Rather than serving as civilian and humanitarian safe havens, refugee camps are notorious for their insecurity. Due to the host state’s inability or unwillingness to provide protection, camps are often administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its implementing partners. When a violation occurs in these situations, to which actors shall responsibility be allocated? Through an analysis of the International Law Commission’s work on international responsibility, Maja Janmyr argues that the ‘primary’ responsibility of states does not exclude the responsibilities of other actors. Using the example of Uganda, Janmyr questions the general assumption that ‘unable and unwilling’ is the same as ‘unable or unwilling’, and argues for the necessity of distinguishing between these two scenarios. Doing so leads to different conclusions in terms of responsibility for the state, and therefore for UNHCR and its implementing partners.

This book examines the obligations of troops to prevent serious abuses of human rights towards civilians under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It analyses the duty to intervene to stop the commission of serious abuses of human rights by analysing the meaning and practical consequences for troops, in terms of civilian protection, of the Article 1 duty to respect and ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions; of the duty to secure human rights (found in most international human rights treaties); and of the duty to restore law and order in an occupation. The book also analyzes the extent of troops' obligations to provide protection in light of various different operational and legal contexts in and discusses 'grey areas' and lacuna of coverage. A discussion of whether new approaches are needed, for example where operations are undertaken explicitly to protect people from serious violations of their human rights follows; and the book concludes by offering some guidelines for troops faced with such violations.

The protection of civilians which has been at the forefront of international discourse during recent years is explored through harnessing perspective from international law and international relations. Presenting the realities of diplomacy and mandate implementation in academic discourse.

With 'displacement' as the guiding thread, the purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it derives from the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law a legal framework for the protection of displaced persons in armed conflict, both from and during displacement. It contains a case study on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the recent Advisory Opinion on the Separation Wall, and addresses such issues as humanitarian assistance for displaced persons, the treatment of refugees in the hands of a party to a conflict and the militarisation of refugee camps. Secondly, it examines the issue of displacement within the broader context of civilian war victims and identifies and addresses the normative gaps of international humanitarian law, including the inadequacy of concepts such as 'protected persons' and the persistence of the dichotomy between international and non-international armed conflicts, which is at odds with the realities of contemporary armed conflicts.

While the Security Council has been mandating peacekeepers to protect civilians since 1999, there is still contention on its legal meaning. Even though the concept of ‘protection’ can seem self-evident, as the concept of ‘protection’ is borrowed language, each body of law will perceive ‘protection’ through a different lens. However, as the mandate creates a legal obligation on UN peace missions, a clear understanding of protection is fundamental to ensure performance and accountability.

While recognizing the changing face of war casualties (the civilian casualty rate has escalated from five percent in World War I to up to 90 percent in recent conflicts), the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians has not been able to reverse that trend. In this project of the International Peace Academy, with which the editor is affiliated, a dozen essays endeavor to expand the tools available to protect civilians in times of war. They address the themes of the evolving norms of international humanitarian law, inducing compliance, enforcing compliance, and reevaluating protection by reviewing traditional assumptions and new needs to deal at the local level with unconventional belligerents like guerillas. c. Book News Inc.