Peace Operation as Part of

Humanitarian Intervention
RMN

What Is Peace Operation?

Still debatable with regard to what peacekeeping operation is
in many times it has been used to legitimize military activities:
US in Granada (1983) and Russian in Chechnya.
No definition clearly in UN charterDPKO only stated:
Peacekeeping the use of military, police and civilian personnel
to lay the foundations of sustainable peace
the deployment of a United Nations presence in the field,
hitherto with the consent of all the parties concerned, normally
involving United Nations military and/or police personnel and
frequently civilians as well. Peacekeeping is an activity that
expands the possibilities for both the prevention of confl ict and
the making of peace. (Ghali, 1992)

 Field operations established by the United Nations, with the

consent of the parties concerned, to help control and resolve
confl icts between them, under United Nations command and
control, at the expense collectively of the member states, and
with military and other personnel and equipment provided
voluntarily by them, acting impartially between the parties and
using force to the minimum extent necessary.(Goulding 1993:
455)
the imposition of neutral and lightly armed interposition forces
following a cessation of armed hostilities, and with the
permission of the state on whose territory those forces are
deployed, in order to discourage a renewal of military confl ict
and promote an environment under which the underlying
dispute can be resolved. (Diehl 1994: 13)

 The prevention, containment, moderation, and

termination of hostilities between or within states,
through the medium of a peaceful third party
intervention organised and directed internally,
using multinational forces of soldiers, police and
civilians to restore and maintain peace.
(International Peace Academy 1984)
William Durch (2006a: xvii) defi ned peace
operations as internationally authorized,
multilateral, civil-military efforts to promote and
protect . . . transitions from war to peace.

What is Humanitarian Intervention?

"Humanitarian emergencies" are defined as
situations in which at least 300,000 civilians
require international humanitarian
assistance to avoid serious malnutrition or
death. Our definition includes those
situations in which people need protection
in order to facilitate access to humanitarian
aid (US National Intelligence Council
2002)

Definition NATO
A humanitarian intervention is an armed intervention in another state, without
the agreement of that state, to address (the threat of) a humanitarian disaster, in
particular caused by grave and large-scale violations of fundamental human
rights.
This definition was adopted by a NATO seminar in Scheveningen on the topic
in November 1999. The key aspects of this definition are related to
sovereignty and human rights. Firstly, for an action to be intervention,
sovereignty of the state being intervened in must be breached. Under this
definition, INTERFET action in East Timor, while motivated by humanitarian
concerns, was not an intervention as the action was undertaken with the
consent of the Indonesian government (questions of the power of that
government to enforce the decision aside). Secondly, for an intervention to be
humanitarian, the desire to address violations of human rights should be the
driving force in the intervention decision
CSS Strategic Briefing Papers - Volume 3; Part 1; June 2000 -ISSN 1175-1452
HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION:
DEFINITIONS AND CRITERIA

Humanitarian action is significantly more than the delivery

of relief goods. Humanitarian principles stress the primacy
of action to address human suffering and the right of
civilians under international law to be protected from
discrimination, violence, torture, and other serious
violations of human rights; they also stress the right of
civilians to receive, in exceptional circumstances, material
assistance necessary for their survival. Independence,
impartiality, and neutrality are central to achieving these
goals and must be respected during humanitarian
operations in conflict areas such as the former Yugoslavia
and Somalia.
Toward Cooperation Between Humanitarian Aid
And Military Forces
Sergio Vieira de Mello
Director of Policy Planning and Operations, United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(1995)

Who are the Actors

Political

Belligerants
States
UN General Assembly
UN Security Council
Private companies
USAID
ECHO
Medias

Humanitarian

Human rights organisations

National Societies of RC/RC

UNHCR

UNICEF
WHO

NGOs
ICRC

UN Case: What happens when a country

ignores the decisions of the Security Council?

First step:
economic and trade sanctions,
specific measures such as arms and travel ban
diplomatic restrictions.

Last step:
The Security Council can authorize a coalition of Member
States to use all necessary means, including military
action, to deal with a conflict as for example :
1991 to restore the sovereignty of Kuwait after its
invasion by Iraq;
1994 to restore the democratically-elected government
in Haiti;
1999 to restore peace and security in East Timor.

Humanity
Impartiality
Neutrality
Independence

UN res. NATO Res. .

IHL, HR Law
Diplomatic means
Logistic means
Legal Means
Media means

Proportionality to
needs
Independence

Neutrality
Impartiality
Humanity

IHL, HR Law

Financial means

Proportionality to needs

Consent from the Parties

Use of Armed forces

Economic means

Diplomatic means

Logistic means

Legal Means

Media means

Financial means

Economic means

Long term commitment

Economic interests

Political interests

Human
Security
Affected
Population