Problematizing the Legal Responsibility for Acts by United Nations Peacekeepers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66563/6pweqz76Abstract
Peacekeeping can be traced back to the 1950s when cold war rivalries frequently paralyzed the Security Council. This was limited to maintaining ceasefires and stabilizing situations while providing crucial support for political efforts to resolve conflict by peaceful means. The first two peacekeeping missions were the United Nations (UN) Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) whose role was to observe the Middle East and monitor the armistice agreement between Israel and her Arab neighbours and the UN military observer group in India and Pakistan. These were both unarmed with the earliest armed peacekeeping operation being the UN Emergency Force (UNEF I) deployed in 1956 to address the Suez Crisis. However, the UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC) launched in 1960 became a hotspot for the widest documented illegal activities by UN Peacekeepers. This essay shall examine the expanding scope of peacekeeping activities, drawing reference from Paolo Palchetti’s “International Responsibility for Conduct of UN Peacekeeping Forces: The Question of Attribution”. Further, it seeks to propose mechanisms that would make the UN accountable, while expounding on the legal basis of the missions according to Chapter VI, Chapter VII, and Chapter VIII of the UN charter and debate on the concept of effective control. It shall also discuss possible recourse for affected host countries and victims of wrongful acts and omissions by peacekeepers, discuss their immunity and privileges, limitations of such immunity and point out instances where UN peacekeepers have been held legally responsible for their acts. In summation, the audit shall recommend whether there should be attribution of legal responsibility of acts of the peacekeepers to the UN or troop-contributing state or whether such criminal liability should be the responsibility of the individual UN peacekeepers. Finally, recommendations on accountability shall be forwarded and areas of future research proposed.
References
Published
Issue
Section
License
© Copyright
University of Nairobi Law Journal. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the University of Nairobi Law Journal.
The University of Nairobi Law Journal believes in the strength of due diligence exercised, that this work does not contain any material that is the subject of copyright held by another person. In the alternative, they believe that any protected pre-existing material that may be comprised in it has been used with appropriate authority or has been used in such circumstances that make such use permissible under the law.
Although every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this publication, supplements, updates and replacement material, the authors, editors, publishers and printers do not accept responsibility for any act, omission, loss, damage or the consequences thereof occasioned by a reliance by any person upon the contents hereof.
