Taking Stock

2020 ◽  
pp. 268-288
Author(s):  
Dawnie Steadman ◽  
Sarah Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Forensic Genetics ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Ethnographic Analysis

This chapter explores the evolving role of forensic genetics in human rights investigations and as a technology of postmortem identification for missing persons in ongoing conflict and post-conflict societies. How has DNA’s increasingly privileged place as a line of evidence impacted the field in terms of both medico-legal standards and heightened expectations among surviving kin and their communities? Drawing on interviews with leading figures in the field of forensic science and human rights/transitional justice (e.g., the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense, and the Colibrí Center for Human Rights), buttressed by ethnographic analysis of exhumation and identification efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Uganda, the chapter provides an overview and commentary about the technology’s complicated place in unearthing truths and effecting repair.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights under the 2010 Constitutional Dispensation

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-226
Author(s):  
Bonolo Ramadi Dinokopila ◽  
Rhoda Igweta Murangiri
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
National Commission ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
National Human ◽  
The Status ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

This article examines the transformation of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and discusses the implications of such transformation on the promotion and protection of human rights in Kenya. The article is an exposition of the powers of the Commission and their importance to the realisation of the Bill of Rights under the 2010 Kenyan Constitution. This is done from a normative and institutional perspective with particular emphasis on the extent to which the UN Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles, 1993) have been complied with. The article highlights the role of national human rights commissions in transformative and/or transitional justice in post-conflict Kenya. It also explores the possible complementary relationship(s) between the KNCHR and other Article 59 Commissions for the better enforcement of the bill of rights.

The Office on Missing Persons in Sri Lanka: The importance of a primarily humanitarian mandate

2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (905) ◽  
pp. 641-662
Author(s):  
Vishakha Wijenayake
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Missing Persons

AbstractThis article attempts to situate the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka in relation to varying approaches to mechanisms for searching for the missing. In particular, the article examines the possible tensions between a humanitarian and an accountability-based mandate and supports the position of the International Committee of the Red Cross that these two approaches can in fact be complementary in nature. It goes on to contend that the OMP's mandate is primarily humanitarian rather than exclusively humanitarian, and analyzes how this distinction may impact possible criminal prosecutions. It emphasizes the importance of preserving the humanitarian character of the OMP with the objective of ensuring that the victims’ rights are at the centre of transitional justice processes.

scholarly journals Promoting compliance of private security and military companies with international humanitarian law

2006 ◽  
Vol 88 (863) ◽  
pp. 613-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Perrin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Private Security ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

AbstractPrivate security and military companies have become a ubiquitous part of modern armed conflict and post-conflict reconstruction. Their diverse clients include governments in the developed and developing world alike, non-state belligerents, international corporations, non-governmental organizations, the United Nations, and private individuals. The implications of this proliferation of private security and military companies for international humanitarian law and human rights are only beginning to be appreciated, as potential violations and misconduct by their employees have come to light in Iraq and Afghanistan. The author critically examines the theoretical risks posed by private military and security company activity with respect to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, together with the incentives that these companies have to comply with those norms. Empirical evidence is also presented to expand on this theoretical framework. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the author draws on law, international relations theory, criminology, economics, corporate strategy and political economy, as well as psychology and sociology, to analyse the competing “risk-factors” and “compliance levers” that interact at each level of private military and security company activity to enhance or reduce the likelihood of a violation occurring. These findings are then applied by the author to assess emergent measures to deal with private security and military companies outside the legal sphere, including a programme of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the advent of the International Peace Operations Association.

The International Committee of the Red Widget? The Diversity Debate and International Humanitarian Law

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 614-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Provost
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Laws Of War ◽  
The Impact

This article asserts there has been a lack of attention to the impact of cultural diversity within the field of international humanitarian law. Discussions surrounding culture in international humanitarian law have nearly always avoided the central issue of cultural particularism. This has been so in relation to the debate surrounding the emblem, in general surveys of humanitarian law, and in discussions of the laws of war in distinct legal and cultural traditions. The emblems debate, in particular, signals the elusiveness of rigid universality within international humanitarian law. Five elements are suggested to explain the resistance of humanitarian law to contagion by the cultural relativism debate in human rights: the nature of human rights, the distinct normative frameworks of human rights and humanitarian law, the unified conventional basis of humanitarian law, the very broad participation in the humanitarian regime, and the unique role of the International Committee of the Red Cross. While these reasons might explain the fact that the relativism debate in human rights did not readily transfer to humanitarian law, they offer no substantive basis for immunity for humanitarian law to the challenges posed by cultural diversity. Ultimately, the article proposes a legal pluralist approach that recognizes the role of actors in the cultural process of norm-creation. Given the continued violation of the laws of war, the author suggests a need to open the door to cultural diversity in order to generate greater compliance. Without cultural legitimacy, there is a danger that humanitarian law aspires to self-defeating universalism.

scholarly journals The Rights of the Families of Missing Persons: Going Beyond International Humanitarian Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Grażyna Baranowska
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Core Questions

The main aim of the article is to test how states implement international humanitarian law (IHL) with regard to the families of missing persons. The article shows relevant IHL shortcomings and compares them with rules applicable in cases of enforced disappearance. The national legislation collected in the section titled ‘The Missing and Their Families’ of the National Implementation Database of the International Committee of the Red Cross is then examined. The analysis addresses three core questions that are particularly relevant for families of missing persons: (1) Who is considered a missing person under each law? Approaching this question allows the testing of whether states follow the understanding of ‘missing persons’ under IHL treaty law. The second and third questions address two issues that are crucial for families of missing persons that are not addressed in IHL: (2) How is the legal status of the missing person regulated? (3) Are family members provided with measures of reparation and/or assistance? This approach reveals that states rarely apply the IHL understanding of ‘missing persons’ and predominantly exceed IHL by addressing some of the identified shortcomings. It further shows that states provide families of missing persons either with reparation measures – in cases of human rights violations – or, less often, with measures of assistance in post-conflict situations.

scholarly journals The importance and role of legal sciences in resolving the problems of missing persons in armed conflicts in the former SFRY and AP KiM

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154
Author(s):  
Sofija Lolić ◽  
Julijana Račić
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
The Law

In this paper, the authors accentuate constitutional and legislation governing human rights through the issue of missing persons in armed conflicts in the period from 1992 to 2000. At the same time, it contains statistical data on the reported international Committee in so-called closed cases, open cases, cases closed since the beginning of 2020, the persons presumed to be dead but whose remains are assumed. They have not yet been found and returned to families, whose fate is still unknown, about the persons who are known to be alive, found by the persons identified and submitted to families, and finally cases that are closed for administrative reasons. The need to be adopted by the Law on Persons who have disappeared during the armed conflict. What was preceded by this work were two decades without an answer to the question of what happened to the missing persons on the territory of the SFRY, with special reference to KiM.

Using forensic science to care for the dead and search for the missing: In conversation with Dr Morris Tidball-Binz

2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (905) ◽  
pp. 689-707
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South America ◽  
Forensic Science ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Doctor Who ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Disappeared

Dr Morris Tidball-Binz is a forensic doctor who joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2004 and has since worked for the organization in numerous contexts, helping to develop its novel forensic capacity. Having begun his career with forensic and human rights organizations, he helped pioneer in his native South America the application of forensic science to human rights investigations, particularly the search for the disappeared. He helped create the ICRC's Forensic Unit, of which he was the first Director until early 2017; he then headed the forensic operation for the Humanitarian Project Plan. He is currently the Forensic Manager for the ICRC's new Missing Persons Project. He spoke with the Review to share his insights on the development of humanitarian forensic action and its role in protecting the dead and clarifying the fate of missing persons.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF THE HUMANITARIAN ACTION INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE RED CROSS (ICRC) IN THE 2011 LIBYA REVOLUTION

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-54
Author(s):  
Fitri Adi Setyorini
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Humanitarian Mission ◽  
Medical Supplies ◽  
East Region ◽  
One Step ◽  
The Arab Spring

This study discusses the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) role in protecting and assisting victims of the Libyan revolution in 2011. The purpose of this study is to explore more about the role of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in protecting and assisting victims of war as one step on a humanitarian mission. The author used the non-government organizations (NGOs) and humanitarian action concepts. The author's research method to analyze this study was a descriptive method through a literature review. Based on research done, the author found that the revolution in Libya in 2011 was one of the effects of the Arab Spring in the Middle East region. The author also found that the ICRC carried out its humanitarian missions by providing food, water, medical supplies, medical equipment, and clothing.

The role of the international committee of the red cross in resolving international conflicts

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-161
Author(s):  
Adel Hamzah Othman
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
History Of

The relevance of the problem under study lies in the presence of armed conflicts in the international arena and the presence of a diverse abundance of ways to regulate them. The main purpose of this study is to identify the main provisions of international law applicable in international conflicts through the lens of the role of the Committee of the Red Cross in its development. This study covers and thoroughly analyses the history and the main purpose of the origin of the organisation. Furthermore, the study engages in an in-depth examination of the basic tasks and principles of the Committee's activities. As a result of the study, the existing theories of the participation and influence of the Committee in international legal relations will be clearly identified, as well as those theories that have emerged due to innovations in legal thinking and are capable of covering the specific features of the practice and effectiveness of this non-governmental organisation. In addition, the designation of the actual problems of the existence of this organisation, its relevance in the modern world, and the strength of the support of the world society. Among the successes of the scientific analysis of the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the development of international humanitarian law applicable in international conflicts is the reasoned hypotheses and confirmed statements of the importance of the Committee, which are described by the features of modernity, relevance, and compliance with the information and technological development of social relations of participants in healthy international relations, their supporters and opponents. This also includes the systematisation of scientific research, their analysis and reasonable refutation. A journey into the history of the emergence of international conflicts, their modification according to the development of social relations, as well as the processes of globalisation, will be the subject of comparative analysis aimed at identifying new methods and ways to avoid them

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