International Humanitarian Assistance: Disaster Relief Actions in International Law and Organization

256 Pages·1985·7.24 MB·English

by  Peter Macalister-Smith (auth.)

INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION OF THE HENRY DUNANT INSTITUTE
Frits Kalshoven, BELLIGERENT REPRISALS
Jiri Toman, INDEX OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS FOR THE PROTEC
TION OF WAR VICTIMS OF 12 AUGUST 1949
Michel Veuthey, GUERILLA ET DROIT HUMANITAIRE
Pierre Boissier, HISTOIRE DU COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX
a
ROUGE, Tome I - De Solferino Tsoushima
Andre Durand, HISTOIRE DU CO MITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX
a
ROUGE, Tome II - De Sarajevo Hiroshima
Richard Perruchoud, LES RESOLUTIONS DES CONFERENCES INTERNA
TIONALES DE LA CROIX-ROUGE
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL RED CROSS
AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES
Esbjorn Rosenblad, INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW OF ARM
ED CONFLICT
Jean Pictet, LES PRINCIPES FONDAMENTAUX DE LA CROIX-ROUGE,
Commentaire
THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE RED CROSS - Comment
ary
LOS PRINCIPIOS FUNDAMENTALES DE LA CRUZ ROJA, Commenta
rio
Jean-Luc Hiebel, ASSISTANCE SPIRITUELLE DANS LES CONFLITS
ARMES- DROIT HUMAIN
Gradimir Djurovic, L' AGENCE CENTRALE DE RECHERCHES DU CO MI
TE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX-ROUGE
Jacques Meurant, LE SERVICE VOLONTAIRE DE LA CROIX-ROUGE
DANS LA SOCIETE D'AUJOURD'HUI
Dietrich Schindler-Jiri Toman, THE LAWS OF ARMED CONFLICTS (3rd
completely revised edition)
1985 HENRY DUN ANT INSTITUTE- GENEVA
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE
Disaster Relief Actions in
International Law and Organization
by
PETER MACALISTER-SMITH
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. 1985 "~·
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Macalister-Smith, Peter.
International humanitarian assistance.
1. War victims--Legal status, laws, etc.
2. Disaster relief--Law and legislation. 3. Inter
national relief. I. Title.
JX5136.M32 1985 341.7'66 84-1136
ISBN 978-94-017-6882-5
ISBN 978-94-017-6882-5 ISBN 978-94-017-6974-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-6974-7
Copyright
© 1985 by Springer Science+B usiness Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Martin us Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht in 1985
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1985
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publishers,
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.
Table of Contents
Page
Foreword: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI
Introduction
Aims ............................................... .
Notion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The concept of disaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
International humanitarian assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
International law and organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1. Historical Perspectives on ilumanitarian Assistance
1.1 Custom and Law in Armed Conflict Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
General background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Relief for civilians: the CRB and UNRRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2 International Relief for Refugees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.3 Relief in Natural Disasters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Early development of relief actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The International Relief Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2. Relief Actions in Armed Conflict: The Red Cross
2.1 The Geneva Conventions and the Red Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Assistance for Members of Armed Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Wounded, sick and shipwrecked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Prisoners of war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 Assistance for civilians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
International conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Non-international conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4 Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3. Relief for Refugees: The United Nations
3.1 The Immediate Post-World-War-II Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 The UNHCR Statute and the 1951 Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.3 Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Basis of assistance activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Early development of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
'Good offices' and assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Present scope of assistance activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.4 UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.5 Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
VI
4. An International Basis for Humanitarian Assistance
4.1 Introduction: Sources of a Legal Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.2 Sovereign Equality and International Cooperation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.3 Foundations of UN Humanitarian Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
The UN Charter and humanitarian objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Structural and functional framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Coordination, good offices and the Secretary-General. . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.4 Human Rights and Relief Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Basic human rights instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Disasters and the right to development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Some restricted principles of rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.5 The Doctrine of Humanitarian Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.6 Politics and Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5. Red Cross and Humanitarian Assistance
5.1 Introduction: the Red Cross Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.2 Basis of Relief Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Division of responsibilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Internal Red Cross law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
The 'Principles and Rules' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.3 Relief Role and Special Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.4 Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6. United Nations and Humanitarian Assistance
6.1 Early Developments in the Political Organs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.2 Attempts to Revive the International Relief Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.3 Appointment of the UN Disaster Relief Co-ordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.4 Principal Agents of UN Humanitarian Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
World Food Programme (WFP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
World Health Organization (WHO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Other UN organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
6.5 Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7. Other Actors in International Humanitarian Assistance
7.1 Inter-Governmental Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The European Economic Community (EEC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Other inter-governmental organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
7.2 Non-Governmental Organizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
VII
7.3 The Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The Holy See . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The Sovereign Order of Malta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.4 Bilateral Humanitarian Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
7.5 Relief and Planning at the National Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8. Relief Coordination
8.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
8.2 Background to UN Relief Coordination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Initial debates and decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
General Assembly Res. 2816 (XXVI) 1971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
8.3 The Office of the UN Disaster Relief Co-ordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Early practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Memoranda of understanding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5
Mandate problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Strengthening UN relief actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
8.4 Other Aspects of Relief Coordination...................... 141
Governmental level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Red Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
8.5 Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
9. Further Development of International Relief Law
9.1 Retrospect: National and International Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . 148
9.2 Legal Proposals and Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
A legal status for disaster relief units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
International Law As so cia tion model relief agreement . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3
'Measures to expedite international relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
UNIT AR model rules for relief operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 5
Other proposals for a new relief instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IS 7
9.3 Prospect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
ABBREVIATIONS...................................... 171
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
ANNEXES
1. Geneva Convention of August 22, 1864, for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
2. Convention Establishing an International Relief Union, Geneva,
July 12, 1927. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
VIII
3. Red Cross Declaration of principles for international humanitarian relief
to the civilian population in disaster situations, 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
4. Principles and Rules for Red Cross disaster relief, 1969 (with revisions). . 209
5. General Assembly Resolution 2816 (XXVI), Assistance in cases of
natural disaster and other disaster situations, 1971. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
6. General Assembly Resolution 36/225, Strengthening the capacity of the
United Nations system to respond to natural disasters and other disaster
situations, 1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
7. General Assembly Resolution 37/144, Special economic and disaster
relief assistance, Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator,
1982. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
8. Draft convention on expediting the delivery of emergency assistance,
1984. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . 231
Index...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
IX
Foreword
Despite considerable progress in recent decades in the humanitarian field, especially
through the United Nations and other international bodies, existing legal instruments
and their implementation reveal certain gaps and imperfections. A pressing task facing
the international community is to meet the growing challenge presented by colossal
humanitarian problems which are either left without a solution or inadequately dealt
with under existing law and practice.
While invoking a moral imperative as a guide, Dr. Macalister-Smith has succeeded
in producing a book which is comprehensive, creative as well as objective. It combines
a rare mix of theory and practice, focusing on the rights and relief of disaster victims.
It is an established fact that in recent decades the number of natural and man-made
disasters has been increasing in all parts of the world. There is, consequently, a greater
need now than ever before to resolve a variety of international humanitarian issues
which emerge from complex and interrelated emergency conditions. The author is con
cerned both with the traditional areas of humanitarian law and practice, ranging from
the role of the International Red Cross to the United Nations System as well as with
the increasingly significant role of regional bodies and non-governmental organizations.
What is unique today as compared with past times is the level of international co
operation required in order to carry out disaster relief. More and more, the question
of prevention and mitigation of potential disaster situations must be considered. In
this respect, the book is most helpful for assessing the potential in international
politics and law for meeting the new reality.
Dr. Macalister-Smith rightly stresses that too little attention has been paid to the
role of the already existing national and international law in world-wide relief policies.
Implementation is the issue, not law. The political and moral will of governments is
the key factor. Certainly, the international disaster relief systems must be improved,
but what will ultimately be acceptable to governments is not yet clear. In fact the
institutional and juridical factors already exist and can be the instruments for the
advancement of humanitarian achievements. A comprehensive view is required, and
Dr. Macalister-Smith's work is an important contribution toward the construction of
such a view.
Another theme, usually considered too delicate to discuss objectively, is handled