This thesis examines the experiences of girl child soldiers in Uganda in order to explore the gender gaps that exist in post-conflict programming and to engender meaningful policy solutions that target these gaps. This thesis uses a gender lens to analyze the challenges faced by Ugandan girls and to explore how entrenched gender norms feed into a singular narrative of conflict – dangerous boys and traumatized girls – that renders particular combatants – and their unique needs – invisible. Adopting a feminist methodology that prioritizes the importance of girls’ narratives and self-perceptions, the author argues that girl child soldiers must be meaningfully included in the design and implementation of programming aimed at serving their needs. A participatory action research methodology is presented as a promising way forward. It can help address specific gendered challenges in the post-conflict environment, while also recognizing and drawing upon the resiliency and strengths of the girl child soldiers themselves.

This thesis examines the experiences of girl child soldiers in Uganda in order to explore the gender gaps that exist in post-conflict programming and to engender meaningful policy solutions that target these gaps. This thesis uses a gender lens to analyze the challenges faced by Ugandan girls and to explore how entrenched gender norms feed into a singular narrative of conflict – dangerous boys and traumatized girls – that renders particular combatants – and their unique needs – invisible. Adopting a feminist methodology that prioritizes the importance of girls’ narratives and self-perceptions, the author argues that girl child soldiers must be meaningfully included in the design and implementation of programming aimed at serving their needs. A participatory action research methodology is presented as a promising way forward. It can help address specific gendered challenges in the post-conflict environment, while also recognizing and drawing upon the resiliency and strengths of the girl child soldiers themselves.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Bremen, Univ., Diss., 2007

Lorsque des allégations de violations du droit international des droits de l’homme (DIDH) ou du droit international humanitaire (DIH) sont rapportées dans un pays, une meilleure compréhension des faits et de la situation est souvent nécessaire afin que l’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU) puisse répondre de manière appropriée. A cette fin, les organes de l’ONU y compris l’Assemblée générale, le Conseil de sécurité, le Secrétaire général, le Conseil des droits de l’homme et même le Haut-Commissariat aux droits de l’homme peuvent créer des missions d’établissement des faits. Ces missions sont des organes interétatiques ad hoc créés en réponse à des violations graves et massives DIDH et du DIH. Leurs fonctions principales sont le plus souvent d’établir les faits, de les qualifier en droit et de faire des recommandations pour mettre fin à ces violations et y remédier. Le recours à ces missions, parfois appelées commissions d’enquête, n’a cessé de croître ces vingt dernières années, en particulier lorsque des violations du DIDH et du DIH, pouvant constituer des crimes internationaux, sont alléguées. A cet égard, la théorie de la justice transitionnelle et la doctrine de la responsabilité de protéger ont ouvert de nouvelles perspectives pour l’établissement des faits. Ceci explique que les objectifs et les fonctions des missions d’établissement des faits se sont diversifiés. Cependant, les Etats et une partie de la doctrine remettent en cause le caractère ad hoc du mode de création de ces missions, de leur mandat, et de leurs méthodes de travail. Nous étudierons cette tension entre uniformité et diversité afin de proposer des solutions adaptées permettant de remédier aux problèmes dénoncés par la doctrine et de maximiser l’impact de ces missions sur de la réponse des parties prenantes notamment l’État concerné et l’ONU. / To respond appropriately to violations of human rights and humanitarian law, the United Nations requires an in-depth knowledge of the facts alleged and a better understanding of the relevant situation on the ground. To this end, United Nations organs including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretary General, the Human Rights Council and even the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights may create fact-finding missions. These missions are collegial ad hoc bodies created in response to human rights and humanitarian law violations that are particularly grave. Their functions generally include establishing the facts, conducting a legal appraisal of facts, and making recommendations for the cessation of violations and for their remedy. In the past twenty years, United Nations organs have increasingly resorted to these missions – often referred to as commissions of inquiry – in particular when violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law may amount to international crimes. In this respect, transitional justice theory and the doctrine of the responsibility to protect provide new perspectives for fact-finding. The objectives and functions of these missions have therefore diversified. However, some states and scholars criticize the ad hoc creation of the missions, their often politicized mandate, and their methods of work. We will elaborate on this tension between uniformity and diversity and propose some solutions. These proposals will aim at addressing the issues raised by scholars as well as maximizing the missions’ impact on stakeholders’ response to the situation.

The revision of laws and the application of culpability to those most responsible for serious humanitarian law violations has functioned as a necessary condition for achieving peace in most post-war societies. However, there is an embarrassing silence when it comes to addressing the question of whether children are to be subjected to the principle of individual criminal responsibility. As morally controversial as it is, the question remains fundamental. Unfortunately, children have been involved in armed conflicts, as victims primarily, but not exclusively. Children are among those accused of having committed brutal and terrible international crimes in times of armed conflict when part of armed groups or armed forces. And with no consensus within the international community regarding their status within International Criminal Law — no established law within International Law and no consistent practice among states on the issue— the problem of criminal accountability of children accused of international crimes remains unanswered. The current work conducts a legal positivist analysis with the focus of investigating the contribution of the Special Court for Sierra Leone to the current debate on children’s criminal responsibility under International Criminal Law. Among significant contributions, the Statute of the Special Court brought one interesting innovation to the debate on children’s potential criminal responsibility. Juveniles starting at age fifteen would be considered viable for prosecution if among those most responsible for the Special Court, as established in Article 7.1. The above innovation translates into two essential contributions to the debate on children criminal responsibility for international crimes: first the Special Court was the first international court to elect a minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) at age fifteen to be operational within the scope of the court. Secondly, and equally important, the court reflected the position that children, after the stipulated MACR would be considered, at least a priori, viable subjects of the international criminal system.

No description available.

NEW IHL FRAMEWORK FOR CYBER WARFARE - ABSTRACT Regarding the increasing number of revealed cyber-attacks aimed at public facilities including the governmental ones by who seems to be other state actors, this thesis aims to reveal the major importance of cyber warfare, point out the fatal vacuum regarding the IHL framework currently in force and suggests its completion by a new IHL convention, which would regulate cyberwarfare in International Armed Conflicts. In order to provide a well-structured and pertinent arguments to support its main points, the thesis uses methods of qualitative analysis of the current IHL sources including international treaties, customary law and work of the main institutions of international justice along with work of judicial scholars and cyber experts. The work contains five main chapters. The first chapter presents the underlining principles of Laws of Wars, including its theory, history and development; and focuses on one of its three main regimes - the International Humanitarian Law. The second part is dedicated to the topic of cyber warfare, defines its scope as computer network attacks, explains their classification system, analyses their effects and provides examples of such attacks. The third chapter focuses on the issue of the current legal vacuum in relation to cyber...

La justice transitionnelle est devenue une référence dans les pays qui tentent de faire face à un passé de violations massives et systématiques des droits de l’homme, en raison d’un régime autoritaire ou d’un conflit armé. La Colombie, ravagée par un conflit armé à caractère interne durant soixante ans, suit cette tendance. En 2005, une loi inspirée de la justice transitionnelle est adoptée. Pourtant, cette loi n’a pas été adoptée dans un contexte de sortie de conflit. Depuis son adoption, la justice transitionnelle est un sujet d’actualité dans la conjoncture colombienne. Que ce soit par le cadre normatif de 2005 ou par l’adoption de nouvelles dispositions, le système de transition colombien se développe peu à peu et fait l’objet de modifications importantes. L’analyse du système mène à établir une connexion avec les lois passées sur le conflit. L’étude globale de la législation colombienne sur le sujet offre une approche différente du modèle colombien. Dans cette perspective, l’utilisation de la justice transitionnelle est relativisée et le caractère du processus transitionnel est davantage favorisé. Il en résulte la construction d’un système d’une manière progressive dans lequel l’emploi de la justice de transition n’est pas encore épuisé. Le système transitionnel actuel en Colombie correspond à une législation de préparation pour le post-conflit. Cette perspective facilite le repérage des défaillances normatives et les obstacles à surmonter, pour mettre en oeuvre de façon efficace et efficiente un système transitionnel qui accompagnera les efforts afin de mettre fin au conflit armé et facilitera la phase post-conflictuelle / Transitional Justice has become a reference in the countries trying to deal with a past of massive and systematic violations of human rights, due to an authoritarian regime or armed conflict. Colombia, ravaged on internal armed conflict for sixty years, is following this trend. In 2005, inspired law on transitional justice was adopted. Nevertheless, this law has not been adopted in a country emerging from conflict. Since it was adopted, transitional justice is a current topic in the Colombian situation. Whether by the normative framework of 2005 or by the adoption of new provisions, the Colombian transitional justice system is developing gradually and has been exposed to significant changes. The analysis of the system leads to determine a link with the past national law over the conflict. The overall study of the legislation on the subject provides a different approach towards the Colombian model. In this perspective, the use of transitional justice is relativized and its character of transitional process is further promoted, the outcome is the progressive construction of the system where the use of transitional justice is not yet exhausted. The current Colombian transitional system matches with a preparatory system to the post-conflict phase. This perspective facilitates the identification of normative failures and the obstacles to overcome, in order to implement an effective and efficient transitional justice system, which will go along with the efforts to end the armed conflict and to ease the post-conflict period

En faisant un tour d’horizon des diverses règles de Droit International Public en vigueur, ce travail tentera de faire comprendre à son lecteur l’importance de la protection des droits de l’enfant dans le monde entier. Aujourd’hui encore trop d’enfants meurent chaque jour à cause de conflits, de maladies, de malnutrition…, beaucoup trop sont exploités et n’ont pas la possibilité de suivre des cours dans une école, voyant ainsi leur avenir leur échapper tous les jours un peu plus. C’est contre tous ces problèmes, trop récurrents, que les Etats se doivent d’intervenir en exerçant leur rôle de législateur, tant sur le plan international que sur le plan national. Mais ils doivent aussi assumer celui de sujet de droit en respectant les conventions internationales qu’ils se sont engagés à respecter de leur plein gré. Ce respect les oblige à protéger les enfants afin de leur offrir la possibilité de bénéficier des programmes d’aide mis en place sur le terrain par de nombreuses organisations humanitaires clamant haut et fort que tout le monde doit agir, d’une manière ou d’une autre, pour permettre le développement d’actions de plus en plus variées et de plus en plus efficaces malgré les difficultés. / By making a survey of the several rules of current public international law, this dissertation will try to make the reader undestand the importance of the protection of children's rights all over the world. Nowadays, children die every minute because of conflicts, diseases, malnutrition..., a lot of them are exploited and have no possibilities of going to school, seeing their future escaping them every day a little more. It is against all these too recurring problems that States have to intervene by exercising their legislator's role, both on the international level and on the national level. But they also have to take their role of subject of law by respecting the international conventions which they made a commitment to respect of their own free will. This respect requires them to protect the children by offering them the possibility of enjoying humanitarian aid set up by many organizations loudly proclaiming that everybody has to act, in one way or another, to allow the development of many and various actions in spite of difficulties.