Editing 2002 (section)

== Politics and law ==
{{Main|2002 in politics}}
[[File:Hamid Karzai became winner at the 2002 Loya Jirga.jpg|thumb|[[Hamid Karzai]] (right) is elected president of Afghanistan]]
[[East Timor]] became a sovereign nation in 2002.<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|page=1}} It was one of two nations, along with Switzerland, to join the [[United Nations]] in September.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=382}} Brazil, Lesotho, and Senegal established democracy in 2002 through the acceptance of fair elections, while Bahrain and Kenya moved toward democracy through the strengthening of political institutions. Democracy was disestablished in Ivory Coast and Togo following mass political violence and unfair elections, respectively.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Karatnycky |first=Adrian |url=https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/Freedom_in_the_World_2003_complete_book.pdf |title=Freedom in the World 2003: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7425-2870-3 |pages=14–16 |language=en |chapter=Liberty's Expansion in a Turbulent World |access-date=March 30, 2023 |archive-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321093001/https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/Freedom_in_the_World_2003_complete_book.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Rp|page=14}}

The United States was not reelected to its membership on the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] for the first time, leaving it unable to fulfill its usual role of seeking action against alleged cases of systemic human rights violations around the world.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=381}} Afghanistan underwent significant [[liberalization]] under a [[Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan|transitional government]] following end of major fighting in the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan]], particularly in the capital of [[Kabul]], though distant regions of the country remained oppressed by warlords.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=15}} Civil rights also increased following the end of conflicts in Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|pages=15–16}} Turkey lessened its restrictions on the country's [[Kurds in Turkey|Kurdish population]] in 2002.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=16}} The majority of [[Gibraltar]]'s population engaged in protests when the British government considered delivering partial control of the territory to Spain; this culminated with [[2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum|a referendum]] that rejected the move.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=385}}

The [[Chinese Communist Party]] chose [[Hu Jintao]] as its next leader in a November meeting.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=87}} The [[African Union]] formally came into existence in July.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/annualregister200000unse_a8t0/ |title=The Annual Register 2002 |publisher=Keesing's Worldwide |year=2003 |isbn=1-886994-46-3 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=D. S.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=7}} The United Kingdom held [[Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II|a Golden Jubilee]] celebration for Queen [[Elizabeth II]], marking fifty years as the monarch.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=78}} In Latin America, the [[1998–2002 Argentine great depression|great depression in Argentina]] continued into 2002, causing significant political turmoil. Venezuela also underwent political crisis with [[2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt|an attempted coup]] against President [[Hugo Chávez]] in April and [[Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003|a national strike]] against his administration later in the year.<ref name=":13" /> Brazil elected the leftist president [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] in response to the economic instability.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=86}}

[[NATO]] established a diplomatic relationship with Russia through the [[NATO-Russia Council]] in May, and NATO announced seven new members in November: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. This expansion meant that NATO countries bordered Russia for the first time.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=282}} Russia and the United States signed the [[Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty]] nuclear disarmament agreement in May, but the United States left the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]] the following month, and Russia then left the [[START II]] treaty. The [[International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation]] was signed by over 90 countries in November.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=277}}

A wave of [[social pension]] reform took place in European nations, with Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland all in various phases of implementation. Similar reforms took place in Japan and Singapore.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|pages=309–311}} Anti-globalization protests took place during the September [[Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group|World Bank–IMF meeting]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=314}}

=== Crime and international law ===
The [[Rome Statute]] entered into force in July, establishing the [[International Criminal Court]].<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|page=469}} The [[International Court of Justice]] ruled in three cases: it ruled that [[diplomatic immunity]] applied to all crimes, including [[crimes against humanity]], and it settled two territorial disputes, ruling in favor of Cameroon over Nigeria and in favor of Malaysia over Indonesia.<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|pages=471–472}} [[Special Court for Sierra Leone|A lesser court]] was established by the United Nations in Sierra Leone to prosecute figures associated with the nation's civil war.<ref name=":16"/>{{Rp|page=470}} A ban on the use of [[child soldiers]] was [[Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict|established in international law]] in February.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=381}}

The prosecution of former Yugoslavian president [[Slobodan Milošević]] began in February,<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=225}} but it was delayed and the genocide portion of the charges against him was dropped.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=86}} [[Biljana Plavšić]], the former president of [[Republika Srpska]], plead guilty to crimes against humanity in a related case.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=225}} In August, the [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]] saw the arrests of nine more people accused of genocide, including army chief of staff [[Augustin Bizimungu]]. Efforts failed to create a similar tribunal in Cambodia to prosecute [[Khmer Rouge]].<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=226}} United Nations peacekeeping missions concluded in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Prevlaka, reducing its Balkan presence to Kosovo.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=381}}

Former military dictator of Argentina [[Leopoldo Galtieri]] was arrested in July for his actions in the [[Dirty War]]. Two generals from the [[Salvadoran Civil War]] were found liable for torture in an American court, and they were ordered to pay $54.6 million in damages.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=282}} A major espionage case in the United States ended in May with [[Robert Hanssen]] sentenced to life in prison for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=232}} Serbia and Montenegro abolished capital punishment to qualify for entry to the [[Council of Europe]], and Turkey did so to garner support for its incorporation into the European Union. Prisoners in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Turkey engaged in deadly strikes and riots in response to poor conditions in 2002.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=232}}

=== War on terror ===
[[File:Guantanamo captives in January 2002 -b.jpg|thumb|The first inmates arrive at [[Camp X-Ray]] in the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]].]]
[[Terrorism]] dominated politics internationally in 2002, with both terrorist acts and attempts to declare groups as terrorist organizations being prevalent throughout the year. [[Islamic terrorism]] was widely seen as responsible for terrorist attacks throughout the year. In response, the United States began providing military assistance against terrorists in several countries as part of [[Operation Enduring Freedom]].<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|page=2}} [[International law]] regarding these actions had yet to be settled, and international organizations spent the year debating how action against terrorist groups should be carried out.<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|page=469}}

Pakistan arrested al-Qaeda operative [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] in September on suspicions of involvement in the September 11 attacks and extradited him to the United States. The United States arrested an addition fifteen suspects across several states for involvement in the preparation of future terrorist attacks.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=228}} Anti-terrorism actions by the United States, including the [[arbitrary arrest]] and deportation of non-citizens and [[indefinite detention]] of suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan, were condemned as human rights violations.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=314}}  American treatment of prisoners in the war on terror came under scrutiny, particularly in [[Camp X-Ray]] in the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]].<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=232}} China and Russia invoked anti-terrorism to take actions against their [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] and [[Chechens|Chechen]] minorities, respectively.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=315}}

Australia, Russia, and the United States all declared a right to [[preemptive strikes]] against foreign terrorist groups in 2002.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=278}} [[George W. Bush]] defined an "[[axis of evil]]" in [[2002 State of the Union Address|an address]] in January, naming Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as foreign adversaries of the United States. [[Lead-up to the Iraq War|Increasing tensions]] between Iraq and the United States became a major geopolitical issue in 2002 amid [[Iraq disarmament crisis|suspicions]] that Iraq had resumed [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|its production of weapons of mass destruction]]. The United Nations delivered [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441|an ultimatum]] for Iraq to comply with weapons inspections in late 2002.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Getz |first=Arlene |date=2002-12-25 |title=The Top Stories Of 2002 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/top-stories-2002-141407 |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Newsweek |language=en |archive-date=March 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330055222/https://www.newsweek.com/top-stories-2002-141407 |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of this dispute, as well Hussein's involvement with terrorist groups amid the [[war on terror]], an [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]] by the United States was widely expected.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|pages=66–71}}