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| Date | Title | Author | Reference | |
| September 2009 ***New*** |
Accountability For Violations Of Human Rights Law By EU Forces | Frederik Naert | The European Union and Crisis Management Article available here |
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| Armed forces engaged in peace operations are supposed to protect the human rights of the local population and to contribute to their promotion. Nevertheless, practice in past and current peace operations has shown that peace forces sometimes violate
the human rights of these people. It cannot be excluded that this may also happen in EU-led operations. This contribution therefore looks at what human rights obligations are binding on EU-led forces and how accountability for respect of these obligations can be ensured. |
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| May 2009 | Trafficking in Human Beings: Modern Slavery (Hardcover) | Silvia Scarpa | OUP Oxford | |
| The first monograph study of the increasingly important phenomena of people trafficking; Incorporates historical and social context with analysis of international legal instruments, treaties, and jus cogens. In recent decades the international community has focused its attention on trafficking in persons, one of the most worrying phenomena of the 21st century. In Part I, this book examines trafficking in persons in the light of the recent definition of the phenomenon given by the UN Trafficking Protocol, and various other international legal instruments including treaties and 'soft law'. It analyses trafficking causes and consequences, and the most common forms of exploitation related to it. Part II reviews the most important international conventions against slavery and the slave trade, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. It also analyses the most important policy documents setting the basic standards of protection for trafficked victims - namely the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking - and comments on the extension of the jus cogens principle of international law that prohibits slavery, to argue that trafficking in persons ought rightly to be considered a part of it. Part III deals with the Council of Europe and the European Union, and their fight against trafficking in people, arguing that the focus has been placed mistakenly on the prosecution of traffickers rather than on the protection of trafficked victims. The book concludes with a recommendation to shift towards a more balanced approach to trafficking in persons, and the overriding need to conduct further research on specific issues related to the spread of trafficking and the exploitation of its victims. Summarised by OUP |
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| May 2009 | The relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights law from the perspective of a human rights treaty body | Professor Françoise J. Hampson | International Review of the Red Cross Volume 90 Number 871 September 2008 |
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| The debate about the simultaneous applicability of international humanitarian law and human rights law also affects human rights treaty bodies. The article first considers the difficulty for a human rights body in determining whether international humanitarian law is applicable; second, it examines the problems in practice in applying the lex specialis doctrine and the question of derogation in this particular context. The author finally outlines the impact of the debate as to the extent of
extraterritorial applicability of human rights law. Summarised by ICRC |
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| May 2009 | NATO: From Kosovo to Kabul | James Sperling and Mark Webber | Chatham House Journal | |
| NATO has throughout its history been the subject of prognostications of crisis and dissolution. Indeed, the alliance has been written off so many times that crisis as normality has come to typify its development. In the twenty-year history of NATO's post-Cold War development, Operation Allied Force stands midway between the existential moment that was the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the current travails being experienced in Afghanistan. A comparison of NATO's experience in the Balkans and in the Afghan theatre suggests that the view of a NATO perched permanently at the edge of collapse is problematic and misleading. This is not to defend alliance actions as such but rather to suggest that the narrative of crisis and collapse makes for poor analysis and underestimates NATO's proclivity for adaptation and endurance. Summarised by Chatham House |
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| Apr 2009 | How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq (Paperback) | Matthew Alexander, John R. Bruning | Amazon Also in hardback |
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| In the wake of the torture scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, the government has rushed to Iraq a new breed of interrogator. Matthew Alexander, a former criminal investigator and head of a crack interrogation team, tells the story of how he and his team used psychological warfare to track down Abu Musab Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The interrogator's job is simple: get the right information in a timely fashion. Finding Abu Musab Zarqawi had long been the US military's top priority--even trumping the search for Osama Bin Laden. No brutality was spared in trying to squeeze information from detainees. But when the Military brought in Matthew the exertions of Special Forces had yielded exactly nothing. So Matthew and his team decided to sit down and get to know their opponents. Who were these monsters so impervious to violence? Who were they fighting for? What were they trying to protect? The intelligence coup that enabled the June 7, 2006 air strike on Zarqawi's rural safe house northeast of Baghdad was the result of a painstaking and dramatic manhunt, but it was not the result of what Matthew calls "force on force" interactions. First featured in an Atlantic cover story by Mark Bowden, this is more of a true-crime or psychological suspense story than a war memoir. Summarised by Amazon |
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| Apr 2009 | Interrogations, Forced Feedings, and the Role of Health Professionals: New Perspectives on International Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, and Ethics (Human Rights Program Practice Series) (Paperback) | Ryan Goodman (Editor), Mindy Roseman (Editor) | Amazon 1 April 2009 |
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| The involvement of health professionals in human rights and humanitarian law violations has again become a live issue as a consequence of the U.S. prosecution of armed conflicts with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and Iraq. Health professionals - including MDs trained in psychiatry and PhDs trained in behavioral psychology - have reportedly advised and assisted in coercive interrogation. MDs have also been involved in forced feedings. Such practices would not be unique to the United States nor necessarily the most extreme in the world. The direct involvement of medical professionals in torture and covering up extrajudicial killings is a phenomenon common to many countries. Summarised by Amazon |
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| Apr 2009 | Protecting Civilians: The Obligations of Peacekeepers | Siobhán Wills | Amazon Feb 2009 |
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| This book examines the obligations of troops to prevent serious abuses of human rights towards civilians under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It analyses the duty to intervene to stop the commission of serious abuses of human rights by analysing the meaning and practical consequences for troops, in terms of civilian protection, of the Article 1 duty to respect and ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions; of the duty to secure human rights (found in most international human rights treaties); and of the duty to restore law and order in an occupation. The book also analyzes the extent of troops' obligations to provide protection in light of various different operational and legal contexts in and discusses 'grey areas' and lacuna of coverage. A discussion of whether new approaches are needed, for example where operations are undertaken explicitly to protect people from serious violations of their human rights follows; and the book concludes by offering some guidelines for troops faced with such violations. Summarised by Amazon |
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| Apr 2009 | Targeted killing and the law of armed conflict | Professor Gary Solis | Naval War College Review 22 March 2007 |
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| There is no consensus definition of "targeted killing" in the law of armed conflict or in case law. A reasonable definition is: the intentional killing of a specific civilian who cannot reasonably be apprehended, and who is taking a direct part in hostilities, the targeting done at the direction and authorization of the state in the context of an international or noninternational armed conflict. In this thought provoking article, Professor Solis defines what is meant by the term 'targeted killing' and whether there exists any lawful basis for it. He argues that in today's new age of nonstate actors engaging in transnational terrorist violence, targeting parameters must change. See also: Israel's Targeted Killings of Hamas Leaders by Mayur Patel, which examines the legality under headings of self defence, International Humanitarian Law and Proportionality. See also the article by Gal Luft, called The Logic of Israel's Targeted Killing.See also: [Remember the Caroline!: The doctrine of 'anticipatory self-defense' — more relevant than ever] by David B. Rivkin Jr., Lee A. Casey, Darin R. Bartram Summarised by Aspals |
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| Jan 2009 | Stability Operations in Iraq (OP TELIC 2-5) An Analysis From A LAND Perspective | DGS Publications Coordinator | Download Report made 2006 (2.26MB PDF file) |
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| The post ‘major combat operations’ phase of Operation TELIC has posed complex challenges to the Armies of the Coalition in Iraq. The complexity comes from the need to deter and if necessary fight armed groups opposed to our presence, as well as to help enable (and sometimes lead) the humanitarian, reconstruction and nation-building activities in support of distinctly fragile or non-existent governance structures. The analysis of Operation TELIC in the period May 2003 to 31 January 2005, when the first Iraqi elections were held, offers a number of insights for study and action. The UK should develop a planned rather than an ad hoc approach for the legal aspects of Stability Operations, based on experience from both Kosovo and Iraq. Within the justice system, the UK Police Service is not well configured to provide stability police units (SPU: armed policemen in formed bodies) in post-conflict situations overseas. The UK
should actively support international efforts to develop Gendarmerie-style SPU. Recent developments in international law have affected the legal basis on which United Kingdom Armed Services operate. International law continues to evolve in dynamic fashion and thus the legal basis for the use of force will continue to change. The legal basis for the war itself was, and still is, controversial. There is a military need, at least, at the outset of operations to reinforce the legal base for deployment by clear, unequivocal and timely direction and explanation. This complex legal environment severely tested the capabilities of UK Servicemen and women. Summarised by Aspals |
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| Jan 2009 | Legal Support to Military Operations | Joint Publication 1-04 (US Forces) | Download 01 March 2007 (0.7MB PDF file) |
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| Legal organizations within the Department of Defense (DOD) that support joint operations perform a wide variety of tasks at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. Although each legal organization may possess similar functional capabilities (e.g., international and operational law advice, fiscal and contract law reviews, the provision of claims, criminal law, and legal assistance services), the specific tasks performed within each of those functional capabilities differ in purpose and scope depending on the level of war and the organization performing them. To ensure unity of effort, both the joint force commander (JFC) and the joint force staff judge advocate (SJA) must have a common understanding of who is responsible for performing which legal tasks at each level of war and how those tasks are performed. Legal advisers actively participate in the entire planning process from analysis, to course of action (COA) development and recommendation, through execution. Strategic and operational planning typically occurs at the JTF and higher echelons. Legal advisers who perform planning tasks at the tactical level typically do so as a Service component of a JTF. Planning at
that level often involves a single Service that follows Service doctrine, using tactics, techniques, and procedures contained in Military Department and Service publications... Summarised by Aspals |
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| Jan 2009 | Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel | Professor Ian Leigh and Dr. Hans Born, assisted by Ms. Cecilia Lazzarini Mr. Ian Clements | Published in 2008 by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR) Free to download (1.77MB PDF file) |
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| Armed forces are an integral part of a democratic state and society. By fulfilling their defence and national-security functions, the armed forces play a key role in enabling a security environment that allows us to enjoy the inalienable rights and freedoms to which we are all entitled as human beings. As representatives of the state structure, armed forces personnel are bound to respect human rights and international humanitarian law in the exercise of their duties. But only when their rights are guaranteed within their own institution will armed forces personnel be likely to uphold these in the discharge of their tasks — both when in the barracks and during operations. These changes reflect a recognition that, as “citizens in uniform”, armed forces personnel — whether they are career servicemen or women or conscripts — are entitled to the same human rights and fundamental freedoms as all other citizens. Indeed, the cornerstone of all international human rights treaties to which OSCE participating States are bound is that all human beings, regardless of their professional situation or position in society, are entitled to their inalienable rights and freedoms. Section VI deals with Human Rights Education, Responsibility of Commanders and Individual Accountability, Discipline and Military Justice, and Ombudsmen. Summarised by Aspals |
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