Hans-Joachim Heintze

Humanitarian Action: Global, Regional and Domestic Legal Responses

Humanitarian assistance occurs when local or regional crises prompt international action to alleviate human suffering. In contrast to development aid, humanitarian aid is defined by its short-term focus and the immediacy of intervention. Given its crisis management character, humanitarian assistance presents a pressing challenge for international law because the provision of assistance operates under circumstances which depart from common state-centric understandings of how inter- national politics and international law usually work.To be sure, in the context of humanitarian emergencies processes of inter-state negotiation and consensus-building are dramatically limited by the urgency of the need to assist populations vulnerable to the consequences of natural disaster or armed conflict. Humanitarian Action: Global, Regional and Domestic Legal Responses directly responds to this pressing challenge by providing the first in-depth exploration of legal problems posed by contemporary humanitarian practice. Through two points of departure – one which explores the law and politics of humanitarian action, and the second which explores normative frameworks – this book provides legal professionals, scholars and policy-makers with a unique multidisciplinary resource that will help inform the theory and practice of humanitarian assistance.

Protection of Refugees and Minorities

Refugee and Minority law are two distinct fields of Public International Law that govern the protection of certain defined vulnerable individuals and groups. Their protection, in law and in the field, has been a challenge for humanitarian action and beyond not solely due to practical obstacles but also due to the disputed scope of their legal entitlements.

From Cold War to Cyber War: The Evolution of the International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict over the Last 25 Years—An Introduction

This book follows the history of the international law of peace and armed conflict over the last 25 years. It highlights both parameters that have remained the same during this time as well as new challenges that this field of international law faces today.

Access to Victims and Humanitarian Assistance

The international law governing disaster response and humanitarian assistance has developed into a comprehensive body of law dealing with the initiation of relief, questions of the status of humanitarian actors and the right of access to the victims. The Special Rapporteur of the UN International Law Commission on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters submitted six reports with the first set of articles being adopted by the Law Commission. These articles underline the primary responsibility of the affected State for protecting persons under its territorial jurisdiction and the affected State’s consent for providing international assistance. The codification project has given a fresh impetus to the ongoing discussion on State sovereignty versus the obligation to receive international humanitarian assistance.

The ILC Codification Project on the “Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters”

Disasters frequently occur in all regions of the world and affect large numbers of individuals. They may have a disruptive impact on people, infrastructure and economies. Disasters in times of peace or war endanger life, health, and the physical integrity of human beings. They have disproportional consequences in vulnerable poorer societies because they deepen their poverty. In 2006, the UN counted 227 natural disasters resulting in over 23,000 deaths worldwide. The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was one of the worst disasters of the last century. It manifested the shortcomings of the international reaction concerning international protection of persons in critical situations. Disasters like cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar in 2008 or the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 exposed a range of problems relating to domestic and international response. The legal dimension depends on the severity of the humanitarian crises that the disaster has caused. However, there is no international consensus “on how great a catastrophe has to be in order to be considered a disaster for legal purposes, nor is there any agreement on what criteria should be used to measure its scale” (Focarelli 2013, para. 7). This has important consequences because the question arises whether there is an obligation or entitlement for the international community to have access to the victims and to offer or even enforce humanitarian assistance. Some authors argue that humanitarian assistance is “nowadays … a necessary element to reach, in the words of the UN Secretary General, ‘Global Peace’, which requires the solution of social, economic, cultural and humanitarian problems. Therefore, any obstacle to the delivery of aid is correctly considered a danger to international peace and security” (Giuffrida 2013, p. 294).

Humanitäre Hilfe bei Naturkatastrophen als humanitäre Intervention ? Das Beispiel Haiti

Die Beachtung der Menschenrechte gehort heute zu den Grundpflichten eines jeden Staates. Sie schliest die Pflicht ein, die Rechte aller Menschen unter seiner Jurisdiktion zu schutzen (Stoll 2008: 12 f.). Besondere Probleme bereitet dieser Schutz in Notstandssituationen.

Humanitäre Hilfe und staatliche Souveränität in Gewaltkonflikten

Humanitare Hilfe in bewaffneten Konflikten erfolgt auf der Grundlage des humanitaren Volkerrechts. Damit besteht ein Anspruch der internationalen Gemeinschaft auf Zugang zu den Opfern und die Durchfuhrung von Hilfeleistungen. Bei anderen Gewaltkonflikten ist dies grundsatzlich nicht der Fall, denn die Souveranitat des betroffenen Staates ist zu respektieren und er kann sich jede Einmischung in seine inneren Angelegenheiten verbitten. Wenn der Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen die Situation allerdings als Bedrohung oder Bruch des Friedens einstuft und Zwangsmasnahmen gegen den Rechtsbrecher ergreift, kann dieser Einwand nicht mehr gemacht werden. In diesen Fallen kann die Staatengemeinschaft intervenieren. In der jungsten Vergangenheit wurde auch aus humanitaren Grunden interveniert. Das ist zu begrusen. Die Praxis zeigt aber, dass mit diesen humanitaren Interventionen auch politische Ziele verfolgt werden. Dies stellt humanitare Akteure vor eine Reihe von Dilemmata.

Fortentwicklung des humanitären Völkerrechts durch den Menschenrechtsschutz

Typischerweise erfolgt die progressive Kodifikation des humanitaren Volkerrechts durch diplomatische Konferenzen von Experten, die durch die Schweizer Regierung und das Internationale Komitee vom Roten Kreuz (IKRK) einberufen wurden. Im Gegensatz zur allgemeinen Kodifikation im Rahmen der Vereinten Nationen (UN) erlaubt diese Vorgehensweise die Ausarbeitung von hoch spezialisierten Regelungen wie den Zusatzprotokollen zu den Genfer Abkommen (GA) von 1977. Gleichwohl ist die Bereitschaft der Staatengemeinschaft zur Fortentwicklung dieses Rechtskorpers offensichtlich gering ausgepragt, obwohl die „neuen“ oder „asymmetrischen“ Kriege eine ganze Reihe neuer Fragen aufwerfen. Scheinbar ziehen es die Staaten vor, auf diese Herausforderungen von Fall zu Fall zu reagieren und sich nicht durch neue generelle Regelungen zu binden.

Convergence Between Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law and the Consequences for the Implementation

The last two decades have been very violent. The world has witnessed numerous, serious armed conflicts. Bearing this in mind, proposals have been put forward by the international community to ensure that in such disputes, a minimal level of humanity is maintained. Voices in legal literature argue, however, that it is obvious to any observer of the world scene since 1949, that the rules governing the international law of armed conflicts, which seek to protect certain groups from the worst effects of armed conflicts, have been more honoured in the breach than in the observance. These acts of brutality and violations of fundamental rules of humanity clearly call for political action by the international community and in particular for a legal contribution from the humanitarian branch of international law. In International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the core rules of humanity are enshrined in Article 3, which is common to all four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.

Evolution of Autonomy and Federalism

Federalism, devolution, autonomy and other power-sharing arrangements are in general seen as political and legal arrangements to resolve domestic and ethnic conflicts. Power-sharing systems might solve internal armed conflicts and are often linked with autonomy regulations and federalism (Lijphart 1985, pp. 3). Many politicians and scholars understand political decentralization as a means of conflict resolution, because it is based on the idea of subsidiarity. Subsidiarity has according to Carozza accepted as a principle of human rights law, because it allows on the one hand the application of universal human rights norms and on the other respect for the diversity and freedom of human cultures (Carozza 2003, p. 39). However, practice also shows that many federal and autonomy attempts have failed and fostered regional divisions (Mansfeld and Snyder 2002, p. 301). The contradictory opinions are very often a consequence of the different understanding of the concepts of federalism and autonomy. Some authors argue that the legal basis for federalism has to be always a contract while others think federalism can only survive if exposed to external threats (see Christin and Hug 2003, p. 4). The different approaches have caused an expanding discussion about peaceful solutions of self-determination conflicts. One of the outcomes seems obvious: The strict respect of minority rights is a precondition to reach the goal of a peaceful coexistence of different groups within a given society. Otherwise territorially concentrated peoples and other groups will demand statehood on the basis of the right to self-determination (Heintze 2004, pp. 289; see also Packer 2000, p. 31). The common reaction of the concerned state is the rejection of this claim, very often enforced by military power that in many cases results in an armed conflict. To avoid such developments one has to establish systems in which all groups can participate in the decision making. According to international law states “shall create the conditions necessary for the effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities in cultural, social and economic life and in public affairs, in particular