral institutions, and ensure accountability for violations.

We must demonstrate political leadership and solidarity to reimagine solutions beyond current globalisation models—not isolationism, but international solidarity. As Young Greens, we commit to addressing injustices on Earth, resisting narratives that frame space exploration as a substitute for ecological responsibility, and challenging colonial mindsets wherever they arise.