Obstruction and intimidation of peacekeepers: How armed actors undermine civilian protection efforts

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allard Duursma
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Civilian Protection ◽  
Operational Space ◽  
Random Occurrence ◽  
Violence Against Civilians ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
Armed Actors

While recent research focuses on why conflict parties attack peacekeepers, little attention has been given to other types of resistance against peacekeeping missions, such as intimidation and obstruction. It is argued in this article that one reason why peacekeepers are obstructed and intimidated is that armed actors that target civilians want to maintain the operational space to carry out attacks against civilians and want to prevent peacekeepers from monitoring human rights violations. A spatially and temporally disaggregated analysis on resistance against peacekeepers in Darfur between January 2008 and April 2009 indeed suggests that the intimidation and obstruction of peacekeepers is more likely to take place in areas with higher levels of violence against civilians. The findings hold when taking into account the non-random occurrence of violence against civilians through matching the data. Finally, anecdotal evidence from other sites of armed conflict than Darfur suggests that resistance against peacekeepers in these cases is also likely to be related to the targeting of civilians. This suggest that in order to be effective in protecting civilians, peace missions should not only be robust as highlighted in previous research, but peace missions should also develop an effective strategy to deal with armed groups that try to prevent peacekeepers from fulfilling their mandate.

scholarly journals Corredores y territorios estratégicos del conflicto armado colombiano: una prioridad por territorializar en la geopolítica de los actores armados / Strategic corridors and territories in the colombian armed conflict: a priority for territorializing for

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-36
Author(s):  
Luis Gabriel Salas Salazar
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Political Geography ◽  
The Political ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Regional Process ◽  
A Priority ◽  
Armed Actors

Los recientes estudios e investigaciones del conflicto armado en Colombia han hecho referencia a la posible existencia de corredores y territorios estratégicos, no obstante, no han ofrecido evidencias concretas de su existencia, ni mucho menos han logrado caracterizar su territorialidad. El trabajo investigativo que aquí se presenta tuvo como objetivo analizar e interpretar la dinámica de las territorialidades de los corredores y territorios estratégicos de los actores del conflicto armado colombiano, en el periodo 1990-2009, desde una perspectiva de la Geografía Política. Las evidencias empíricas de esta investigación permiten establecer que la dinámica de las territorialidades de estos espacios estratégicos del conflicto armado colombiano se ha desplegado a través de tres niveles: en el nacional, en el regional y en el subregional-local. Para cada uno de ellos existe una dinámica territorial, en donde los actores armados han configurando una condición multiescalar de las territorialidades de los corredores y territoriosgeoestratégicos en Colombia.Palabras clave: Colombia, Conflicto Armado, Corredores Estratégicos,Geopolítica, Territorios estratégicos. Abstract Recent studies and investigations of the armed conflict in Colombia have made reference to the possible existence of corridors and strategic territories. However, have not offered concrete evidence of their existence, much less have they managed to characterize its territoriality. This researchwork’s aim is to analyze and interpret the dynamics of the corridors’ territories, as well as the Colombian armed actors’ strategic areas during the period of 1990-2009, from the Political Geography perspective. Empirical evidence from this research allows us to establish that the dynamics of the territoriality of these strategic areas of the armed conflictin Colombia, have been deployed across three levels: national, regional and local sub-regional. For each, there is a regional process, where armed groups have been setting up a multi-scale status of the corridors’ territories and geo-strategic areas in Colombia.Keywords:Armed Conflict, Strategic Corridors, Colombia, Geopolitical,Strategic territory.

scholarly journals Kinds of Blue: Diversity in UN Peacekeeping Missions and Civilian Protection

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 681-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Bove ◽  
Andrea Ruggeri
Keyword(s):  
Peace Operations ◽  
Civilian Protection ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peace Operation ◽  
Violence Against Civilians ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

For a given number of troops in a peace operation, is it advisable to have soldiers from a single country, or should the UN recruit peacekeepers from a variety of donor countries? Since 1990, the number of contributors to peace operations has grown threefold, and most operations have carried the mandate to protect civilians. This article explores the effect of diversity in the composition of a mission, measured by fractionalization and polarization indices, on its performance in protecting civilians in Africa in the period 1991–2008. It finds that mission diversity decreases the level of violence against civilians, a result that holds when geographic and linguistic distances between countries are considered.

Transitional Justice and Victims' Rights before the End of a Conflict: The Unusual Case of Colombia

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEMIMA GARCÍA-GODOS ◽  
KNUT ANDREAS O. LID
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Unusual Case ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Clear Link ◽  
The Law ◽  
Armed Actors

AbstractIn a context of continuing armed conflict, a comprehensive scheme of transitional justice has been developed in Colombia since 2005 through the Law of Justice and Peace, with the aim of achieving peace with one of the armed actors in the conflict, the paramilitary groups. The clear link between the demobilisation of illegal armed groups and the rights of the victims is the main feature of the Colombian process. This article provides a systematic review of the implementation of the law, focusing on the institutions, mechanisms and procedures put in place to fulfil its goals. Emphasis is given to the legal category of ‘victim’, victims' rights and victim reparation measures. By exploring how the scheme works in principle and in practice, we are able to assess the prospects for victims' rights in Colombia today.

scholarly journals Reclutamiento de migrantes en la frontera colombo-venezolana

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-54
Author(s):  
Diego Alejandro Pérez Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Academic Information ◽  
Drug Traffickers ◽  
Armed Actors

Recruitment has been a phenomenon present in the context of the Colombian armed conflict. Thus, illegal armed groups (ELN, dissent from the former FARC, paramilitary groups, drug traffickers, among others) have seen migration as an opportunity to increase the number of members in their ranks. Thus, the exodus of Venezuelans has become an attractive phenomenon for recruitment where armed groups take advantage of irregular dynamics and socio-territorial complexities to increase the range of action of attacks, fighting and presence. That said, the research question is: How has the flow of Venezuelan migrants on the Colombian-Venezuelan border contributed to the strengthening of illegal armed actors? Due to the lack of academic information, the investigation will use as collection instruments: interviews with academics, decision makers and journalistic work.

scholarly journals The Interplay Between International Humanitarian Law, Terrorism and the “Foreign Terrorist Fighter” Regime

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 307-310
Author(s):  
Sandra Krähenmann
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Natural Connection ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Armed Actors

There seems to be a natural connection between armed conflict and terrorism: both involve acts of violence by nonstate armed actors. The acts of armed groups during armed conflicts are frequently labeled as acts of terrorism. Similarly, both international humanitarian law (IHL) and the international legal regime governing terrorism address acts of violence committed by nonstate armed actors. Yet, these superficial similarities obscure the significant conceptual differences between acts of violence in armed conflicts and those outside armed conflicts as well as the differences in the legal regimes governing them. Before turning to an analysis of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2178 (2014), it is necessary to briefly explain how IHL addresses acts of terrorism, followed by a brief description of the international treaty regime governing terrorism, including how this regime regulates its relationship with IHL.

scholarly journals Las Farc y las organizaciones comunitarias en San Andrés de Tumaco: desafíos territoriales ante una eventual implementación de los Acuerdos de La Habana

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Aponte ◽  
Javier Benavides
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Social Organizations ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
San Andres ◽  
Los Grupos ◽  
Armed Actors

El presente artículo tiene como objeto evidenciar que las comunidades y organizaciones sociales afectadas de forma severa y aguda por el conflicto armado y la violencia que estos ejercen, no solo se mueven al son de las balas; sino que éstas también adoptan posiciones que van más allá de la resistencia y la pasividad. En este orden, se quiere exponer cómo un caso concreto, las comunidades rurales de Tumaco, evidencian que la guerra también tiene legados “positivos” sobre las organizaciones sociales, que abarcan desde una amplia capacidad de negociación así como de adaptación a las normas y controles que ejercen los grupos armados. Esta experiencia deja en evidencia dos cuestiones de suma importancia para la actual coyuntura nacional: (1) que la guerra, fuera de todos los llamados legados negativos remarcados por los estudios especializados (tales como la anomia, desarticulación, desconfianza, etc.),se hacen presentes también unos legados asociados a una mayor capacidad de negociación e independencia de los pobladores y sus organizaciones frente a los actores armados luego de ciclos violentos; (2) y que la forma de relacionarse los actores armados con los pobladores locales depende no solo de sus políticas internas, sino también de la población presente y sus formas de apropiación territorial. En este sentido, este artículo es una hoja de ruta para remarcar la necesidad de que la llamada paz territorial debe incluir en ella la idea de transiciones diferenciados de acuerdo al carácter el grupo armado, así como la población inserta en el territorio.Palabras Clave: Conflicto armado, Pacífico nariñense, Organizaciones sociales y comunitarias, Economía cocalera posconflicto ABSTRACTTHE FARC AND THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS IN SAN ANDRÉS DE TUMACO: TERRITORIAL CHALLENGES BEFORE AN EVENTUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENTS OF HAVANAThe purpose of this article is to show that communities and social organizations that are severely and acutely affected by the armed conflict and the violence they carry out, not only move to the sound of bullets, But also adopt positions that go beyond resistance and passivity. In this order, we want to show how a specific case, the rural communities of Tumaco, show that war also has “positive” legacies on social organizations, ranging from a broad capacity for negotiation as well as adaptation to norms and controls Exercised by armed groups. This experience highlights two issues of great importance for the current national situation: (1) that war, apart from all the so-called negative legacies highlighted by specialized studies (such as anomie, disarticulation, mistrust, etc.), Also present legacies associated with a greater capacity for negotiation and independence of the villagers and their organizations vis-à-vis the armed actors after violent cycles; (2) and that the way armed actors relate to local people depends not only on their internal policies, but also on the present population and its forms of territorial appropriation. In this sense, this article is a road map to highlight the need for the so-called territorial peace to include in it the idea of differentiated transitions according to the character of the armed group, as well as the population inserted in the territory.Key words: Armed conflict, Nariño Pacific, Social and community organizations, Post-conflict cocaine economy

scholarly journals Children in Armed Conflict: A Human Rights Crisis in Somalia

Global Jurist ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvador Santino Jr. Fulo Regilme ◽  
Elisabetta Spoldi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
False Sense ◽  
Alternative Sources

Abstract Despite the consolidated body of public international law on children’s rights and armed conflict, why do armed rebel groups and state forces deploy children in armed conflict, particularly in Somalia? First, due to the lack of alternative sources of income and livelihood beyond armed conflict, children join the army due to coercive recruitment by commanders of armed groups. Their participation in armed conflict generates a fleeting and false sense of material security and belongingness in a group. Second, many Somali children were born in an environment of existential violence and material insecurity that normalized and routinized violence, thereby motivating them to view enlistment in armed conflict as morally permissible and necessary for existential survival.

Thresholds in Flux—the Standard for Ascertaining the Requirement of Organization for Armed Groups under International Humanitarian Law

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaka Arai-Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Geneva Convention ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Threshold Condition ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals

Abstract The requirement of organization is supposed to be of special importance in international humanitarian law (IHL). In the situation of international armed conflict (IAC), this requirement is implicit as part of the collective conditions to be fulfilled by irregular/independent armed groups to enable their members to claim the prisoners of war status under Article 4 A(2) of the Third Geneva Convention. In a non-international armed conflict (NIAC), the eponymous requirement serves, alongside the requirement of intensity of violence, as the threshold condition for ascertaining the onset of a NIAC. While the requirement of organization has not caused much of disputes in IACs, the international criminal tribunals have shown a willingness to examine scrupulously if armed groups in NIACs are sufficiently organized. Still, this article argues that there is need for a nuanced assessment of the organizational level of an armed group in some specific phases of the ongoing armed conflict whose legal character switches (from an NIAC to an IAC, vice-versa, and from a NIAC to a law-enforcement model). It explores what rationales and argumentative model may be adduced to explain such varying standards for organization in different contexts.

Combatant socialization and norms of restraint: Examining officer training at the US Military Academy and Army ROTC

2021 ◽  
pp. 002234332110108
Author(s):  
Andrew Bell
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Officer Training ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Army Reserve ◽  
Civilian Protection ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Us ◽  
Reserve Officer Training Corps ◽  
Army Rotc

Can armed groups socialize combatants to norms of restraint – in essence, train soldiers to adopt norms of international humanitarian law on the battlefield? How can social scientists accurately measure such socialization? Despite being the central focus of organizational and ideational theories of conflict, studies to date have not engaged in systematic, survey-based examination of this central socialization mechanism theorized to influence military conduct. This study advances scholarly understanding by providing the first comparative, survey-based examination of combatant socialization to norms of restraint, using surveys and interviews with US Army cadets at the US Military Academy (USMA), Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and active duty Army combatants. Additionally, to better understand ‘restraint’ from combatants’ perspective, this study introduces the concept of the ‘combatant’s trilemma’ under which combatants conceptualize civilian protection as part of a costly trade-off with the values of military advantage and force protection. Survey results hold both positive and negative implications for socialization to law of war norms: military socialization can shift combatants’ preferences for battlefield conduct. However, intensive norm socialization may be required to shift combatants’ preferences from force protection to civilian protection norms. Study findings hold significant implications for understanding violence against civilians in conflict and for policies to disseminate civilian protection norms in armed groups worldwide.

The Commander’s Dilemma

2018 ◽  
pp. 25-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Hoover Green
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Psychology And Economics ◽  
Violence Against Civilians

This chapter discusses the Commander's Dilemma framework that motivated the study of Salvadoran armed groups, examining literature from sociology, social psychology, and economics to understand why restraint is rare, and when it can succeed. This theoretical approach rests on four claims. First, to succeed, commanders must increase combatants' predispositions to violence. Yet—second—both training and combat durably increase combatants' predispositions to violence in general, not only their predisposition to perpetrate ordered killings of enemy soldiers. Third, commanders wish to avoid violence that appears likely to threaten the group's, or the commander's, survival, including some unordered violence against civilians. This imperative conflicts with the necessity to increase violent predispositions. These conflicting imperatives are referred to as the Commander's Dilemma. Fourth, purely extrinsic incentives are not sufficient to halt unordered violence in irregular war, because so many violence-causing factors are present in most conflict contexts. Violence is, in a word, overdetermined.

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