Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research - Afghanistan

Weekly News Roundup: Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding (December 13, 2013)

Rob Grace — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 16:31:37 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

[As part of its research and policy project on monitoring, reporting, and fact-finding, the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) at Harvard University aggregates news detailing recent developments in this domain. For more information about this project, visit the project’s web page.]

This week, HPCR published a new working paper, “The Design and Planning of Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding Missions,” available at the Social Science Research Network.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which is engaging in peace talks with the Government of Colombia to end the decades-long civil war in the country, has reiterated its position that a truth commission should be a component of ending the conflict and has claimed that the Colombian government’s resistance to this idea has been an obstacle in the ongoing talks.
A report released in the past week — produced by the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights — presents information related to serious human rights abuses committed by Dozos between 2009 and 2013. The full report (In French) can be downloaded here.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released a new report, “A Way to Go: An Update on Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan.”
Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, visited Malaysia this week to assess access to food in the country.
The Sao Paulo Truth Commission presented a report concluding that former Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek — who died in a car accident in 1976 — was killed as part of a political conspiracy.
This week, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo — the United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children — undertook an official visit to the Bahamas, the first visit to a Caribbean country by a United Nations Human Rights Council special procedures mandate holder. The special rapporteur then traveled on an official visit to Belize.
Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, began a fact-finding mission to several European countries to meet with members of the Iranian diaspora to gather information about past and present human rights violations in Iran.
A law passed by the parliament in Kenya could allow parliamentarians to alter the content of the report produced by the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission.
For a roundup of events related to monitoring, reporting, and fact-finding that occurred in 2013, see “Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding: Developments in policy and practice,” published by Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection.”

Blog Tags:

MRF

Colombia

Afghanistan

Brazil

iran

FARC

Ivory Coast

Malaysia

Belize

Bahamas

Kenya

Weekly News Roundup: Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding (October 10, 2013)

Rob Grace — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:20:42 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced that the mission has recorded a 16% increase in Afghan civilian casualties in the first eight months of this year, compared to the same time frame last year.
UNAMA has also begun an investigation into torture in Afghan jails.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) met this week with the prime minister of Serbia, The purpose of the visit to the country is to assess the overall situation of IDPs in the country.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples travelled to Canada this week to gather information about the human rights situation of indigenous people in the country.

Blog Tags:

Afghanistan

UNAMA

MRF

Torture

Canada

Serbia

Weekly News Roundup: Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding (March 2, 2013)

Rob Grace — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 13:23:29 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

[As part of its research and policy project on monitoring, reporting, and fact-finding (MRF), the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) at Harvard University aggregates news detailing recent developments in this domain. For more information about this project, visit the project’s webpage. For additional research materials, visit the HPCR Digital Library of Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding, which provides a searchable database of primary resources from numerous MRF missions implemented over the past decade.]

The 22nd regular session of the United Nations Human rights Council began on Monday, February 25. The agenda, as well as additional information about the session, which is scheduled to run until March 22, can be found here. The session will include discussion of establishing a commission of inquiry to examine the human rights situation in North Korea. South Korea has pledged to provide “active” support to the initiative. Additionally, a group of human rights experts — including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment — expressed support for the commission.
A Taliban spokesman criticized a report released recently by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), claiming that the report “dos not bear impartiality.” UNAMA responded, “welcom[ing] the Taliban statement as an invitation to engage in meaningful dialogue on human rights and humanitarian issues for the benefit of all people of Afghanistan.”
Responding to the death of Arafat Jaradat, a prisoner who had been held in a detention center in Israel, the Palestinian Authority called for an international commission of inquiry to gather information about the incident.
The Marikana Commission of Inquiry — established to examine the violent incident that occurred in South Africa last August — is facing delays due to logistical issues, including power and water shortages, which might necessitate a change of venue for the commission’s operations.
Three prisoners currently being held in Iran penned a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay requesting that the United Nations establish a fact-finding missions to examine human rights violations committed in eight Iranian prisons.
The Linden Commission of Inquiry — created to examine shootings that occurred during anti-government protests in Guyana in July 2012 — submitted the commission’s final report to Guyanese President Donald Ramotar.

Blog Tags:

MRF

South Africa

UNAMA

Afghanistan

iran

Guyana

North Korea

Weekly News Roundup: Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding (January 25, 2013)

Rob Grace — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:09:59 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

The Marikana Commission of Inquiry — established to examine the violent incident that occurred in South Africa last August — resumed activities this week after a month-long recess.
A new report produced by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presents information about detainees in Afghanistan.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association concluded a visit to the United Kingdom.
Ronald Burch-Smith, secretary to the Linden Commission of Inquiry — created to examine shootings that occurred during anti-government protests in Guyana last July — resigned from the commission.
Human Rights Watch called on Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to publish the findings of a fact-finding committee that examined abuses committed by Egyptian security forces during the 2011 uprising.
Edward McMillan-Scott, a British Member of the European Parliament, called on China to allow a fact-finding mission consisting of Members of the European Parliament to visit Tibet.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism launched an investigation of drone attacks and targeted killings that occurred in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Palestinian territories, and Somalia.

Blog Tags:

MRF

South Africa

Drones

Afghanistan

China

Tibet

Pakistan

Yemen

Somalia

Occupied Palestinian Territories

Guyana

Egypt

Weekly News Roundup: Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding (December 14, 2012)

Rob Grace — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:07:11 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons called for an independent commission of inquiry to investigate cases of alleged forced disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) published a report examining the implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women, enacted in Afghanistan in 2009.
On World Human Rights Day, the Tibetan Solidarity Committee, Northeast India called for an international fact-finding mission to examine the human rights situation on the ground in Tibet.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is investigating reports of violence in Wau, the capital of Western Bahr El Ghazal in South Sudan.
The Washington Office on Latin America, the National Security Archive, and the Center for Justice and International Law wrote a letter to the Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council calling on the United States to declassify documents that might be useful for the Brazilian Truth Commission.
On December 11, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Cambodia visited Mam Sonando, a Cambodian journalist who was arrested in Cambodia earlier this year.
The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights completed an official visit to Mongolia.
The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders called on the Chinese Government to release Chen Kegui, whom Chinese officials arrested earlier this year. Chen Kegui is the nephew of human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who currently lives in the United States.

Blog Tags:

Afghanistan

UNAMA

Brazil

Tibet

South Sudan

UMMISS

Cambodia

Mongolia

China

MRF

HPCR & IRRC Live Web Seminar: Challenges to the Application of IHL to Afghanistan

Dustin Lewis — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:57:50 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

On Friday, November 4th, from 9:30 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. (Boston/Eastern Time; check your local time here), HPCR and the International Review of the Red Cross will co-present a Live Web Seminar on "Challenges to the Application of IHL to Afghanistan." The LWS will be co-moderated by Claude Bruderlein (Director of HPCR), Naz Modirzadeh (Associate Director of HPCR), and Vincent Bernard (Editor of the IRRC). As indicated in the event's description,

The conflict in Afghanistan is in its tenth year, and the situation continues to challenge protection efforts under international humanitarian law (IHL). While the civilian population has borne the effects of decades of conflict and instability, none of the previous conflicts have raised such direct questions regarding means and methods of implementing IHL.

This live web seminar will address a number of issues related to protection, including:

The role of IHL in regulating hostilities, particularly issues related to targeting, status of individuals, and the question of the geography of armed conflict.

The current nature of detention operations in Afghanistan, and the legal framework(s) by which these operations are regulated.

The state of humanitarian operations, the role of humanitarian actors such as the ICRC, and the challenges of access to vulnerable populations.

Pre-event registration (free) is required. Currently, panelists slated to participate include Gabor Rona (Human Rights First); Markus Cott (ICRC); Matthew Hover (U.S. Naval War College); and Fiona Terry (Independent Researcher). For more on this event, including background materials, and for a recording of the event after November 4th, check out this Live Web Seminar's page.

Blog Tags:

Afghanistan

ICRC

IRRC

Next Week's Live Seminar on Humanitarianism in Afghanistan

Dustin Lewis — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:59:16 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

Next Thursday, HPCR is hosting a free online Live Seminar on “The Future of Humanitarianism in Afghanistan.” (Register here.) My colleagues Naz Modirzadeh and Elizabeth Holland will lead a discussion on some of the key challenges facing humanitarian actors in Afghanistan. Scheduled panelists include Ashley Jackson of Oxfam International, Lynn Yoshikawa of Refugees International, and LTC Eric Young of the Naval War College (who will be presenting in his personal capacity).

Two days ago, Michiel Hofman—who just finished a two-year stint in Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)—spotlighted what he characterized as a “tragically absurd catch-22” facing sick or wounded Afghans who seek aid:

[G]oing to a NATO-run clinic or receiving assistance from groups affiliated with the NATO counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy risks retaliation from the opposition, be they Taliban or other militant groups. Civilians face the same risks from international and Afghan forces if they turn to the opposition for assistance. In this environment, seeking help amounts to choosing sides in the war.

The result is a tragically absurd catch-22: People put off seeking assistance because doing so can endanger their lives.

Mr. Hofman noted that “[n]early all of the provinces in Afghanistan are experiencing active conflict.” As a legal framework applicable to armed conflict, international humanitarian law includes provisions relating to humanitarian access and assistance.

According to Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, in non-international armed conflicts “[a]n impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.” The International Court of Justice has indicated that to be considered “humanitarian,” assistance must be limited to preventing and alleviating human suffering, to protecting life and health, and to ensuring respect for human being—and, “above all”, it must “be given without discrimination to all in need”.

Yet Mr. Hofman notes that, “[w]hile NGOs mostly claim their assistance is based on humanitarian principles, this is often inaccurate in Afghanistan. Many NGOs implement nation-building projects at the behest of Afghan and U.S. government agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).”

Resources on these and other humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan are available at the International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative portal. In addition, assessments of certain legal aspects of armed conflict in Afghanistan—such as human rights, detention operations, conduct of hostilities, and the legal basis for military operations—are available in the US Naval War College, The War in Afghanistan: A Legal Analysis (ed. Michael N. Schmitt), International Law Studies (Blue Book) Series, 2009.

Blog Tags:

Afghanistan

Humanitarian Access

Humanitarian Principles

Common Article 3

IHL and UCAVs (aka "Drones")

Dustin Lewis — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:33:35 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

The reported use of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs)—also known as “drones”—in areas such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen has engendered a wide variety of responses among international and domestic lawyers and policy analysts, such as last Friday's ASIL Insight by Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell. Indeed, within the past year alone, panelists before the U.S. Congress, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the U.S. State Department Legal Adviser, among others, have all examined legal and policy issues pertaining to the reported use of UCAVs. (As did various commentators during an HPCR live seminar last December.)
Determining which legal framework applies (or frameworks apply) to a specific use of force deployed via a UCAV depends partly on whether an armed conflict exists. International humanitarian law is applicable to a use of force deployed via a UCAV only in situations that rise to the level of an armed conflict. (Last January, HPCR hosted a live seminar regarding questions related to the threshold of armed conflict. In addition, HPCR recently published the HPCR Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare, as well as its Commentary.)
In situations of armed conflict, the use of force—whether deployed through a UCAV or any other weapons platform—is not unlimited, but rather must conform to the principles laid down in IHL. As noted in the Commentary on the 1977 Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions, IHL is a “compromise based on a balance between military necessity, on the one hand, and the requirements of humanity, on the other.” To strike that balance, IHL requires each use of force to adhere to the principles of distinction, necessity, and proportionality, among others (see, e.g., Articles 48, 51, 52, and 57 of Additional Protocol I).

Blog Tags:

Afghanistan

Somalia

Distinction

UCAV

Drones

Pakistan

Yemen

necessity

proportionality

Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan

Dustin Lewis — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:41:55 +0000

Blog Type:

IHL in Action

Two organizations issued reports recently on the number of conflict-related civilian casualties in Afghanistan during the first part of 2010. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report stating that, in the first six months of 2010, 1,271 civilians had died in conflict-related incidents. UNAMA alleged that Anti-Government Elements were responsible for 76% and Pro-Government Forces were responsible for 18% of civilian casualties during that period. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) issued a report indicating 1,325 civilian casualties in the first seven months of 2010. The AIHRC reported that, during those seven months, Anti-Government Elements’ armed activities caused 67.5% of civilian causalities while Pro-Government Forces’ armed activities were responsible for 23% of civilian casualties.

In a 1996 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice recognized “cardinal” principles of international humanitarian law. One such IHL principle recognized by the ICJ is distinction, which requires all parties to an armed conflict to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, including to never make civilians the target of attack and to never use weapons that are incapable of distinguishing between civilian objects and military objectives. IHL does not render every civilian causality in armed conflict per se unlawful. It bears emphasis, however, that IHL prohibits "[l]aunching an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated." In addition, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court makes “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities” a war crime in both international and non-international armed conflicts.

Blog Tags:

ICJ

ICC

War Crimes

Afghanistan

Distinction

AIHRC

UNAMA