UN Peacekeeping Operations: Applicability of International Humanitarian Law and Responsibility for Operations-Related Damage

2000 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphna Shraga
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
First Time

In the five decades that followed the Korea operation, where for the first time the United Nations commander agreed, at the request of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to abide by the humanitarian provisions of the Geneva Conventions, few UN operations lent themselves to the applicability of international humanitarian law

Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (156) ◽  
pp. 117-129
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Recent Developments

The Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts opened in Geneva on 20 February 1974. This Conference was convened by the Swiss Government and is being attended by plenipotentiary representatives of 118 States Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Members of the United Nations, as well as by many observers for intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The Conference will sit until 29 March to deal with two additional draft protocols to the Geneva Conventions, which the International Committee of the Red Cross has drawn up with a view to supplementing existing international humanitarian law in the light of recent developments in matters of war.

Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts: Conference of Red Cross Experts

1971 ◽  
Vol 11 (121) ◽  
pp. 193-206
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The United Nations

On 1 March 1971, the Conference of Red Cross experts on the reaffirmation and development of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflict opened at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The Conference, of which the significance was explained in our March issue, and which continued until 6 March, was convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross and organized with the valuable co-operation of the Netherlands Red Cross Society. Sixty-nine delegates, representing 34 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, participated in the session.The opening meeting, under the Chairmanship of the Jonkheer Kraijenhoff, President of the Netherlands Red Cross Society, took place in the main hall of the International Court of Justice, in the presence of H.E. Mr. C. H. F. Polak, Minister of Justice, Mr. V. G. M. Marijnen, Burgomaster of The Hague, Mr. Marcel A. Naville, President of the ICRC, Mr. Marc Schreiber, Director of the U.N. Human Rights Division, Mr. Nedim Abut, Under Secretary-General of the League of Red Cross Societies, and many diplomatic representativesA number of speakers took the floor. Mr. Marijnen bade the participants welcome; Mr. Schreiber presented the greetings and good wishes of the United Nations Secretary-General, underlining the excellent co-operation between the United Nations and the ICRC. The Presidents of the Netherlands Red Cross and of the ICRC each delivered an address, the main passages of which we reproduce below, not omitting to mention that Mr. Naville expressed the Geneva institution's gratitude to the Netherlands Red Cross which played a determining role in the organizing of the Conference.

UN Secretary-General's visit

1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (137) ◽  
pp. 441-441
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Director General ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, accompanied by the Director-General of the European Office of the United Nations, Mr. Winspeare Guicciardi, visited the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross on 4 July 1972. He was welcomed by Mr. Marcel A. Naville, President, and several members of the Committee and Directorate.The UN Secretary-General and the ICRC President discussed in private the work being carried out by the ICRC for the development of international humanitarian law, an undertaking with which the United Nations is closely associated. They conversed also on the functions of their respective organizations in disaster relief. In addition, Mr. Naville informed Mr. Waldheim of the ICRC current activities in the world, particularly in the Asian Sub-Continent.

Intervention Brigades in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Challenges Posed to International Humanitarian Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Verda Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
Peace And Conflict Studies ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Alternative Approach

In recent decades, the United Nations (UN) has directed its peacekeeping operations to be practice-driven. This has led to an alternative approach to state-military contacts, such as those provided by the United States and other nations; the UN is more inclined to consolidate and strengthen its liaisons through Intervention Brigades. The efficacy of these brigades lies in providing military assistance to UN operations and catering to logistics, training, and advice. Advocates of peace, the UN peacekeeping operations (UNPKOs) are based on consent, impartiality, and non-utilization of force (excluding times of civilian protection and self-defense). However, as Intervention Brigades gain momentum, 'robust' peacekeeping is becoming more regulated; thus, promoting 'force' against rebel groups and/or militias. When aligned with robust Intervention Brigades, which utilizes more force than lawfully permitted, UN peacekeeping (UNPK) missions question these operations' credibility, thus blurring the conceptual difference between peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Conspicuously, this exploits the traditional principle of impartiality using hard power and violates the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Exemplifying through the case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this paper aims to discuss the abovementioned discrepancy resulting in complications for the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS). As the discipline promotes achieving peace through „soft‟ means, the paper reviews the subject under Chapter VI & VII of the UN charter and highlights the grey areas of IHL applicability in UN peacekeeping and Intervention Brigades.

A Winding Road to the Additional Protocols (1950–1968)

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-129
Author(s):  
Giovanni Mantilla
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The United Nations

This chapter traces the events that followed the adoption of Common Article 3 (CA3) in 1949 until 1968. It analyzes formal debates that resurfaced in the United Nations (UN) about revising and developing the international legal rules for armed conflict, which lead to the negotiation of the two Additional Protocols (APs) that complement the 1949 Geneva Conventions. It also explains how the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) rested on its laurels through the extension of CA3 on situations of internal violence that could not be plausibly characterized as armed conflict. The chapter mentions ICRC activities between 1950 and the mid-1960s that reveal persistent efforts to make up for the operation of CA3 in the gray zones. It examines interruption of the reflection of the ICRC by episodes of frustration and abuse that involve concerns about detained persons in diverse internal violent contexts.

Respect for fundamental judicial guarantees in time of armed conflict — The part played by ICRC delegates

1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (287) ◽  
pp. 121-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Peter Gasser
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Principal Part ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Judicial Procedure ◽  
Harsh Reality

Article 75 of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions lays down with admirable clarity and concision thateven in time of war, or rather especially in time of war, justice must be dispassionate. How does international humanitarian lawpromote this end? What can theInternational Committee of the Red Cross, an independent humanitarian institution, do in the harsh reality of an armed conflict towards maintaining respect for the fundamental judicial guarantees protecting persons accused of crimes, some of them particularly abhorrent?This article will first consider the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols in relation to judicial procedure in time of armed conflicts. Thereafter it will examine the legal bases legitimizing international scrutiny of penal proceedings instituted against persons protected by humanitarian law. The next and principal part of the article will indicate how ICRC delegates appointed to monitor trials as observers do their job. In conclusion the article will try to evaluate this little-known aspect of the ICRC's work of protection.

International humanitarian law and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts: Recommitting to protection in armed conflict on the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (911) ◽  
pp. 869-949
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Areas Of Interest

This is the fifth report on international humanitarian law (IHL) and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (International Conference). Similar reports were submitted to the International Conferences held in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. The aim of all these reports is to provide an overview of some of the challenges posed by contemporary armed conflicts for IHL; generate broader reflection on those challenges; and outline current or prospective ICRC action, positions, and areas of interest.

Appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross on the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Additional Protocols of 1977

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (320) ◽  
pp. 471-472
Author(s):  
Cornelio Sommaruga
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Liberation ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
20Th Anniversary ◽  
The Government ◽  
Preparatory Work

Twenty years ago, on 11 June 1977, the plenipotentiaries of over a hundred States and several national liberation movements signed the Final Act of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts. This Conference had been convened by the government of Switzerland, the depositary State of the Geneva Conventions. After four sessions held between 1973 and 1977, themselves preceded by several years of preparatory work, the Conference drew up two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, relating to the protection of the victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I) and of noninternational armed conflicts (Protocol II).

scholarly journals The updated Commentary on the First Geneva Convention – a new tool for generating respect for international humanitarian law

2015 ◽  
Vol 97 (900) ◽  
pp. 1209-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Cameron ◽  
Bruno Demeyere ◽  
Jean-Marie Henckaerts ◽  
Eve La Haye ◽  
Heike Niebergall-Lackner
Keyword(s):  
Geneva Convention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Major Reference

AbstractSince their publication in 1950s and 1980s, respectively, the Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 have become a major reference for the application and interpretation of these treaties. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with a team of renowned experts, is currently updating these Commentaries in order to document developments and provide up-to-date interpretations. The work on the first updated Commentary, the Commentary on the First Geneva Convention relating to the protection of the wounded and sick in the armed forces, has already been finalized. This article provides an overview of the methodology and process of the update and summarizes the main evolutions in the interpretation of the treaty norms reflected in the updated Commentary.

scholarly journals The International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights

1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (208) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dietrich Schindler
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Committee ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
25Th Anniversary ◽  
150Th Anniversary ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The Relationship

The 150th anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant, the 30th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights were all celebrated in 1978. Also in 1978, both the American Convention on Human Rights (1969) and the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions (1977) entered into force. The concurrence of these various notable events, all relating to human rights, constitutes an appropriate occasion for an analysis of the relationship which exists between international humanitarian law and human rights.

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