Chapter

The crime of attacking peacekeepers

Andrea Spagnolo

War crimes and the conduct of hostilities : challenges to adjudication and investigation

Cheltenham ; Northampton : E. Elgar, 2013

p. 153-170

English

Spagnolo examines the protection of peacekeepers under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). He explains that customary rules provide peacekeepers, when they are not engaged as combatants, with the same protections accorded to civilians. Attacks on peacekeepers who are entitled to this level of protection are considered war crimes. However, the author notes that the blurred distinction between peacekeeping and peace enforcement makes it difficult to determine the protection granted to UN troops. Spagnolo argues that self-defense further complicates matters because, while the SCSL and ICC have concluded that self-defense does not automatically turn peacekeepers into combatants, the level of protection given is highly situational. He then analyzes the elements of the crime of attacking a peacekeeper. He first considers two interpretations of the actus reus, arguing that a broader interpretation of “attack” is consistent with the rationale for protecting peacekeepers in IHL. Finally, he examines the mens rea requirement, noting that the tendency to presume peacekeepers are always protected as civilians is dangerous because the population has different perceptions of peacekeepers. This means that intent must be analyzed closely. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]

• War crimes and the conduct of hostilities : challenges to adjudication and investigation / ed. by Fausto Pocar, Marco Pedrazzi, Micaela Frulli