Peacekeeping Operations

1956 – first time that peace-keeping forces were used, during Suez Crisis, through the Uniting for Peace Resolution. GA entrusted Secretary-General with creation of military force to secure end of hostilities and withdrawal of British, French, and Israeli forces from Egyptian territory and act as a buffer

Characteristics of traditional peace-keeping operations

1. Composed of military personnel offered to UN by member States and deployed in an area with consent of territorial state

2. Under the exclusive authority, command and control of the SC, but sometimes the GA. SC bears responsibility for their overall political direction.

3. No power of military coercion, but can resort to arms in self-defence.

4. Requested to act in neutral and impartial way

5. Financed through regular budget of UN (ICJ – (Advisory Opinion on Certain Expenses of the UN)

Main objective of peace-keeping operations

· separate contending parties

· forestall armed hostilities between them

· maintain order

There have been exceptions to these general characteristics, particularly re only firing in self-defence:

· Congo – SC authorized ONUC to use force to prevent occurrence of civil war in Congo (Res 161/1961), and to arrest and bring to detention fighters (Res 169/1961).

· Somalia – peacekeeping force there had enforcement powers under Chapter VII (Res. 814/1993)

· Bosnia Herzegovina – authorized UNPROFOR to act in self-defence and to reply to bombardments against safe areas by any of the parties (836/1993)

а all three were countries were there was no peace to keep

Vast majority of UN forces have responded to intra-State conflicts or have intervened in internal disorder or immediate post-conflict situations:

Forces deployed after peace agreements, to help ensure they were respected and implemented

· Angola, Mozambique, Rwanda, El Salvador, Cambodia. These forces included civilian as well as military personnel to help in humanitarian assistance, reconciliation, elections, etc.

Forces entrusted with administration of a regime for a transitional period

· Kosovo (1244/1999) – UN force to perform basic civilian administrative functions, set up political institutions, organise humanitarian relief, keep law and order

· Timor (1272/1999) – UN force to provide security and maintain law and order, to assist in establishing administration, support capacity-building, ensure delivery of humanitarian assistance, etc.

Most complex operations run into problems because of traditional PK requirement of consent of territorial state and impartiality. Sometimes they have gone ahead without consent of one or more of parties involved, which in turn jeopardized impartiality.

The current operation of the peace-keeping system is at odds with what was envisaged in Chapter VII of the Charter, but it is recognized as consistent with it.

Peace-keeping operations have proved to be useful because they stop the fighting and can be helpful in completing a complex peace process. But they can also be damaging because they freeze the situation without providing solutions to basic root problems of conflict. (e.g. Cyprus, Kashmir).

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16