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The Politics of Protection

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The Politics of Protection

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Highlights

  • Can anyone "do" protection? Can humanitarian action stop violence by determined warlords? When military troops vaccinate kids, is that protection? Does monitoring the number of rapes in a community actually protect women from being raped? (Location 40)
  • Since the establishment of the modern international system based on nation-states, usually dated from the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, it is a recognized responsibility of states to protect their citizens from harm, to defend them from danger, to save them from persecution-in short, to keep them safe. The ability to protect one's citizens is intrinsic to the very definition of a state. If a state cannot protect its people, it has failed as a state? (Location 123)
  • over the past 150 years or so, IHL has expanded its original remit to protect prisoners of war and wounded soldiers into a broad range of activities designed to protect civilians who are affected by but are not direct participants in conflicts. (Location 135)
  • Just as the International Committee of the Red Cross became the guardian of international humanitarian law, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) became the custodian of international refugee law. (Location 139)
  • Protection meant not only physical protection of people from violence and legal protection of refugees from deportation but also protection from hunger, illness, and discrimination. (Location 148)
  • Human security moves away from the focus on national security to consider what causes individuals to feel secure. (Location 157)
  • Henri Dunant, a Swiss entrepreneur, stumbled on the battlefield of Solferino in 1859, where some 40,000 Austrian and Italian troops-then at war with one another-lay wounded and dying on the battlefield. He was shocked at the carnage and enlisted women in the neighboring villages to assist the victims on both sides. (Location 220)
  • Dunant published A Memory of Solferino, (Location 223)
  • International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)-was (Location 238)
  • Established with only twelve national societies in 1919, the IFRCtoday encompasses 186 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies with 97 million volunteers and 300,000 staff members.'$ (Location 239)
  • From the beginning, the ICRC saw the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as a threat to its leadership and tried to limit its authority. In the end, ICRC managed to preserve its domain-humanitarian protection in conflict situations-leaving the less glamorous field of natural disasters to the IFRC. But relations between the two Red Cross entities were tense for much of the last half of the twentieth century. A rapprochement between the two came about in 1997 with the negotiation of the Seville Agreement, which spelled out which organization would take the lead in specific circumstances and committed the two organizations to effective collaboration in practice. (Location 249)
  • Knights were to fight only other knights and were not use to arms against groups such as women, children, the elderly, or the ill, infirm, or mentally deficient. The tradition was clear: "only people who actually take part in war are to be treated as combatants; others, regardless of status, are (Location 269)
  • Geneva Conventions of 1864 and 1906 focused on combatants who have been rendered incapable of participating in combat because of injury or (Location 271)
  • Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 1907 defines a much more extensive list of persons and property to be protected: prisoners of war (articles 4-20); occupied territory and its inhabitants (articles 42-56), including "public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates"; and "the property of municipalities, (Location 272)
  • IHL accepts the reality that wars will take place and seeks to mitigate the effects of war on civilians. It is a pragmatic approach, far from pacifism, which sees war itself as evil. (Location 280)
  • When the conventions were drafted in 1949, they were intended to apply to wars fought between the uniformed armed forces of nation-states. They were based on the European experience. (Location 300)
  • making war more likely by making it more humane.3s It is important to remember, however, that it was in the interest of the great powers of the time to create and support a neutral humanitarian institution that could serve as an intermediary between warring parties. It also was in the interests of militaries to support strong and binding laws of war. Indeed, probably the most stalwart defenders of international humanitarian law are military officers who insist that their enemy prisoners be humanely treated in accord with the Geneva Conventions-to ensure that their own soldiers will be humanely treated if captured or wounded. (Location 313)
  • The role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in protection is unique. It is the only humanitarian actor with a mandate to take action to prevent attacks on civilians; all other humanitarian agencies focus primarily on working with the victims of such attacks.37 (Location 332)
  • Protection is defined as all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and spirit of the relevant bodies of law, namely human rights law, international humanitarian law and refugee law.39 (Location 338)
  • Travel documents that came to be known as "Nansen passports" in effect provided diplomatic protection to the Russian refugees, allowing them to travel outside the country where they had taken refuge. (Location 373)
  • League member states therefore deliberately limited the mandate of the High Commissioner and avoided adopting any formal definition of "refugee" for fear of opening the door to movements of other groups of people. In fact, during the 1930s, European states closed their borders to Jewish "refugees" and others fleeing fascism, in part because of fears that if they allowed some to enter, many more would soon appear on their frontiers." Rather than issuing a general definition of "refugee," states named specific refugee groups to be protected (Turks, Russians, Armenians, Greeks, and so forth). (Location 380)
  • The United States pressed for the creation of a new organization, the International Refugee Organization (IRO), whose mission was not the repatriation of refugees but their resettlement. (Location 397)
  • [A] ny person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.60 (Location 403)
  • In the fourth paragraph of the preamble, the contracting states "expressed the wish that all States, recognizing the social and humanitarian nature of the problem of refugees [emphasis added] will do everything in their power to prevent this problem from becoming a cause of tension between States."62 Even though political actions create refugee movements, UNHCR was enjoined from political engagement, which meant that the organization's hands were tied when it came to addressing the causes that provoked the flight of refugees. (Location 428)

public: true

title: The Politics of Protection longtitle: The Politics of Protection author: Elizabeth G. Ferris url: , source: kindle last_highlight: 2020-11-27 type: books tags:

The Politics of Protection

rw-book-cover

Metadata

Highlights

  • Can anyone "do" protection? Can humanitarian action stop violence by determined warlords? When military troops vaccinate kids, is that protection? Does monitoring the number of rapes in a community actually protect women from being raped? (Location 40)
  • Since the establishment of the modern international system based on nation-states, usually dated from the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, it is a recognized responsibility of states to protect their citizens from harm, to defend them from danger, to save them from persecution-in short, to keep them safe. The ability to protect one's citizens is intrinsic to the very definition of a state. If a state cannot protect its people, it has failed as a state? (Location 123)
  • over the past 150 years or so, IHL has expanded its original remit to protect prisoners of war and wounded soldiers into a broad range of activities designed to protect civilians who are affected by but are not direct participants in conflicts. (Location 135)
  • Just as the International Committee of the Red Cross became the guardian of international humanitarian law, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) became the custodian of international refugee law. (Location 139)
  • Protection meant not only physical protection of people from violence and legal protection of refugees from deportation but also protection from hunger, illness, and discrimination. (Location 148)
  • Human security moves away from the focus on national security to consider what causes individuals to feel secure. (Location 157)
  • Henri Dunant, a Swiss entrepreneur, stumbled on the battlefield of Solferino in 1859, where some 40,000 Austrian and Italian troops-then at war with one another-lay wounded and dying on the battlefield. He was shocked at the carnage and enlisted women in the neighboring villages to assist the victims on both sides. (Location 220)
  • Dunant published A Memory of Solferino, (Location 223)
  • International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)-was (Location 238)
  • Established with only twelve national societies in 1919, the IFRCtoday encompasses 186 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies with 97 million volunteers and 300,000 staff members.'$ (Location 239)
  • From the beginning, the ICRC saw the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as a threat to its leadership and tried to limit its authority. In the end, ICRC managed to preserve its domain-humanitarian protection in conflict situations-leaving the less glamorous field of natural disasters to the IFRC. But relations between the two Red Cross entities were tense for much of the last half of the twentieth century. A rapprochement between the two came about in 1997 with the negotiation of the Seville Agreement, which spelled out which organization would take the lead in specific circumstances and committed the two organizations to effective collaboration in practice. (Location 249)
  • Knights were to fight only other knights and were not use to arms against groups such as women, children, the elderly, or the ill, infirm, or mentally deficient. The tradition was clear: "only people who actually take part in war are to be treated as combatants; others, regardless of status, are (Location 269)
  • Geneva Conventions of 1864 and 1906 focused on combatants who have been rendered incapable of participating in combat because of injury or (Location 271)
  • Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 1907 defines a much more extensive list of persons and property to be protected: prisoners of war (articles 4-20); occupied territory and its inhabitants (articles 42-56), including "public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates"; and "the property of municipalities, (Location 272)
  • IHL accepts the reality that wars will take place and seeks to mitigate the effects of war on civilians. It is a pragmatic approach, far from pacifism, which sees war itself as evil. (Location 280)
  • When the conventions were drafted in 1949, they were intended to apply to wars fought between the uniformed armed forces of nation-states. They were based on the European experience. (Location 300)
  • making war more likely by making it more humane.3s It is important to remember, however, that it was in the interest of the great powers of the time to create and support a neutral humanitarian institution that could serve as an intermediary between warring parties. It also was in the interests of militaries to support strong and binding laws of war. Indeed, probably the most stalwart defenders of international humanitarian law are military officers who insist that their enemy prisoners be humanely treated in accord with the Geneva Conventions-to ensure that their own soldiers will be humanely treated if captured or wounded. (Location 313)
  • The role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in protection is unique. It is the only humanitarian actor with a mandate to take action to prevent attacks on civilians; all other humanitarian agencies focus primarily on working with the victims of such attacks.37 (Location 332)
  • Protection is defined as all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and spirit of the relevant bodies of law, namely human rights law, international humanitarian law and refugee law.39 (Location 338)
  • Travel documents that came to be known as "Nansen passports" in effect provided diplomatic protection to the Russian refugees, allowing them to travel outside the country where they had taken refuge. (Location 373)
  • League member states therefore deliberately limited the mandate of the High Commissioner and avoided adopting any formal definition of "refugee" for fear of opening the door to movements of other groups of people. In fact, during the 1930s, European states closed their borders to Jewish "refugees" and others fleeing fascism, in part because of fears that if they allowed some to enter, many more would soon appear on their frontiers." Rather than issuing a general definition of "refugee," states named specific refugee groups to be protected (Turks, Russians, Armenians, Greeks, and so forth). (Location 380)
  • The United States pressed for the creation of a new organization, the International Refugee Organization (IRO), whose mission was not the repatriation of refugees but their resettlement. (Location 397)
  • [A] ny person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.60 (Location 403)
  • In the fourth paragraph of the preamble, the contracting states "expressed the wish that all States, recognizing the social and humanitarian nature of the problem of refugees [emphasis added] will do everything in their power to prevent this problem from becoming a cause of tension between States."62 Even though political actions create refugee movements, UNHCR was enjoined from political engagement, which meant that the organization's hands were tied when it came to addressing the causes that provoked the flight of refugees. (Location 428)