This research project aims to analyse the current administrative/humanitarian model of the search for missing persons in the context of the Colombian conflict and to assess how it contributes to the transitional context in Colombia post-2016 Peace Agreement. Specifically, its contribution to truth, justice, reparations, and participation will be discussed. The two existing models of the search for missing persons will be briefly compared: the administrative/humanitarian model and the judicial model, based on existing literature and using examples from conflict or violent areas of Latin America. This is followed by the discussion of the Colombian model, set up in the 2016 Peace Agreement. Then, to examine how the administrative/humanitarian model of the search for missing persons contributes to the principles of the Agreement, the analysis is based on the semi-structured interviews of individuals who actively participate in search activities, including peace signatories, professionals in the field belonging to humanitarian organizations or independent NGOs and victims’ representatives. This is followed by recommendations to both the Colombian state and humanitarian organizations. The study argues that the mixed approach of the search in Colombia, which uses a hybrid system based on the complementarity of the judicial and administrative/humanitarian model, succeeds in supporting the principles of transitional justice, but that strengthening the support and commitment of the latter model proves the better avenue to provide answers on the fate and location of missing persons.

This thesis examines how, and the extent to which, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Accord of Bangladesh contributed to transform conflicting relations of the parties, and communities living in the CHT. This case study research has combined two methods: (i) key informant interviews and (ii) consultation of wider secondary literature, reports of accord signing parties, international organizations, NGOs and other stakeholders, newspaper articles, working papers etc. We have developed a process-oriented analytical framework through reviewing eight widely studied peace agreements and their following conflict transformation processes. This theme-based distinctive framework has guided us to conduct a comprehensive analyse of the CHT case. We argue that the 1997 CHT Accord, developed as a part of an internal strategic conflict management and negotiation process, and stipulated for limited territorial power-sharing and localized proportional power-sharing of communities, to a considerable extent helped to transform parties’ conflicting relations, and the conflict itself, despite the Accord’s limited nature and partial implementation. The post-accord immediate implementation of some key provisions helped to build confidence of the parties and engaged them in decision-making process. This restrained them not to return to violence, although an incremental accord implementation process helped to address some complexities but created contradictions and dubious relations between them over some issues. The accord considerably contributed to improve socio-economic conditions of CHT people. Nevertheless, it shifted the dynamics of original conflict towards an intra-ethnic dimension, whereas the inter-community relations remained highly polarized due to inadequate attention paid by relevant stakeholders to bridge their gaps for peace. / Commonwealth Scholarship Commission

International Legal Aspects of Rebuilding State Structures in Post-Conflict Areas Abstract The dissertation thesis International Legal Aspects of Rebuilding State Structures in Post-Conflict Areas deals with creation, acceptance and implementation of peace agreements. The emphasis is on nature, functions and status of the peace agreements within international law. The second major area of research is a legislation of the implementation of peace agreements in the period between the termination of armed conflict and rebuilding a just and sustainable peace in the country when the armed conflict was undergoing. The implementation process is extremely complex and fragmented, which requires major efforts to ensure an effective and efficient outcome of the process. In a specific section we are focusing on case studies of implementation processes (i.e. solution of legal relations between Sudan and South Sudan). The concept of jus post bellum, which seeks to build on the law of armed conflict, is used for the legislation of the implementation in the doctrine of international law. In addition to jus post bellum we will mention also new approaches to international mediation, Responsibility to Protect, Transitional Justice and lex pacificatoria. As results of the work are findings that the peace agreement, excluding...

International Legal Aspects of Rebuilding State Structures in Post-Conflict Areas Abstract The dissertation thesis International Legal Aspects of Rebuilding State Structures in Post-Conflict Areas deals with creation, acceptance and implementation of peace agreements. The emphasis is on nature, functions and status of the peace agreements within international law. The second major area of research is a legislation of the implementation of peace agreements in the period between the termination of armed conflict and rebuilding a just and sustainable peace in the country when the armed conflict was undergoing. The implementation process is extremely complex and fragmented, which requires major efforts to ensure an effective and efficient outcome of the process. In a specific section we are focusing on case studies of implementation processes (i.e. solution of legal relations between Sudan and South Sudan). The concept of jus post bellum, which seeks to build on the law of armed conflict, is used for the legislation of the implementation in the doctrine of international law. In addition to jus post bellum we will mention also new approaches to international mediation, Responsibility to Protect, Transitional Justice and lex pacificatoria. As results of the work are findings that the peace agreement, excluding...

Are peace agreements more likely to include gender provisions if women participate in the peace negotiations? The international community, national governments and civil societies around the world have assumed that women’s inclusion in peace negotiations result in higher quality peace agreements, where women’s interests are better taken into consideration. To date, there is a lack of empirical underpinning of the assumption. This study uses a twofold research design, combining statistical and qualitative methods to examine the interrelation between women’s descriptive and substantive representation in peace negotiations in the post-Cold War era. First, the statistical analysis suggests that peace agreements are more likely to include at least one gender provision referring to women’s rights and security if women participate in the negotiation. At the same time, the agreements are not more likely to address a higher number of different areas for increased rights and security measures for women. Second, the qualitative analysis examining the mechanisms shows that there is no guarantee that women will push for gender provisions, but that their particular experiences and interests in conflict, and the expectations from others give them strong reasons to do so. Important factors for women to successfully push for gender provisions have to do both with their individual will and personal ability, and external factors relating to the presence of traditional gender norms and the power balance between men and women in the country of conflict.

<p>This composite dissertation explores mediation in internal armed conflicts from a bargaining perspective. Four separate essays investigate why mediation occurs, why it is successful, and why peace guarantors’ commitments are credible. Essay 1 examines the conditions under which mediation takes place. The study argues that whereas it is costly for governments to accept international mediation, it is a less costly intervention tool for potential third parties. This argument implies that mediation will be more likely when and where negotiated settlements are least likely to be reached, a contention that is supported by empirical tests. Essay 2 reviews the contemporary debate on what types of mediators that can disseminate information in a credible manner, and formulates a set of testable hypotheses on mediation partiality. The analysis shows that negotiated settlements are more likely if biased or interested mediators intervene, while neutral mediators are not associated with mediation success. Essay 3 elaborates on the role of biased mediators. It proposes that rebels face a commitment problem when negotiated settlements are to be reached, which government-biased mediators can mitigate. The study finds that such types of mediators outperform rebel-biased mediators in terms of helping combatants to settle the armed conflict. Essay 4 deals with the commitment problem that comes to pass between, on the one hand the primary parties, and on the other, the potential peace guarantors. The study probes the requests and promises for third-party security guarantees and suggests that the reputation of the United Nations (UN) enhances its credibility as peace guarantor compared to non-UN actors. It finds that although the UN is more restrictive with its promises, it is more likely that peacekeeping forces will be provided if the UN is one of the guarantors. In sum, utilizing unique data from two time-periods (post World War II and post Cold War), this dissertation arrives at new insights on the role of mediators in bringing about negotiated settlements of internal armed conflicts.</p>

This composite dissertation explores mediation in internal armed conflicts from a bargaining perspective. Four separate essays investigate why mediation occurs, why it is successful, and why peace guarantors’ commitments are credible. Essay 1 examines the conditions under which mediation takes place. The study argues that whereas it is costly for governments to accept international mediation, it is a less costly intervention tool for potential third parties. This argument implies that mediation will be more likely when and where negotiated settlements are least likely to be reached, a contention that is supported by empirical tests. Essay 2 reviews the contemporary debate on what types of mediators that can disseminate information in a credible manner, and formulates a set of testable hypotheses on mediation partiality. The analysis shows that negotiated settlements are more likely if biased or interested mediators intervene, while neutral mediators are not associated with mediation success. Essay 3 elaborates on the role of biased mediators. It proposes that rebels face a commitment problem when negotiated settlements are to be reached, which government-biased mediators can mitigate. The study finds that such types of mediators outperform rebel-biased mediators in terms of helping combatants to settle the armed conflict. Essay 4 deals with the commitment problem that comes to pass between, on the one hand the primary parties, and on the other, the potential peace guarantors. The study probes the requests and promises for third-party security guarantees and suggests that the reputation of the United Nations (UN) enhances its credibility as peace guarantor compared to non-UN actors. It finds that although the UN is more restrictive with its promises, it is more likely that peacekeeping forces will be provided if the UN is one of the guarantors. In sum, utilizing unique data from two time-periods (post World War II and post Cold War), this dissertation arrives at new insights on the role of mediators in bringing about negotiated settlements of internal armed conflicts.

The aim of this study is to analyse the institutional problems which restrain the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons to and within Bosnia and Hercegovina with examples from the municipalities of Ilidza, Bosnia and Hercegovina. With intention to fulfil the aim of this study we will try to answer what problems that are connected to the Dayton Peace Agreement and how those problems impact the repatriation issue. Further we intend to discern what role the culture, values and norms play in the repatriation process. We also try to answer what formal institutional problems exist in BiH and what importance they constitute on the repatriation process. Finally we are discussing whether it is possible or not to institutionalise the repatriation process. The thesis is based on the interviews we made in BiH during the spring 2001. During the war in BiH, more than 2,3 million people were displaced from their homes. Each of the wartime regimes allocated abandoned properties and established complex legal and administrative barriers to return, designed to make the separation of the population irreversible. In this way the separation of the population was permanent. Several years of international efforts have achieved a legal framework that recognises property rights as they stood at the beginning of the conflict, and establishes a legal and administrative claims process for the repossession of the property. DPA is considered one of the most complicated peace agreements ever constructed and it consists of several objectives, which aim to uphold a tolerant and democratic constitutional state. There are several paradoxes connected to Annex 7 and the fact that both entities were allowed to have their own constitutions, in which they do not recognise each other constitutional rights, may seem peculiar when they at the same time are supposed to constitute one unity, one country. The federal bodies in the country began to develop before the national bodies were functioning. This has created inconsistencies between the different bodies and between the different legal frameworks and DPA still has a long way to go before being completely implemented. Ethnic nationalist feelings play an important role in political life in BiH and they constitute an effective impediment in the repatriation process. Nationalism has become a common element in the daily life in BiH. Thinking of that the entity constitutions refer to the citizens in the opposite entity as others shows how they perceive each other. After the war each ethnic group seems to concentrate on protecting their own rights, otherwise they will be lost. Citizens in BiH do not have the same constitutional rights in both entities and before this question is solved, a safe minority return is not possible. The functioning of the judicial system is an important factor in the repatriation process. A problem is that the laws are often contradictory or incomplete. This problem is visible on the local level, where politicians often do not know which law to refer to the result is that the local actors do not know how to interpret the laws and then they often do it arbitrarily or they just ignore the laws. The result is often a situation of passing the buck and the citizen stands powerless to the public officials’ demands. This problem is referred to as the state wall of administrative silence and it is a frequent phenomenon at the local level that severely delays the repatriation process. This attitude reciprocity has been common in both municipalities for a long time, as well as in BiH in general, which has resulted in a slow and inefficient repatriation process. Post-war Bosnia and Hercegovina finds itself at a crossroads between an antiquated mechanism that protects state authorities on the one hand, and a modern state institution that serves the citizens and protects their rights on the other. In BiH the new institutions imposed by external powers meet the old institutions, which still are powerful. Those are not synchronised in a way they should, i.e. the old structure or the structure leftover from the collapse of Yugoslavia impedes the new structure rather then collaborating with it. The issue of repatriation has been caught in a structural chaos and BiH has a long way to go before a non-political integration can become a reality.

Nation building is vital in post-war states to bring the people that have been at war together. To restore peace in a state, many different actors need to work together to bring stability, safety, and advancement to a new nation. There are several methods of nation building, and this thesis evolves around three of them. This is a qualitative study where three theories on nation building are used to analyze the development of nation building, and the obstacles Bosnia and Herzegovina still has to reach a national identity. Several studies are used in this thesis to show how the development has evolved in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The method consisted of searching in databases for peer-reviewed articles, finding documents from international actors, and statistics. This thesis reveals that Bosnia and Herzegovina still has a long way to go before it becomes an nation where the citizens feel united, no matter which ethnicity they belong to.

The master thesis deals with the role of NGOs in post-conflict reconstruction, the case study is applied to the post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. The post-conflict reconstruction goes on since the end of the civil war in 1995 there. The aim of this work is to evaluate the fulfillment of the four pillars of the post-conflict reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first chapter follows the theory of peacekeeping operations and theoretical classification of the post-conflict reconstruction. In the second chapter, there is an application of the Dayton Peace Agreement on the four pillars of the post-conflict reconstruction. The third chapter deals with activities of NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and presents some major projects and the overall assessment of their impact. For the methodology was chosen qualitative and quantitative evaluation and analysis and synthesis of data.