Conference on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Acute Crisis REPORT

Conference on The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Acute Crisis 11-13 February 1998 REPORT Department for International Development and Human Rights Centre, University of Essex ISBN: 1 874635 26 9 © The Human Rights Centre. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, recorded or otherwise reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without the prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher. This publication is produced subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the copyright owner and publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people have made an outstanding contribution to what is widely considered to have been a successful conference. In the first place I would like to thank the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department (CHAD) of the Department for International Development for financing the project and Dr Mukesh Kapila, co-director of the conference, for his intellectual and moral support which was immeasurably helpful in undertaking a project that was not a typical academic conference. Also his colleague, Ms Natalia Langlais, Programme Officer (CHAD) provided necessary day-to-day liaison with the University of Essex conference team. Many people at the University of Essex deserve thanks. Its Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivor Crewe, immediately saw the importance of the project and provided leadership in ensuring that the University’s administrative bodies facilitated the resolution of the problems that arose. He set the tone of the conference in his welcome address at its opening, a tone characterised by intellectual rigour, practical analysis and an informed exchange of ideas. The Steering Committee convened by the Human Rights Centre of the University ensured that the conference sought to bring as many facets as possible of the issues to be discussed coherently before its participants. Its members, in addition to myself, were Professor Kevin Boyle (Director of the Centre), Ian Martin (Fellow of the Centre), Professor Geoff Gilbert, Professor Françoise Hampson and Jane Wright (all of the Department of Law), Dr Anthony Verrier (Department of Government) and Kate Mackintosh who prepared the conference working paper. In fact, Ian Martin’s wide field experience coupled with an impressive record of scholarly analysis of field operations was an indispensable anchor for the whole endeavour. The praise many have given to the practical functioning of the conference belongs squarely with the team of organisers: first Alison Jolly laid the foundations, but could not see the project through because she went to join a UNHCR human rights project in Tashkent at the end of 1997, and then by her successor Anne Slowgrove, staunchly assisted by Dr Marina Arlati. Thanks are also due to the staff at One Great George Street Conference Centre. Finally, and certainly top of the bill, thanks are due to all the participants, governmental, non- governmental and academic; especially those who agreed to bear the burden of writing the authoritative papers that are reproduced here. Many also travelled far to be with us. Nigel S Rodley Professor of Law Human Rights Centre University of Essex May 1998 Contents Page • Introduction 1 • Recommendations 5 • Opening Address by the Rt Hon Clare Short, MP 11 Secretary of State for International Development • International Responses to Acute Crisis: Supporting Human Rights 15 through Protection and Assistance Discussion paper prepared by Kate Mackintosh • International Human Rights Law and Machinery for Monitoring 51 its Implementation in Situations of Acute Crisis Nigel S Rodley • International Humanitarian Law in Situations of Acute Crisis 61 Françoise Hampson • Work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 73 Carlo von Flüe • An Introduction to the Law Relating to the Protection of Displaced 79 Persons in Situations of Armed Conflict Geoff Gilbert • Humanitarian Aid and Neutrality 89 Nicholas Morris • Dilemmas in Providing Humanitarian Assistance in Crisis Environments 93 David Bassiouni • Sharpening the Weapons of Peace: The Development of a Common 97 Military Doctrine for Peace Support Operations Philip Wilkinson, MBE • From Conventional Peacekeeping to Multidimensional Field Operations 107 Emma Shitakha • A New Frontier: the Early Experience and Future of International 113 Human Rights Field Operations Ian Martin • UNDP’s Role in Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in Crisis and 131 Post-Crisis Countries Colleen Duggan • Appendix A - List of participants i • Appendix B - Agenda v • Appendix C - Biographies of speakers ix REPORT OF A CONFERENCE ON THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACUTE CRISIS London, 11- 13 February 1998 INTRODUCTION From 11-13 February 1998 a conference on “The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Acute Crisis” was held in London, organised by the UK Department for International Development and the University of Essex Human Rights Centre. The purpose of the conference was to examine, in depth, the need for, and the implications of, a human rights- based response by the international community to situations of internal conflict and political instability. Recommendations arising from the conference are set out in the following section. Participants, of which a list is contained in Appendix A of this report, came from offices of the main intergovernmental agencies carrying out peacekeeping, human rights and humanitarian operations; leading non-governmental organisations working in the area of human rights and humanitarian assistance; representatives of several donor governments, as well as academic authorities on various aspects of the field. Discussions were based on a working paper prepared by Ms Kate Mackintosh for the University of Essex Human Rights Centre and papers presented by various participants. The agenda, with chairs and presenters, is contained in Appendix B and their biographies in Appendix C. All participants were asked to speak in their personal capacities, without commitment on behalf of their organisations. While the focus of the conference was on the challenge of protecting human rights in the midst of acute conflict and violence, in opening it the Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt Hon Clare Short MP, placed the subject within a broader framework of conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building. Conflict within society, over resources or its direction is based on many factors, but frequently includes ethnic and religious division. Such conflicts are neither unusual nor inevitably a problem. It is the failure to manage such conflicts, without resort to violence and social breakdown, that is the main concern. The international community has an interest in and a responsibility to contribute towards the prevention of destructive conflict in all societies. Prevention will require many different approaches, but all should be based on the linkage between respect for all human rights, the rule of law, development, democracy and peace. The conference valued the important final report of the Carnegie Commission on the Prevention of Deadly Conflict. 1 This offers to states and the international community as a whole, a range of proposals for action that would reduce the number and duration of acute crises in the world. Nevertheless, situations of intense internal conflict within states continue to proliferate, posing many dilemmas for the international community, for individual donor countries and international, as well as national, humanitarian organisations. The sheer scale of human victims in such conflicts justifies international concern and engagement in efforts to protect 1 Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, Preventing Deadly Conflict: Final Report, with Executive Summary (Carnegie Corporation of New York, December 1997). the millions of civilians put at risk. The stark evidence in such conflicts of complete disregard by state and non-state actors of the requirements of human rights and international humanitarian law, equally justifies international action to ensure both the protection of civilians, and the accountability of those responsible for gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law for the building of lasting peace. Then there is the vital phase of international involvement, after the fighting has stopped, in helping the local society to build a stable peace that does not contain the seeds of renewed violence and conflict. To build enduring peace a coherent policy must inform international engagement, which itself must go beyond the provision of humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian assistance must be seen as an essential component of, rather than as a substitute for, a holistic policy approach. This is all the more vital, as sadly, there will be more cases of acute crisis, such as the examples of Bosnia, Rwanda and the Great Lakes, discussed at the conference. The need for a coherent and principled response (that is, governed by the duty to protect human rights) is recognised, but far from being achieved. The United Nations as a whole, has been moving to lay the basis for such a response to acute crises. Following the adoption of the Secretary-General’s reform strategy for the organisation,

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