Peace operations by proxy: implications for humanitarian action of UN peacekeeping partnerships with non-UN security forces

2013 ◽  
Vol 95 (891-892) ◽  
pp. 539-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Labbé ◽  
Arthur Boutellis
Keyword(s):  
Use Of Force ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Peace Enforcement ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

AbstractMandates of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions increasingly include stabilisation and peace enforcement components, which imply a proactive use of force often carried out by national, regional or multinational non-UN partners, operating either in support of or with the support of the UN, acting as ‘proxies’. This article analyses the legal, policy and perception/security implications of different types of ‘peace operations by proxy’ and the additional challenges that such operations create for humanitarian action. It suggests some mitigating measures, including opportunities offered by the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, for a more coherent approach to the protection of civilians, but also acknowledges some of the limitations to an independent UN-led humanitarian action.

scholarly journals Cooperating with evil? Accountability in peace operations and the evolution of the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela Hirschmann
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Host State ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peace Operation ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

International organizations (IOs) usually cooperate with national actors in order to implement global decisions and policies. This cooperation has become problematic as implementing partners have increasingly been accused of serious human rights violations. This article analyzes how implementing partners from the host state of a United Nations (UN) peace operation are held accountable. I argue that the complexity of contemporary peacekeeping limits the availability of traditional accountability mechanisms. I develop a conceptual model to demonstrate how, instead, different accountability forms interact and complement each other. I illustrate this interplay of accountability with a case study on the emergence of the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP). The accountability framework enacted by the Joint Human Rights Unit, the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court in the context of the UN peace operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo threatened the legitimacy of UN peacekeeping. As a consequence, the UN adopted the HRDDP as a new, UN-based accountability mechanism to hold implementing partners from the host state of peace operations accountable.

scholarly journals Hybridizing UN Peace Operations: The Role of the European Union and Canada

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine St-Pierre
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

The prevalence of hybrid peacekeeping missions on the international stage underscores the increasing flexibility with which the UN can meet the peacekeeping demand. This flexibility results from the growing number of actors that the UN can rely on, allowing in turn for more diverse responses to conflict. However, current confusion surrounding hybrid missions points to the need to further clarify the role of regional actors in hybrid missions and elaborate on the implication of these missions for UN peacekeeping. This paper thus discusses the importance of hybrid missions in peace operations by examining the current nature of European Union (EU) and Canadian contributions to peace operations, and by analysing the implications of these contributions for hybrid missions and UN peacekeeping in general.

United Nations Peace Operations: Reconsidering the Principles, Reforming the Practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-26
Author(s):  
A. Nikitin
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Practical Guidelines ◽  
National Coalition ◽  
Peace Enforcement ◽  
High Level ◽  
Self Defence

The article describes and debates main points and recommendations of the Report-2015 of the Independent High Level Group on the UN Peace Operations. The author analyses doctrinal innovations and practical guidelines suggested by the Group and debates consequences of the recommended “politicizing” of the UN operations (assuring the leading role for the UN in any political peace process supported by UN peacekeepers, and avoiding operations where the UN role is limited to passive disengagement of conflict sides). Necessity for and limits of reconsidering traditional principles of peacekeeping, such as impartiality, consent of conflict parties, and use of force for self-defence are questioned. Trends in UN operations are compared with trends in operations related to conflicts in the Post-Soviet space (South Ossetia/Georgia, Abkhazia/Georgia, Tajikistan, Transnistria/Moldova, etc.). The author advocates timeliness for an extended interpretation of the “defence of the mandate” formula instead of the classical “self-defence of the contingent”. It is suggested to practically erase the dividing line between operations of the “peacekeeping” type under the UN DPKO, and “political missions” under the UN Political Department. The arsenal of the UN instruments for conflict resolution must be widened from non-intrusive observation missions, conflict prevention and mediation, through support of ceasefire agreements and implementation of peace accords, down to coercive peace enforcement, offensive elements, and UN Charter Chapter VII-based collective operations against aggressive regimes and states. Poorly defined functions and insufficiently clarified use of force limits for the SC-mandated “UN Intervention Brigade” in Democratic Republic of Congo lead to unnecessary involvement of the UN into coercive actions. The experience of the UN “infrastructural hubs” establishing, like the one in Entebbe (Uganda) used for supplying eight African UN operations, is described. New technology for peacekeeping, like the use of unpiloted flying drones, opens new opportunities, but creates legal and practical problems. A distinction of functions between “blue helmets” (specially trained multinational UN contingents) and “green helmets” (regular national armies used by states in foreign conflicts) is recommended, including avoidance of counter-terrorism tasks and strong coercive tasks for the UN peacekeepers. Parallel and interfaced “partnerships” between the limited UN operations and more forceful national/coalition operations in the same areas are suggested instead.

Part 3 The United Nations: What it Does, 27 Peacekeeping and other Peace Operations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Higgins Dame Rosalyn, DBE, QC ◽  
Webb Philippa ◽  
Akande Dapo ◽  
Sivakumaran Sandesh ◽  
Sloan James
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Legal Requirement ◽  
Host State ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
The Future

This chapter examines the UN’s peacekeeping operations. A peacekeeping operation may be defined as a UN-authorized, UN-led force made up of civilian and/or military personnel donated by states or seconded by the Secretariat, physically present in a country or countries with a view to facilitating the maintenance of peace, generally after a conflict has ceased. Many consider that for an operation to be peacekeeping, it must take place with the consent of the host state. However, this may or may not be a legal requirement, depending on the constitutional basis of the operation. The chapter discusses the fundamental characteristics of peacekeeping; categories of peacekeeping; legal basis for peacekeeping; peacekeeping and consent; peacekeeping and the use of force; peacekeeping and impartiality; functions of peacekeeping operations; UN Transitional Administrations; and the future of UN peacekeeping.

Mandated to Protect

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haidi Willmot ◽  
Ralph Mamiya
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

This chapter focuses on the conception and evolution of the UN Security Council mandate to protect civilians during peacekeeping operations from 1960 to the present. The chapter examines the normative and legal framework of the use of force to protect civilians in UN peacekeeping operations, with reference to Security Council resolutions and other bodies of international law such as humanitarian and human rights law. It considers Security Council practice between 1960 and 1999 and its emphasis on the concept of self-defence; Security Council practice from 1999 to 2007 regarding the inception and development of the explicit ‘protection of civilians’ mandate by the Council; Security Council practice from 2007 to 2011; and prioritization of the mandate in certain peacekeeping missions, specifically UNAMID (Sudan (Darfur)), MONUC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), UNOCI (Côte d’Ivoire), and UNMISS (South Sudan). Finally, the chapter describes Security Council practice from 2011 onwards and draws conclusions on impact that the protection of civilians mandate in peacekeeping operations has had on the evolution of the legitimate use of force under the UN Charter.

Under the UN Security Council's Watchful Eyes: Military Intervention by Invitation in the Malian Conflict

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 855-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
KARINE BANNELIER ◽  
THEODORE CHRISTAKIS
Keyword(s):  
Use Of Force ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Legal Questions ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Force Resolution ◽  
Peace Enforcement ◽  
Restricted Use ◽  
The One

AbstractResponding to an urgent request by the authorities of Mali, France launched Operation Serval against several terrorist armed groups in January 2013. The French troops were assisted by a Chadian contingent and by forces progressively deployed by other African countries within a UNSC authorized African force (Resolution 2085). While the French and African military operations in Mali were clearly legal, they raise important questions of jus ad bellum in relation to the two legal arguments put forward to justify them: intervention by invitation, and UNSC authorization. In this paper we first discuss the general rules of international law applying to intervention by invitation. We explain that such an intervention could sometimes be contrary to the principle of self-determination and we propose a purpose-based approach. We then apply these rules to the situation in Mali and conclude that the French and Chadian interventions were legal because, on the one hand, the request was validly formulated by the internationally recognized government of Mali and, on the other hand, their legitimate purpose was to fight terrorism. The UNSC approved this legal basis and ‘helped’ France and Chad appeal validly to it by listing the enemy as ‘terrorist groups’. It gave its ‘blessing’ to these interventions, without authorizing them, and observed the events with relief. The adoption of Resolution 2100 on 25 April 2013 raises new legal questions. The Council creates a UN peace enforcement mission in Mali, MINUSMA, which has a robust use-of-force mandate. Created just a few weeks after the DRC Intervention Brigade, this force seems to indicate an ongoing evolution (revolution?) in UN peacekeeping, notwithstanding the assurances by some UNSC member states that MINUSMA will avoid ‘offensive counter-terrorism operations’. At the same time Resolution 2100 gives a restricted use-of-force mandate to France (to protect MINUSMA), without challenging the legal validity of intervention by invitation for all other tasks. The conflict in Mali might thus remain for some time yet between the latitude of UNSC authorization and the longitude of unilateral intervention by invitation.

Sustainability of the UN Nation-Building Measures in Post-Mandate Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Humayun Hassan
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

The first UN peacekeeping mission was authorized in 1948, during the first Arab- Israeli War. Since then, the peacekeeping missions have been established in many countries, with varying mandates. The existing literature on the subject focuses primarily on the changing nature of the UN missions, over the past 70 years. Moreover, there is considerable literature on the factors that pertain to the gaining of a peacekeeping mandate and how the UN resources are utilized to complete the overall objectives. However, the literature is quite limited in the evaluation criteria and frameworks for peacekeeping and nation-building. Furthermore, the minimal existing literature focuses on evaluating the present-time effectiveness of UN missions, based on their mandated objectives. This paper, therefore, aims to address a prevailing gap in the literature by focusing on evaluating the sustainability of the UN missions. The Diehl and Druckman‘s Framework of peace operations evaluation is used to measure the sustainability of the UN nation-building missions. The cases of UN missions in Liberia (UNMIL), El Salvador (ONUSAL), and Timor-Leste (UNMIT) are considered for this purpose. These countries provide some resemblance with their assigned UN mandate, yet differences exist in their cultures, historical backgrounds, and economic situation. This paper concludes by providing retrospective lessons and potential areas of improvements for future UN missions.

Due Diligence, the UN, and Peacekeeping

2020 ◽  
pp. 217-233
Author(s):  
Nigel D. White
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Meaning And Purpose ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

This chapter focuses on the application, acceptance, and implementation of human rights due diligence obligations in UN peacekeeping operations. It points to growing, but uneven, evidence of the development of standards and measures by the UN that would fit the meaning and purpose of due diligence, although there are very few instances of due diligence being used as a term within the UN. The chapter argues that due diligence obligations are applicable either through customary human rights law, or the internal law of the UN, or both due to the fact that the UN’s principles of peacekeeping are themselves based on general principles of international law. The chapter stresses that the UN should have due diligence obligations especially as there is a gap between the commissioning of peacekeeping operations by the UN and the day-to-day control of peacekeepers by the UN.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Jasmine-Kim Westendorf
Keyword(s):  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Aid Workers ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

This introductory chapter provides an overview of sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations. These behaviors are diverse and have ranged from opportunistic sexual assault and rape to planned, sadistic sexual violence; from networked exploitation such as sex trafficking and the production of pornography to transactional sex, which is often also referred to as “survival sex.” The perpetrators are not just soldiers deployed into peacekeeping operations; they include the full range of uniformed and civilian UN peacekeepers as well as private contractors, aid workers, and others associated with peace operations. The chapter then considers the relatively small body of scholarly work on sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping missions. Understanding the patterns of sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations, the factors that give rise to it, and its impacts on the capacity and credibility of the international community is crucial to developing effective prevention and response policies globally.

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