The Law and Practice of Peacekeeping: Foregrounding Human Rights (Book Review)

Abstract

Publications concerning the law applicable to peacekeeping have been relatively rare over the last decade. However, in the last few years, more work has appeared on the legal implications of robust mandates, stabilization, the place of international humanitarian law (IHL), and UN immunities. To advance this discussion, Freedman, Lemay-Hébert, and Wills look at MINUSTAH as a basis for normative suggestions aimed at “enhancing the perceived legitimacy both of the UN in Haiti and of future stabilisation missions” (p. 4). The authors focus on three thematic case studies: (1) the cholera crisis; (2) sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by peacekeepers; and (3) the use of force, with a primary focus on MINUSTAH but also drawing on other examples of UN practice.