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ADDRESSING PROTECTION ISSUES





































              PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS:




                                                      UN DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE





            By Dimitry Titov
                                                ded  genocidal acts against  pea-   ned  the  targeting of  civilians.
                                                ceful population,  sexual violence  These and other fundamental do-
            2019 mark the twentieth anniver-    as act of war, grave and massive  cuments - such as the 2005 Wor-
            sary of the Protection of Civilians’   violations of human rights. Facing  ld Summit Document -  created
            concept which will be widely cele-  the growing need to protect gra-    the foundation  for  the UN  pea-
            brated at the United Nations. As it   vely threatened civilians in armed  cekeeping action and architecture.
            was rightly stressed in several Co-  conflict, the United Nations Secu-  The POC mandate in peacekee-
            ESPU publications, civilians have   rity Council, addressed in a com-   ping is guided by a set of principles:
            increasingly  become  the victims   prehensive manner the protection  Protecting  civilians is the  primary
            of brutal armed conflicts - in par-  challenge which was described in  responsibility   of   governments;
            ticular women, children and other   detail in the UN Secretary Gene-    Peacekeepers with  a  manda-
            vulnerable groups.  During mid-     ral’s report on the Causes of Con-  te to  protect civilians  have the
            1990’s, United Nations peacekee-    flict in Africa issued in 1998. This  authority  and  responsibility to
            pers found themselves deployed in   report detailed protecting of civi-  provide protection within their
            devastating internal conflicts; many   lians as a crucial “humanitarian  capabilities and  areas  of  deploy-
            UN Missions faced unprecedented     imperative.” In the next year, the  ment where  the government  is
            level of violence against civilians -   Council,  in  his  resolution 1265,  unable  or  unwilling  to  protect;
            in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda,   expressed strong  concern about  The protection of  civilians  man-
            Timor-Leste, Sierra Leone, Soma-    the erosion  of  respect for  hu-   date is a whole-of-mission  activi-
            lia and many others. These inclu-   man rights and strongly condem-     ty, not only a military task, which





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