Suchergebnisse

This book explores the question of whether peacekeeping commanders can be held accountable for a failure to protect the civilian population in the mission area. This requires an assessment of whether peacekeeping commanders have an obligation to act against such serious crimes being committed under domestic and international law. The work uses the cases of the Dutch and Belgian peacekeeping commanders in Srebrenica and Kigali as examples, but it also places the analysis into the context of contemporary peacekeeping operations. It unfolds two main arguments. First, it provides a critical note to the contextual interpretation given to international law in relation to peacekeeping. It is argued that establishing a specific paradigm for peacekeeping operations with clear rules of interpretation and benchmark criteria would benefit peacekeeping and international law by making the contextual interpretation of international law redundant. Second, it is held that alternative options to the existing forms of criminal responsibility for military commanders should be considered, possibly focusing more clearly on failing to fulfil a norm of protection that is specific to peacekeeping and distinct from protective obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

The experiences of international agencies in Bosnia demonstrate many of the complications that typically arise for today's peacekeeping forces. The UN troops in Bosnia often found themselves in the position of being asked to perform duties better described as peace-enforcing rather than peacekeeping. This was true because of the extreme political volatility of the region along with the fact that the UN had declared the area as a protected zone. The attempt to use peacekeeping forces (which became peace-enforcement forces) to substitute for political consensus was a failure and provides a lesson for the future. Peacekeeping forces must not ever be put in the position to use their lightly armed forces to impose the vague ideals of the international community on belligerents through the use of force.

Almost 20 years after the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325), it remains an important instrument in feminist lobbying and gender-sensitive peacekeeping. While the resolution is considered a major step towards protecting women's rights in conflict zones and contributing to gender just peace, criticism is widespread and questions remain about its impact beyond statistics. This report takes a closer look by investigating the ways that UNSCR 1325 has been conceptualized and put into practice in the South African National Defence Force. South Africa is deploying a relatively high proportion of female peacekeepers, but shortcomings of UNSCR 1325, specifically related to gender essentialisms, have affected discourses within the armed forces. While this has led to contradictions and contestations concerning sameness and difference among male and female peacekeepers, the study also reveals a critical engagement with military peacekeeper masculinities, pointing towards a surpassing of the limited premise of UNSCR 1325.

"This book examines the origins, evolution and future of proposals for a UN 'Legion'- a permanent military force recruited, trained and deployed by the UN. The idea has grown, re-emerged and evolved in direct connection with the development of UN international military forces. The proposed universal soldiers have been seen as the future representatives of a modern world constabulary, international police or humanitarian chivalry. They have also invariably evoked the idea of mercenaries and resurrected fears of supranational government and a 'world army'. Yet, the concretization, in one form or another, of the project of a UN 'Legion' may well be conditional on the viability of the original Utopia, and vice versa. The extreme polarization of the debate, reflecting a tendency to negate the inherent contradictions of reality, reminds us of the historical dimension of the building of international organization, a 'work in progress'."--Jacket

United Nations sources are drawn on to examine the progress of peacekeeping missions underway Jan-Mar 2006. Addressed first is the situation in Darfur, Sudan, where thousands have been killed, injured, & displaced by government forces, militia, & insurgent tribal groups. The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), its military & civilian personnel numbering almost 7,000 in Darfur in Mar 2006, has achieved limited security in some areas. AMIS has focused on protection in the refugee camps. No lasting resolution is in sight. The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has focused on the goals set out in Security Council resolution 1546 (2004): to maintain political, electoral, & constitutional activities; & to engage in reconstruction, development, & human rights activities. UNAMI's most recent report stressed concern over human rights abuses in light of the heavy casualties suffered by Iraqi civilians at the hands of terrorist, insurgent, & paramilitary groups. It is working in conjunction with the Multinational Forces to train Iraqi security forces. J. Stanton

Existing research shows that peace after civil wars is more stable with peacekeepers present. Yet, violence persists in many postwar contexts, and although postwar violence is often strategic and closely linked to the faultlines of the preceding war, we know little about the impact of peacekeepers on such violence. What we know, moreover, focuses on the former combatants, while this study shows that the majority of deaths in postwar violence are inflicted by other armed actors. This is a challenge for peacekeepers who – for mandate or capacity reasons – usually focus on the warring parties. I argue that the impact of peacekeepers on postwar violence hinges on the extent to which they fill a public security gap after war, since responsibility for violence not covered by a mission's mandate lies with the often dysfunctional security agencies of the state. To test this I use a novel spatial approach to generate data that captures the manifold manifestations of violence across different postwar contexts. I find that only UN police – with their broader effect on public security – mitigate postwar violence generally. UN troops have some impact on civilian targeting by former combatants but no such effect could be identified for violence by other armed actors. The findings highlight the importance of peacekeeping police at a time when the modus operandi and capacity of UN police have been questioned, but also the importance of accounting for a multitude of violent actors when analysing the impact of international interventions more generally.

This report takes a closer look by investigating the ways that UNSCR 1325 has been conceptualized and put into practice in the South African National Defence Force. South Africa is deploying a relatively high proportion of female peacekeepers, but shortcomings of UNSCR 1325, specifically related to gender essentialisms, have affected discourses within the armed forces. While this has led to contradictions and contestations concerning sameness and difference among male and female peacekeepers, the study also reveals a critical engagement with military peacekeeper masculinities, pointing towards a surpassing of the limited premise of UNSCR 1325.