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Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

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During the last decade reports of international personnel perpetrating acts of sexual exploitation and abuse against the very population in which they are mandated to protect are a disturbing outcome of some peace operations provided by the United Nations. Sexual exploitation and abuse have been a problem since the first peacekeeping operations in the beginning of 1990’s, however it was not until 2004 when the media reported disturbing acts of sexual abuse of children by French peacekeepers that the whole worlds eyes turned to these claims. This thesis will deal with a sensitive and relevant topic, sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeepers. The purpose of this research is to understand and explain why United Nations peacekeepers are involved in the horrors which they seek to address.

This thesis examines the research questions: does violence against peacekeepers have an impact on the peacekeeping mission? By building mainly on bunkerization and distancing theories, as well as mechanisms of peacekeeping effectiveness, a theory was formed that proposed that violence against peacekeepers would affect the mission outcome negatively. A hypothesis was derived from the theory, in which level of perception of security by local population was the dependent variable, and violence against peacekeepers was the independent variable. The hypothesis was tested using a qualitative within-case study comparing two different time-periods in the region of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to lack of data, the results were inconclusive – evidence point to the presence of the proposed theory and mechanism, but no conclusion could be made confidently. Therefore, further research is needed. The thesis contributes to the field of peacekeeping research by being one of the first to use violence against peacekeepers as the independent variable, as well as expanding the concept of peacekeeping effectiveness by including the peacekept in the conceptualization and operationalization.

When UN peacekeeping forces engage in unauthorized actions the question of which entity, the UN or the troop contributing nation, can be held responsible arises. UN peacekeeping forces are generally not considered to be UN subsidiary organs, but organs of the state put at the disposal of the UN. Therefore, a conduct of the peacekeeping force is attributable to the UN if it exercises effective control over that conduct.  The presumptive view of the effective control test consists of a presumption and a rebuttal phase. The conduct of a UN peacekeeping force is presumed to be attributable to the UN. If national contingents follow instructions from their contributing state and therefore fall out of the effective control of the UN, the presumption is rebutted. The presumptive view may, however, lead to responsibility gaps by presuming attribution to the UN, which enjoys immunity in national courts leaving victims without effective remedies. Dual attribution creates a possibility of attributing one conduct not only to the UN but also to the troop contributing nation. By applying dual attribution on conduct of UN Peacekeeping Forces some responsibility gaps could be avoided. If this possibility will be used in the future to ensure victims effective remedies, is up to the courts to decide.

Darbe siekiama išanalizuoti Lietuvos kariuomenės atstovų, dalyvaujančių tarptautinėse taikos rėmimo operacijose, vykdomos viešosios diplomatijos įtaką kuriamam valstybės vidaus įvaizdžiui. Pastaroji tema iškelia problemą, reikalaujančią ištirti, ar dėmesys viešajai diplomatijai yra pakankamas, atsižvelgiant į jos nešamą naudą įvaizdžio formavimo procese. Siekiant tikslingos ir konkrečios analizės, apibrėžiamos darbo ribos – darbe neanalizuojamos visos taikos rėmimo operacijos, kuriose dalyvauja Lietuvos atstovai, o orientuojamasi tik į NATO vykdomas tarptautines operacijas, kuriose tarnauja Lietuvos kariai, t.y. Afganistanas, Irakas bei Kosovas, į kurį 2009-aisiais metais buvo nusiųstas paskutinis Lietuvos karių būrys ir Lietuvos misija šiame krašte šiuo metu jau yra baigta, tačiau dalyvavimas joje neabejotinai turėjo įtakos Lietuvos įvaizdžiui. Ieškant atsakymo pateikiama viešosios diplomatijos samprata, išskiriant svarbiausias dimensijas ir įrankius, analizuojama viešosios diplomatijos įtaka formuojant ne tik šalies išorinį, bet ir vidinį įvaizdį, atskleidžiama, kaip Lietuvos kariuomenės atstovų dalyvavimas tarptautinėse taikos palaikymo operacijose prisideda prie valstybės įvaizdžio formavimo. Atlikus apklausų duomenų palyginimus bei rezultatų analizę išaiškėjo, kad visuomenė pasitiki Lietuvos kariuomenės institucija bei remia šalies narystę NATO. Ir nors mato iškylančius neigiamus dalyvavimo taikos rėmimo operacijose aspektus, t.y. padidėjusias valstybės biudžeto... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The main objective of this study is to analyze how public diplomacy implemented in peacekeeping operations by the Lithuanian army representatives influences country’s image. The subject gives a rise to a problem which needs a deeper analysis: it is vital to find out if attention drawn to public diplomacy by the state officials is sufficient, to consider the benefit it brings to the image formation process. In pursuance of purposeful analysis it is necessary to define the limits of the research – this study does not analyze all peacekeeping operations but focuses only on the NATO-led international operations in which Lithuanian soldiers are employed, i.e. the operations of Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. The Kosovo operation is already finished for us as the last squad was sent on 2009, but the participation in this mission still has an influence to Lithuania’s image. This study presents the conception of public diplomacy, characterizes its main dimensions and instruments, analyzes the influence of public diplomacy on shaping an external and internal country image and reveals how the participation of Lithuanian army representatives in international peacekeeping operations contributes to the image of the state. The survey data comparisons and analysis of the results showed a public confidence in Lithuanian Armed Forces and support to country's membership in NATO. Although citizens witness the negative aspects of partaking in peacekeeping operations, i.e. an increase in... [to full text]

While peacekeeping operations have been researched for decades, due to a lack of data there are still many aspects of peacekeeping that remain unexplored. However, with the introduction of the Peacemakers at Risk dataset a wide array of dynamics and relationships can now be researched. This thesis uses this dataset and others in order to study the risk of violence towards peacekeepers and its effects on the peacekeepers’ ability to protect civilians. My main claim is that due to a shift in priorities, peacekeepers that are exposed to risks of violence have a decreased capacity to protect civilians which leads to increased civilian casualties. The study utilizes a time-series cross-sectional quantitative approach in order to study this relationship. After the introduction of control variables, drawn from the literature, to the multivariate regression, the study finds that there is no statistical significance to the relationship supported in the existing data. However, the study can ultimately not draw a generalizable conclusion due to a lack of observations.

Despite internal regulations, policy documents, statements, training, reporting mechanisms and international treaties accountability is perceived as inadequate when it comes to peacekeepers and sexual exploitation and abuse. This study will be based on a normative oriented jurisprudence and will use general international principles for reviewing the flaws. There are relatively robust regulations on how peacekeepers are expected to meet their standards of conduct but there simultaneously exists a legal vacuum when it comes to accountability. This study will to try to create an overlap in hope to further implement existing policy document.