Re-Focusing on Protecting Civilians' Basic Safety and Why We Need to Know Why People Kill: On the Latest Reports of the Secretary-General on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

Journal of International Peacekeeping

Volumn 13, Issue 3-4, 2009, Pages 356-382

  Schmid, Evelyne ^a  

^a GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

humanitarian law; international law; non compliance; peace operations; protection of civilians in armed conflict; Secretary General; Security Council; United Nations

Indexed keywords

EID: 85044917564     PISSN: 18754104     EISSN: 18754112     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/187541009X12463418050777     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. 1) For the latest report of the Secretary-General, see S/2009/277. For the 2007 report, see S/2007/643.
2. 2) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Online Information, http://ochaonline.un.org/HumanitarianIssues/ProtectionofCiviliansinArmedConflict/tabid/1114/Default.aspx, 21 January 2009.
3. 3) S/PRST/1999/6.
4. 4) S/1999/957, S/2002/331, S/2002/1300, S/2004/431, S/2005/740 and S/2007/643 and S/2009/277. See also: A/RES/55/2 (2002) and Kofi Annan, Protecting Civilians in Armed Conflict: Towards a Climate of Compliance (New York: OCHA, 1999).
5. 5) S/RES/1265 (1999).
6. 6) Sylvie Giossi-Caverzasio, Strengthening Protection in War: A Search for Professional Standards: Summary of Discussions Among Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations: Workshops at the ICRC, 1996-2000 (Geneva: ICRC, 2001). [Thereafter Giossi-Caverzasio, Strengthening Protection in War.]
7. 7) Sylvie Giossi-Caverzasio, Strengthening Protection in War: A Search for Professional Standards: Summary of Discussions Among Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations: Workshops at the ICRC, 1996-2000, pp. 19-24.
8. 8) S/PRST/2002/6.
9. 9) S/PRST/2003/27; and S/PRST/2009/1.
10. 10) The thirteen groups of objectives described in the 2003 Aide-Memoire were the following: Security for displaced persons and host communities; access to vulnerable populations; safety and security of humanitarian personnel; security and the rule of law; disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and rehabilitation; small arms and mine action; women; children; justice and reconciliation; training of peacekeeping forces; countering hate speech, managing information; addressing the impact of natural resources; minimizing the humanitarian impact of sanctions. S/PRST/2003/27.
11. 11) S/RES/1270 (1999), para. 14.
12. 12) S/RES/1291 (2000), para. 8.
13. See also: Katarina Månsson, ‘Use of Force and Civilian Protection: Peace Operations in the Congo’, International Peacekeeping, vol. 12, no. 4, 2005, pp. 503-505.
14. 13) Cross-Cutting Report No. 2: Protection of Civilians, 14 October 2008, p. 3, http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.4664099/k.1776/CrossCutting_Report_ No_2brProtection_of_Civiliansbr14_October_2008.htm, 8 January 2009. [Thereafter CrossCutting Report: Protection of Civilians.]
15. 14) S/RES/1291 (2000), para. 8.
16. 15) All peacekeeping operations “share certain common aims – to alleviate suffering, and create conditions and build institutions for self-sustaining peace”. See: DPKO Mission Statement, http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/info/page3.htm, 6 October, 2008.
17. 16) A/RES/60/1 (2005), para. 139.
18. 17) Todd Lindberg, ‘Protect the People; United Nations Takes Bold Stance’, The Washington Times, 27 September 2005.
19. 18) Cross-Cutting Report: Protection of Civilians, p. 4.
20. 19) Richard Gowan, Ian Johnstone, ‘New Challenges for Peacekeeping: Protection, Peacebuilding and the War on Terror’, Coping with Crisis Working Paper Series, March 2007, p. 4.
21. 20) Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 8 June 1977, Article 35(1). This basic rule is part of customary international law.
22. 21) A/RES/46/182 (1991), para. 4.
23. 22) UNICEF and UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Growing the Sheltering Tree: Protecting Rights Through Humanitarian Action (New York: UNICEF, 2003).
24. OCHA, Manual on Field Practice in Internal Displacement (Washington DC: Brookings, 1999).
25. Liam Mahony, Proactive Presence: Field Strategies for Civilian Protection (Geneva: Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2006).
26. Deborah Mancini-Roth, André Picot, Humanitarian Negotiation: A Handbook for Securing Access, Assistance and Protection (Geneva: Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2004).
27. Global Protection Cluster Working-Group, Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons (Geneva: UNHCHR, 2007).
28. UNHCHR, Handbook for the Protection of Women and Girls (Geneva: UNHCHR, 2008).
29. Nina Birkeland, Ellen Vermeulen, Tor Vågli, Camp Management Toolkit (Oslo: Norwegian Refugee Council, 2004).
30. 23) Simon Chesterman, Civilians in War (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001), p. 185. [Thereafter Chesterman, Civilians in War.]
31. 24) Hans-Magnus Enzensberger, Civil Wars: From LA to Bosnia (New York: New Press, 1994), p. 20.
32. 25) Robert Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993), Synopsis.
33. 26) Erik Melander, Magnus Öberg, Jonathan Hall, The “New Wars” Debate Revisited: An Empirical Evaluation of the Atrociousness of “New Wars” (Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2006).
34. 27) Mary Kaldor, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999).
35. 28) Mats Berdal, David Malone, ‘Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars’, Peace Research Abstracts, vol. 39, no. 2, 2002, pp. 155-306.
36. 29) James Fearon, ‘Rationalist Explanations for War’. International Organization, vol. 49, no. 3, 1995, pp. 379-414.
37. 30) James Fearon, David Laitin, ‘Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War’, American Political Science Review, vol. 97, no. 1, 2003, pp. 75-90.
38. 31) John Mueller, ‘The Banality of “Ethnic War”’, International Security, vol. 25, no. 1, January 2000, pp. 42-70.
39. 32) See for instance: Ted Gurr, Barbara Harff, Ethnic Conflict in World Politics (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994).
40. 33) Ibrahim Abdullah and Patrick Muana, ‘The Revolutionary United Front: A Revolt of the Lumpenproletariat’ in Christopher Clapham (ed.), African Guerillas (Oxford: James Currey, 1998), pp. 172-193.
41. 34) Paul Richards, Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth, and Resources in Sierra Leone (Oxford: James Currey, 1996), p. xx
42. cited in: Stathis Kalyvas, ‘“New” and “Old” Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction?’, World Politics, vol. 54, no. 1, October 2001, p. 116.
43. 35) Benjamin Valentino, Paul Huth, Dylan Balch-Lindsay, ‘“Draining the Sea”: Mass Killing and Guerrilla Warfare’, International Organization, vol. 58, no. 2, May 2004, pp. 375-407.
44. 36) James Messerschmidt, ‘The Forgotten Victims of WWII: Masculinities and Rape in Berlin’, Violence Against Women, vol. 12, no. 7, July 2006, p. 706.
45. 37) Hugo Slim, Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008).
46. 38) Hugo Slim, Deborah Mancini-Griffoli, Interpreting Violence: Anti-Civilian Thinking and Practice and How to Argue Against it More Effectively (Geneva: Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2008).
47. 39) Marie-Joëlle Zahar, ‘Protégés, Clients, Cannon Fodder: Civil-Militia Relations in Internal Conflicts’ in Chesterman, Civilians in War, pp. 43-65.
48. Another author who should be mentioned is Stephen Stedman, ‘Spoiler Problems in Peace Processes’, International Security, vol. 22, no. 2, 1997, pp. 5-53.
49. 40) Geneva Call, Engaging Non-State Actors, http://www.genevacall.org/home.htm, 21 January 2009.
50. 41) Véronique Dudouet (ed.), From War to Politics: Resistance/Liberation Movements in Transition (Berlin: Berghof Research Center, 2009), in particular pp. 19-25.
51. 42) S/RES/394 (2001), para. 44.
52. 43) S/2009/277. For the records of the open debate, see S/PV.6151.
53. 44) Preventive deployment and conflict prevention are emphasized in the 1999 report: S/1999/957, para. 44-47.
54. 45) The 2002 report (S/2002/1300, para. 17-30) as well as all three versions of the Aide-Memoire (S/PRST/2002/6 and S/PRST/2003/27 contain detailed suggestions with regard to access negotiations.
55. 46) In 1999, some level of suspicion towards regional efforts can be found in the SG’s report (S/1999/957, para 26, 62-63 and recommendations 25 and 34). Subsequent reports increasingly called to support and enhance regional efforts.
56. 47) The call for enhanced monitoring and reporting is very strong in the 2004 report: S/2004/431, para. 46-47, 51.
57. 48) S/2001/331, para. 6.
58. 49) S/1999/957, para. 8, 13.
59. 50) S/2004/431, para 4.
60. 51) S/RES/1821 (2008).
61. 52) S/2005/740, para 13, 20.
62. 53) S/2005/740, para. 54.
63. 54) S/2007/643, para. 3, 10, 20, 48, 66 and 67.
64. 55) S/2007/643, para. 43.
65. 56) S/2007/643, para. 21-24.
66. 57) S/2007/643, para. 45 where the SG writes that “these [acts of sexual violence] are not random acts (…) but a deliberate attempt to dehumanize and destroy entire communities”.
67. 58) S/2007/643, para 7.
68. 59) S/2007/643, para. 66(a).
69. 60) S/PRST/2008/18.
70. 61) S/PRST/2009/1. For the official record, see S/PV.6066 and S/PV.6066 (Resumption 1).
71. 62) Security Council Report Chronology, http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.4012209/, 3 May 2009.
72. 63) S/2009/277.
73. 64) S/2009/277, para. 24.
74. 65) S/2009/277, paras. 6-13.
75. 66) S/2009/277, para. 14.
76. 67) S/2009/277, para. 23.
77. 68) S/2009/277, para. 17, and 30-34. The SG urges the Council to revisit the recommendations of the 2007 report, concerning refugees and displaced persons, housing, land and property issues. He clearly criticizes the parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka and in Gaza as well as in Afghanistan in paras. 30-34.
78. 69) S/2009/277, paras. 51-52.
79. 70) See for instance S/2009/277, para. 44 where the SG insists on the role of member States to promote compliance by armed groups. See also paras. 59, 64, 66 and 76 which are all addressed to specific actors (the Council, Member States, non-State parties to the conflict).
80. 71) Human Rights Watch, ‘Security Council Debate on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’, http://www.hrw.org/node/84000, 25 June 2009.
81. 72) Cross-Cutting Report: Protection of Civilians, p. 8.
82. 73) Cross-Cutting Report: Protection of Civilians, p. 14.
83. 74) Hugo Slim, Andrew Bonwick, Protection: An ALNAP Guide for Humanitarian Agencies (Oxford: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action, 2006), p. 42.
84. The model is retained in the excellent and recent ICRC publication on the subject: ICRC, Enhancing Protection for Civilians in Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence (Geneva: ICRC, 2008), p. 26.
85. 75) S/2007/643, para. 66.
86. 76) Human Rights Watch, Killings in Kiwanja: The UN’s Inability to Protect Civilians (New York: HRW, 11 December 2008), p. 1-2.
87. 77) Human Rights Watch, Killings in Kiwanja: The UN’s Inability to Protect Civilians, p. 25.
88. 78) S/RES/1856 (2008).
89. 79) John Holmes, ‘Statement to the Security Council on Protection of Civilians’, 27 May, 2008, http://ochaonline.un.org/OchaLinkClick.aspx?link=ocha&DocId=1003428, 11 October, 2008. OCHA should be acknowledged for its work in identifying programmes which are seen by parties to a given conflict as more acceptable in order to find possible entry points from which operations can be expanded.
90. 80) James Darcy, ‘IRIN Interview with James Darcy on Protection in Armed Conflict’, 2007, http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=31&ReportId=70567, 10 October, 2008.
91. 81) Jones and Cater, ‘From Chaos to Coherence?’ in Chesterman, Civilians in War, p. 243.