Water in peace operations: The case of Haiti

• Author: Mara Tignino,Öykü Irmakkesen
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12333
• Published date: 01 April 2020
• Date: 01 April 2020

RECIEL. 2020;29:33–43.  

|

  33wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/reel

1 | INTRODUCTION

The protectio n of water as a part of the envi ronment and safe access

thereto by civilia ns in conflict situation s are pressing issues. Dam age

to water resource s and infrastruct ure is very often the di rect or indi-

rect consequences of armed conflicts. These negative repercussions

have lately attr acted the attentio n of both scholars and pr acti-

tioners. The I nternational Law Com mission (ILC) has conclude d its

first readi ng of the draft principl es on the protection of the e nviron-

ment in relation to a rmed conflicts in 2019.1 The International

Committee of th e Red Cross (ICRC) is updati ng its Guidelines fo r

Military Ma nuals and Instruc tions on the Protecti on of the

Environment.2 On access to water, UNICEF has l aunched its

three-repor t series entitled Water under Fi re in 2019, the first vol-

ume of which focuse d on water, sanitation and hygi ene in conflict

and other fragi le situations.3 This contri bution itself is aiming to ex-

plore the relat ionship between wate r and peace operation s and to

provide a star ting point for furth er discussion on the subjec t.

Peace operatio ns deployed in suppor t of diplomatic effor ts to

establish an d maintain peace are tod ay carried out by a variet y of

actors. Alt hough organizatio ns such as the North Am erican Treaty

Organizatio n and the African Unio n have established pea ce opera-

tions, the Unite d Nations (UN) remains a pri vileged actor in this fie ld

and plays a key role in conf lict management, n ot only because

‘peace-keeping c an … be called the invention of the [U N]’,4 but also

because of the l arge number of operations le d by the organization.5

Under the UN system, due to their inherently ad hoc nature,6 the UN

peace operati ons have been set up with sign ificantly divers e man-

dates dependin g on the specificities of the conte xt.7 This contribu-

tion first ad dresses the role of water i n the mandates of UN-led

1‘Report of th e Internation al Law Commissi on’, 71st Session (29 A pril–7 June and 8

July–9 August 2019) UN D oc A/74/10, 209.

2ICRC, ‘Natu ral Environme nt: Neglecte d Victim of Arm ed Conflict ’ (5 June 2019)

<https://www.icrc.org/en/docum ent/natur al-envir onmen t-negle cted-victi m-armed

-conflict>.

3UNICEF, ‘Water un der Fire’ (2019) <http s://www.unicef.org /media /58121 /file/Water

-under -fire-volum e-1-2019.pdf>.

4‘An Agenda for Pe ace: Preventive D iplomacy, Peac emaking and Pea ce-keeping’ UN D oc

A/47/277-S/24111 (17 June 1992).

5See also R Hat to, ‘From Peacekee ping to Peacebu ilding: The Evolu tion of the Role of t he

United Natio ns in Peace Oper ations’ (2013) 95 Inte rnational Revi ew of the Red Cross

495, 51 5.

6M Katayanag i, Human Rights Fu nction of United N ations Peacekee ping Operatio ns

(Martinu s Nijhoff 2002 ) 20. Indeed, th e legal basis of pea cekeeping ope rations cann ot be

directly fo und in the UN Char ter (C Foley, UN Peace keeping Operat ions and the Prote ction

of Civilians (Cambridge Un iversity Pre ss 2017) 60). Howeve r, their legalit y is not, or at

least no long er, subject to disp ute (M Moelle, Cooperation of International Organisations in

Peacekeeping Operations and Issues of International Responsibility (PhD thesis, Uni versity

of Geneva 2014) 30 , footnote 58).

7Depending o n their mandate s, different o perations have b een called ‘pe acekeeping’ o r

‘peace enforcement’ operations; this contribution refers to ‘peace operations’ as a

general term including both.

 

|

  

DOI: 10 .1111/reel .12333

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Water in peace operations: The case of Haiti

Mara Tignino  | Öykü Irmakkesen

© 2020 John Wile y & Sons Ltd, 9600 Gars ington Road, Oxf ord OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St reet, Malden, M A 02148, USA.

Correspondence

Email: Mara.Tignino@unige.ch Protection of the envir onment in general, and water in par ticular, in relation to armed

conflicts has gai ned increased attention in t he last years. An area which s hould still

be better analys ed is the role of United Nations (UN) peace operat ions in relation to

the protection of wate r. One of the most common objectives of t hese operations is

the protection an d promotion of human rights, in cluding the right to water. In some

instances, ind ividuals have claimed the violati on of human rights by UN forces and

asked for remedies and com pensation. This arti cle first explores the i nclusion of

water in the mandates an d practice of peace operat ions and builds on the human

rights obligation s of the UN as an international organ ization. It emphasizes the ac-

countability of th e UN through a comprehensive over view of the cholera epidemi c

in Haiti, demonst rating the underta kings with a view to engaging th e responsibility

of the organization.