scholarly journals Remarks by Jonathan Drake

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 128-131
Author(s):  
Jonathan Drake
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
American Association ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Geospatial Technologies ◽  
Amnesty International

Since 2005, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has been exploring the use of Geospatial Technologies in a Human Rights Context. These efforts began under the auspices of the Science and Human Rights Program, and focused primarily on establishing whether and to what extent satellite imagery could be used to document human rights violations resulting from armed conflict. In partnership with Amnesty International, the project's first applications of this technology involved using visible and near-infrared satellite imagery to investigate reports of villages being burned in Darfur, Sudan. These efforts established the usefulness of satellite imagery as a tool that allowed investigators access areas that would otherwise be completely off-limits due to governmental restrictions, security considerations, remoteness, or some combination of all three. They likewise established a model of collaboration that has proven itself time and again in the application of these new tools to human rights responses.

The Security Council on women in war: between peacebuilding and humanitarian protection

2010 ◽  
Vol 92 (877) ◽  
pp. 197-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain-Guy Tachou-Sipowo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Women In War

AbstractHaving established that massive human rights violations in armed conflict constitute a threat to peace and that women are the most severely affected by the scourge of war, the Security Council has since 1999 adopted a number of resolutions intended specifically for this group. These instruments contribute to the development of humanitarian law applicable to women and acknowledge the value of active participation by women in peace efforts. The following article first analyses the foundations on which the Council has been able to assume responsibility for protecting women in situations of armed conflict, and then considers the actual protection it provides. It concludes that the Council has had varying success in this role, pointing out that the thematic and declaratory resolutions on which it is largely based are not binding and therefore, they are relatively effective only as regards their provisions committing United Nations bodies. The author proposes that the Council's role could be better accomplished through situational resolutions than through resolutions declaratory of international law.

scholarly journals The role of african court on human and peoples’ rights protection: the case of libyan crises

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-222
Author(s):  
Getahun Kumie Antigegn
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Government

The emergence of regional human rights systems depicts one of the greatest achievements in the internationalization of human rights. The foundation of the charter paved the way for the birth of the court thereafter. The African Court is established by virtue of the 1998 protocol to the Charter and the court is built upon an arsenal of protective and remedial techniques. The establishment of the court has reset the stage and created a new platform for the protection of human rights in Africa. The cardinal objective of the paper is to investigate the role of African Court on human and Peoples’ rights protection in Libya Crises taking the case of Saif Al Islam Gaddafi. The paper has utilized qualitative methodology. The government of Libya responded with brutal force against civilian protesters in contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law. The security force of the government of Libya killed many protesters as well. This situation intensified human rights violations and enforced many of the peoples to displace. The court issued an important ruling in March 2011, ordering provisional measures against Libya in the armed conflict in its territory. Libya government denied the claims of human rights violations in its territory and showed its willingness to subject itself to criminal investigations by the Court if necessary. The issue of the fund, independence, commitment and competence of judges to interpret mandate and jurisdiction, the willingness of the states to support and to abide by court decisions, and powers of the concerned body to enforce court decisions hampered the court from being effective. Generally, African States act in good faith with respect to the decisions of the African Human Rights Court, the court becomes more import.

Documenting violations of international humanitarian law from space: a critical review of geospatial analysis of satellite imagery during armed conflicts in Gaza (2009), Georgia (2008), and Sri Lanka (2009)

2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (886) ◽  
pp. 739-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Space Technology ◽  
Remote Identification ◽  
Very High

AbstractSince the launch of the first commercial very high resolution satellite sensor in 1999 there has been a growing awareness and application of space technology for the remote identification of potential violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. As examined in the three cases of armed conflict in Gaza, Georgia, and Sri Lanka, analysis of satellite imagery was able to provide investigators with independent, verifiable, and compelling evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian law. Also examined are the important limitations to such imagery-based analysis, including the larger technical, analytical, and political challenges facing the humanitarian and human rights community for conducting satellite-based analysis in the future.

Supporting local efforts to document human-rights violations in armed conflict

The Lancet ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 357 (9252) ◽  
pp. 302-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy J Jennings ◽  
Shana Swiss
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Human Rights Violations

scholarly journals REVISITING THE BIPOLAR DISTINCTION IN THE CHARACTERISATION OF ARMED CONFLICTS

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Ochieng
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Traditional Understanding

Since the Geneva Conventions, the architecture of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has been founded upon a distinction between international armed conflict and non-international armed conflict. Today, this claim stands to be revisited since international and non-international armed conflicts are no longer strict organising frameworks for the categorisation of rules of armed conflicts. This is seen in that over fifty years ago, when the four Geneva Conventions were negotiated, the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention were the cornerstones of international law and while their force today is still apparent, the interdependence of states, and global concerns such as terrorism and the commission of widespread human rights violations have eroded the traditional inviolability of borders. The dichotomy in humanitarian law is as implausible today as it is also fundamentally unworkable given the current conditions of conflicts. This dualist conception is no longer adequate to deal with current features of armed conflict, which do not fit neatly into the two categories and frequently contain mixed elements which thus make the task of classification highly complex. The codification of customary rules of international humanitarian law has narrowed the grounds on which the distinctions are predicated. In addition, the two regimes apply simultaneously on multiple situations. Moreover, the question of contemporary armed conflicts raises serious doubts as to whether the traditional understanding of international law still suffices to explain the complexities of modern day armed conflicts. This essay seeks to offer a different perspective on armed conflicts by suggesting a systematic rethinking of the categorisation of conflict. It argues that some of the dilemmas of contemporary conflicts may be attenuated by a new conceptualisation of this bipolar distinction namely a need for a unitary conception of armed conflict.

Impunity and insurgency: a deadly combination in Afghanistan

2010 ◽  
Vol 92 (880) ◽  
pp. 931-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norah Niland
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Critical Problem ◽  
Abuse Of Power ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Strategic Issue

AbstractThe judgement of key decision-makers to ignore the critical problem of impunity – the lack of accountability for egregious human rights violations – contrary to the wishes of the vast majority of Afghans has had devastating, if predictable, consequences. Disillusionment with the continued abuse of power, along with the steady increase in war-related casualties, is a significant driver of the escalating insurgency. Experience over the past nine years highlights an urgent need to address the strategic issue of systemic and structural injustice. It is not realistic to envisage an end to armed conflict and the development of democratic and accountable state institutions while impunity reigns.

scholarly journals On Inter-State Litigation and Armed Conflict Cases in Strasbourg

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-48
Author(s):  
Philip Leach
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Regular Feature ◽  
Member States ◽  
Related Individual ◽  
European Court ◽  
Inter State

Abstract The reluctance of Council of Europe member states to challenge each other at the bar of Europe, through the litigation of inter-state cases at the European Court, used to be a regular feature of the Strasbourg system. However, conflicts of different kinds in eastern Europe have led to a surge of such cases in recent years, as well as the introduction of thousands of related individual applications. The serious challenges presented, in particular by conflict-related cases, have led some commentators to question whether they can feasibly remain part of the Strasbourg process. For others, the focus should rather be on how such cases can be more effectively processed and assessed. This article emphasises the significance of both inter-state cases in general, and of cases arising from armed conflict (including individual applications): their political and legal importance; their centrality to the European human rights system; and how vital they are for individual victims of human rights violations. It analyses a number of controversial or challenging aspects of the adjudication of these cases, and puts forward some proposals for reform.

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