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On Civilian Harm On Civilian Harm Examining the complex negative effects of violent conflict on the lives of civilians None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims. ELIE WIESEL (NOBEL PRIZE LECTURE, 1986) On Civilian Harm Examining the complex negative effects of violent conflict on the lives of civilians Editors: Erin Bijl, Welmoet Wels & Wilbert van der Zeijden On civilian harm ON CIVILIAN HARM Examining the complex negative effects of violent conflict on the lives of civilians Editors: Erin Bijl, Welmoet Wels & Wilbert van der Zeijden Copy right: Copyright © by PAX 2021 Organisation: PAX, Protection of Civilians team Publication date: June 2021 Design/Lay-out: Het IJzeren Gordijn Printing company: Drukkerij Stetyco ISBN: 978-94-92487-57-5 Credits and permission for the use of particular images and illustrations are listed on the relevant pages and are considered a continuation of the copyright page. Please reach out to [email protected] in case of concerns or comments. An online version of this book and its individual chapters can be downloaded for free at https://protectionofcivilians.org. For questions about dissemination, presentations, content or other matters related to the book, reach out to [email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, stored in a database and / or published in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, expect in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permissions contact [email protected]. 4 Table of contents Table of contents List of acronyms 7 Foreword 11 Preface 13 Introduction 19 PART I. Cases of civilian harm 1 Siege tactics: Hudeidah under fire (Yemen, 2018) 41 2 Oil fires: Apocalyptic scenes in Qayyarah (Iraq, 2016) 55 3 Sexual violence: Attacked for being Nuer (South Sudan, 2016) 69 4 Essential infrastructure: The targeting of (waste)water plants in Gaza (Palestine, 2014) 83 5 Chemical weapons: A Sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun (Syria, 2017) 97 6 Explosive remnants of war: A long-term legacy (Cambodia, 1960s-present) 111 7 Indirect fire: A hospital caught in a war zone (Ukraine, 2015) 125 8 Genocide: Targeted violence against the Yazidis from Sinjar (Iraq, 2014) 139 9 Airstrike: Bombs destroy a shelter in Al Mansoura (Syria, 2017) 153 10 Forced displacement: Paramilitary violence against the campesinos of El Toco (Colombia, 1997) 167 11 Suicide bombing: Bringing fear and destruction to Kabul (Afghanistan, 2015) 181 12 Weaponizing drinking water: Rivers, purification plants and generators as targets (Syria, 2014-16) 195 13 Ethnic cleansing: The Rohingya’s expulsion from Rakhine State (Myanmar, 2017) 209 PART II. Elements of civilian harm 14 Victims: The human cost of violent conflict 233 15 Perpetrators: Types, intentions, responsibility 251 16 Key factors: Causing or mitigating harm 269 17 Conclusion: Towards a shared understanding of civilian harm 287 About the authors 305 Bibliography 307 5 On civilian harm 6 List of acronyms List of acronyms AMISOM African Union Mission in Somalia ANA Afghan National Army ANP Afghan National Police ANSF Afghan National Security Forces ARSA Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army Asocomparto Community Association of Campesinos of El Toco (Spanish: Asociación Comunitaria de Parceleros de El Toco) AU African Union AUC United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Spanish: Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) AWS Autonomous weapon systems BCE Before Common Era CCMT Civilian Casualty Mitigation Team CHM Civilian harm mitigation CMAC Cambodian Mine Action Centre CMWU Coastal Municipalities Water Utility CWC Chemical Weapons Convention DMZ Demilitarized Zone DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo ELN National Liberation Army (Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Nacional) ERW Explosive Remnants of War EU European Union EWIPA Explosive weapons in populated areas FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) FFI Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (Norwegian: Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt) FSA Free Syrian Army GBP Great British Pound ICC International Criminal Court ICJ International Court of Justice ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDF Israeli Defence Forces IDP Internally displaced person 7 On civilian harm IED Improvised Explosive Device IHL International Humanitarian Law IHRL International Human Rights Law INCORA Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform (Spanish: Instituto Colombiano de la Reforma Agraria) INEW International Network on Explosive Weapons INGO International non-governmental organisation ISAF International Security Assistance Force ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISKP Islamic State of Khorasan Province KDP Kurdish Democratic Party MAG Mines Advisory Group MoD Ministry of Defence MoI Ministry of the Interior MONUSCO United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo) MSF Doctors Without Borders (French: Médecins Sans Frontières) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Non-governmental organisation NLD National League for Democracy OIR Operation Inherent Resolve OPCW Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons PA Palestinian Authority PKK Kurdish Workers’ Party (Kurdish: Partîya Karkerên Kurdistanê) POC Protection of Civilians PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder R2P Responsibility to Protect SAA Syrian Arab Army SARC Syrian Arab Red Crescent SAS Special Air Service SCD Syria Civil Defence SDF Syrian Democratic Forces SGBV Sexual and gender-based violence SPLA Sudan People’s Liberation Army 8 List of acronyms SPLA-IO Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition SPLM/A-IO Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition Su-22 Sukhoi-22 TGoNU Transitional Government of National Unity TRW Toxic Remnants of War UAE United Arab Emirates UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UNMISS United Nations Mission in South Sudan UN OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East US United States USD United States Dollar UXO Unexploded Ordnance VDC Violations Documentation Center WASH Water, sanitation and hygiene WMD Weapons of mass destruction YPG People’s Protection Units (Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel) 9 On civilian harm 10 Foreword Foreword ‘It should be self-evident: a government’s first duty is to protect its citizens. And the first duty for the governments united in this grand Council is to protect civilians under threat. From war, violence and suffering. After all, if we are not here to protect people, what are we doing?’ With these words, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs opened his remarks in the UN Security Council on 23 May 2019, at the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Council’s resolution 1265. In 1999, the Netherlands was privileged to join those voting in favour of UN Security Council resolution 1265. At the centre of the conception stood our conviction: In conflict, civilians must be protected. In the years preceding this resolution,civilians caught up in the crossfire had been failed too often. Since the adoption of resolution 1265, a lot has happened. The resolution has proven to be a useful tool in calibrating our attention on this central theme. We see a paradigm shift in our thinking: Missions without protection of civilians in their mandate have become inconceivable. However, indiscriminate attacks on civilians remain widespread in many armed conflicts and are driving a record number of people from their homes. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in 2019 approximately 70.8 million people were forcibly displaced. When bearing in mind the protection of civilians, not only direct consequences, such as buildings shattered, loss of infrastructure and people killed or injured, should be taken into account. The reverberating effects, such as psycho-social trauma, loss of livelihood, livestock and access to basic needs are extensive. When schools are targeted: The future of children is attacked. When neighbourhoods are targeted: Crop fields are destroyed, bakeries burnt and markets hit. It is why countries worldwide have agreed to regulate the conduct of warfare and abide by international legal rules during a conflict. These rules are designed to spare civilians in conflict and the dignity of their lives. It is not the lack of rules that allows the impunity of civilian harm. It is rather the persistent failure of parties to 11 On civilian harm armed conflict to comply with these rules and the lack of accountability in case of violations. Luckily, there are also rays of light. Allow me to commend the good work of PAX in Iraq and South Sudan. Within UNMISS and the NATO Mission in Iraq, the Protection of Civilians is an integral part. But, it is aided by the important lobby and advocacy work of civil society organisations, such as PAX, that bring voices from the field to the ears of security actors and policy makers and match the contribution to protection with the needs for protection in hopes to build local resilience.
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