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Challenges to Independent Humanitarian Action in Contemporary Conflicts
- Fordham University Press
- Chapter
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Challenges to Independent Humanitarian Action in Contemporary Conflicts Jacques Forster1 INTRODUCTION THE ABILITY of an independent humanitarian organization such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to protect and assist people affected by armed conflict or internal violence depends first and foremost on the acceptation of the organization and of its activities by all parties concerned. Failing that, humanitarian action is either impossible or excessively dangerous both for the persons that are to be protected and assisted, and for humanitarian personnel. Although the ICRC had experienced severe and murderous attacks on its staff in the past, 2003 was a particularly dark year for its humanitarian activities. Indeed, between March and October, ICRC staff was deliberately targeted in three separate incidents in Afghanistan and in Iraq, causing the deaths of four colleagues. The October 27 attack—a car bomb loaded with one ton of explosives aimed at the ICRC delegation in Baghdad—indicated the perpetrators’ intention to reduce to a minimum or to stop altogether humanitarian action. This attack and that which had taken place two months earlier on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, compelled humanitarian actors to analyze more precisely this phenomenon and to reflect on ways and means of maintaining an adequate space for humanitarian action in such situations. The challenge is compounded by yet another difficulty: the tendency for political actors in some conflict situations to combine military and humanitarian activities , arguing that security, relief, and reconstruction are all part of the cahill.qxp 10/1/2004 1:36 PM Page 165 same process. Under such circumstances, is there still a space for independent humanitarian action? The answer to this question needs to consider the broader framework of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States (US) and the reaction they engendered. These were focusing events of what might well prove to be a new phase in the history of conflicts as a global dimension was added to the already complex maze of local, national, and regional conflicts. A new configuration emerged in which a State declared itself at war with a loosely knitted transnational network conducting or encouraging terrorist attacks in different parts of the world. The greater prominence of terrorist attacks and the response thereto also led to a debate on the qualification of the global struggle against terrorism —is it a war?—as well as on the relevance of the body of law specifically designed for situations of conflict, i.e., international humanitarian law (IHL). Since humanitarian action as conducted by the ICRC is based on the rules laid down by IHL, the present chapter will address both • the operational challenge of maintaining an adequate space for humanitarian action in situations such as those encountered recently in Afghanistan and Iraq and • the issues raised by the questioning of the adequacy of IHL in the context of a global struggle against terrorism. HUMANITARIAN SPACE AND CONTEMPORARY CONFLICTS The Concept of Humanitarian Space The concept of “humanitarian” space refers metaphorically to the capability of humanitarian organizations to implement protection and assistance activities in situations of conflict—international or internal—or internal violence. According to the spirit and the letter of IHL this “space” should enable humanitarian action to protect and assist at all times the persons entitled to such protection and assistance (sick, wounded, or captured combatants as well as civilians). Limitations to humanitarian space occur 1) when access to such persons is denied; 2) when an area is out of bounds for humanitarian personnel, and/or 3) when some of the core activities of humanitarian protection and assistance cannot be developed.2 Larry 166 HUMAN SECURITY FOR ALL cahill.qxp 10/1/2004 1:36 PM Page 166 [54.163.62.42] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 01:00 GMT) Minear notes that humanitarian space “may be circumscribed—or expanded—by the actions of political and military authorities; it may also be enlarged—or contracted—by humanitarian actors themselves.” Access, he adds, reflects “not only the constraints imposed on humanitarian actors but also their own ingenuity and resolve in mobilizing and managing humanitarian resources.”3 Elaborating on Minear’s assertion, one could identify four sets of parameters that influence the scope for humanitarian action—humanitarian space: 1. the environment in which the conflict takes place (from the global to the local levels); 2. the goals, interests, and methods of the armed actors taking directly part in the conflict; 3. the policies of actors indirectly involved in the conflict (third States, international organizations); 4...