Description
Over 100,000 United Nations uniformed peacekeeping personnel are deployed on missions with authority from the Security Council to protect civilians in conflict zones. Chapter VII of the UN Charter allows for the use of force on UN missions, but does not list the rules governing the use; they are found in either the jus in bello provisions of international humanitarian law (IHL) or the regulations on the use of force in international human rights law. The UN Charter specifies that its provisions take precedence over all other international treaties. While the UN acknowledges the relevance of IHL to its missions, this book argues that the regulations of international human rights law usually provide more appropriate guidance. UN missions mandated to protect civilians have repeatedly failed to do so, and mechanisms need to be created to improve their accountability to those that they are responsible for protecting.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Part I. The Relationship between 'Protection' and 'Peacekeeping': 1. Laws and wars and rights and wrongs: the general international legal framework relevant to protection; 2. The evolution and conceptual development of UN peacekeeping and the protection of civilians; 3. Competing conceptions: the protection of civilians in UN peacekeeping operations; Part II. The Applicable Legal Framework Governing the Use of Force for Protective Purposes: 4. The 'protection provisions' of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law; 5. The UN's legal authority and obligations to protect civilians; Part III. Protection of Civilians Mandates in Four Contemporary Case-Study Missions: 6. Peacekeeping or war-fighting: the UN missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Côte d'Ivoire; 7. 'Acting with moral courage': the UN missions to Darfur and South Sudan conclusions; Bibliography; Index.
