The International Legal Protection of Persons in Humanitarian Crises by Dug Cubie

Author:Dug Cubie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2017-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

As recognised by the UN Human Rights Council, threats to an individual’s physical security and integrity in humanitarian crises do not just relate to the right to life, but encompass the right to be free from assault, rape, arbitrary detention and kidnapping.129 Of particular concern in many refugee and IDP camp settings is the high incidence of sexual and gender-based violence, with one woman in five likely to experience sexual violence in humanitarian settings.130 This was particularly true in Haiti following the earthquake.131 The vast majority of IDP sites had little security or lighting available, and were desperately overcrowded. As is well recognised by humanitarian organisations, such conditions create vulnerability to sexual violence for women and children.132 Consequently, local grassroots women’s groups took direct action by submitting an application to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requesting precautionary measures by the Haitian Government to prevent sexual violence in the IDP sites. Ruling in their favour, the Commission called on the Haitian Government to implement a series of measures to reduce the risk of sexual violence in the aftermath of the earthquake, and stressed the state’s responsibility to prevent third-party violence against women and children.133

Unfortunately, the range of threats to an individual’s physical security and integrity in a humanitarian crisis extend well beyond those outlined here. However, this brief overview highlights that international human rights law plays a fundamental role in the protection of persons in humanitarian crisis, and is a core component of the acquis humanitaire. Therefore, the final section of this chapter will highlight additional human rights of relevance in humanitarian crises, and will draw some general conclusions regarding the role that international human rights law plays in advancing our understanding of the normative content of the acquis humanitaire.

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