Introductory Note to the Copenhagen Process Principles and Guidelines on the Handling of Detainees in International Military Operations
ASIL International Legal Materials, Vol. 51, No. 6, 2012
6 Pages Posted: 5 Mar 2013
Date Written: 2012
Abstract
This introductory note provides a brief analysis of the Copenhagen Process Principles and Guidelines on the Handling of Detainees in International Military Operations. The analysis concludes that it was significant that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and other States recognized that gaps in detention law exist and that it would be a useful to discuss ways to overcome the resulting problems. It is equally significant, however, that after five years, States were unable to find the common ground required to bring the necessary specificity to an agreed upon and robust set of detainee handling procedures. The time was not ripe to fill an area of international law that in some places lacks substance, in other places lacks detail, and is marred further by lack of interpretive State agreement.
Keywords: Copenhagen Process, detention, international military operations, law of armed conflict, peacekeeping, international humanitarian law, human rights
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