Peace Operations From an IHL Perspective

Abstract

This chapter describes the main rules regulating the conduct of individual peacekeepers and Peacekeeping as a whole. It is divided into four parts, beginning with a description of the development of armed conflicts ever since the end of the Second World War and how it relates to the changed scope and mandates of Peacekeeping Operations. The second and third outline the basic rules for Peacekeepers, from codes of conduct to international humanitarian law and international human rights law. On this basis, this chapter will then deal with the general rules of attribution, liability, and responsibility of troop-contributing states and the United Nations. Special emphasis is placed on the ECtHR’s Behrami and Saramati decision and the Srebrenica proceedings here. The conclusion will briefly address the remaining legal gaps, the failure to “end impunity”, and the still-prevailing lack of access to justice for victims of misconduct by Peacekeepers.

Keywords: Peacekeeping, United Nations, International Law, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, State Responsibility, Responsibility of International Organizations, War Theory, Peacekeepers, European Court of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, Geneva Conventions