Protecting civilians in war : the ICRC, UNHCR, and their limitations in internal armed conflicts

232 Pages·2016·1.044 MB·English

by  Bradley, Miriam

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PROTECTING CIVILIANS IN WAR
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Protecting
Civilians in War
The ICRC, UNHCR, and their Limitations
fl
in Internal Armed Con icts
MIRIAM BRADLEY
1
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3
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Acknowledgements
This book builds on doctoral research completed at Oxford University in
2012,andalongtheway,theprojecthasbenefitedfrompractical,intellectual,
and personal inputs from many individuals and institutions. For my doctor-
ate,IreceivedsponsorshipfromJosephSassoonandadditionalfundingfrom
theDepartmentofPoliticsandInternationalRelationsandfromStAntony’s
College,Oxford.MydoctoralfieldworkinColombiawasalsosupportedbya
scholarship from Santander bank. Lots of people contributed to making my
doctoral studies happy and productive, but Louise Fawcett, Joseph Sassoon,
and Dave Zarnett deserve special mention for their support and encourage-
mentthroughout.
IwasfortunatetogoontoapostdoctoralfellowshipintheProgrammefor
the Study of International Governance at the Graduate Institute of Inter-
nationalandDevelopmentStudiesinGeneva.IamgratefultoTomBiersteker
forgivingmecompleteflexibilityduringthefellowship,whichenabledmeto
focusonthebookandtoundertakeadditionalfieldresearchintheDemocratic
Republic of Congo and Myanmar. Andreas Indregard and Susanne Kempel
wereexcellenthostsinYangon,sharingtheirwonderfulhomeaswellastheir
expertiseandinsights.
Several people took time to read and comment on draft sections of my
thesisorofthebookmanuscript.IamespeciallygratefulforinputfromGuy
Goodwin-Gill,AndyHurrell,NeilMacFarlane,EduardoPosada-Carbó,Dave
Zarnett,andRogerZetter.
DavidForsythe,StephenHopgood,AdamRoberts,andHugoSlimallread
my doctoral thesis in its entirety, and provided excellent feedback and sug-
gestions, without which this book would probably not exist, and would
certainlybeafarpooreroffering.
Finally, this book would have been impossible without the input of the
manycurrentandformerICRCandUNHCRstaffIspoketoatheadquarters
in Geneva, and in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Myan-
mar.Theygavegenerouslyoftheirtimeandreflections,andmybiggestthanks
go to them. I know some of them will disagree with some of the arguments
I make, and some of the conclusions I draw, but I hope I have represented
their experiences accurately and fairly. For all my criticisms of the organiza-
tionstheyworkfor,theseindividualswere—withoutexception—deeplycom-
mittedtothecivilianstheysoughttoprotect.
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Contents
Tables ix
Introduction 1
Background 2
TheICRCandUNHCR 5
Colombia,theDRC,andMyanmar 7
MethodsandPresentation 19
PlanoftheBook 20
1. TheICRCandUNHCR 22
InstitutionalHistory 23
InstitutionalStructure 28
InstitutionalCulture 33
Conclusions 38
2. PrinciplesofHumanitarianAction 40
Humanity 40
Impartiality 42
Neutrality 54
Independence 65
Conclusions 67
3. LegalFrameworksforProtection 69
KeyLegalandNormativeFrameworksfortheProtection
ofCivilians 69
Laws,Norms,andtheMandatesandActivitiesoftheICRC
andUNHCR 79
TheUseandUsefulnessoftheseFrameworks 92
Conclusions 98
4. ObjectivesandStrategiesofProtection 101
ClassifyingProtectionObjectives 101
ViolenceReduction 104
ThreatReduction 107
VulnerabilityReduction 113
MitigatingtheConsequencesofViolence 119
EndsandMeans 120
Conclusions 126
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viii Contents
5. ProtectionRolesandResponsibilitiesofOtherActors 129
States 130
Non-StateArmedPartiestoConflict 140
AffectedCommunities,Civil(andUncivil)Society 149
Conclusions 152
6. ProtectionActivities 155
MonitoringandAnalysis 156
RegistrationandDocumentation 160
DialogueandAdvocacy 162
Education,Training,andSensitization 171
DevelopingLegalandNormativeFrameworks 175
MaterialAssistanceandPracticalProjects 178
ActivitiesinOtherStrandsoftheICRCandUNHCRMandates 183
Conclusions 186
Conclusion 187
OldSolutionsforNewProblems 188
LimitationsofReplicatedApproaches 191
TheoreticalImplications 194
Bibliography 197
Index 215
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Tables
Table1.1. InstitutionalcharacteristicsoftheICRCandUNHCR 39
Table4.1. Examplesofdifferenttechniquesorlogicsofdialogue 110
Table4.2. Examplesofthreatstocivilians 114