Chapter

Humanitarian access in international humanitarian law : the case of Syria and Security Council Resolution 2139 (2014)

Phoebe Wynn-Pop

Accountability for violations of international humanitarian law : essays in honour of Tim McCormack

New York ; London : Routledge, 2016

p. 117-135

English

Phoebe Wynn-Pope examines the concept of humanitarian assistance in the context of the ongoing Syrian conflict. This chapter draws attention to the poignancy of this conflict in which approximately 100,000 civilians have been killed since hostilities began in 2011, and which resulted in humanitarian disaster of catastrophic proportions, leaving more than 9,5 million people in need of assistance, and creating more than 2,5 million refugees and more than 6,5 million internally displaced people. Wynn-Pope considers the obligations on parties to a conflict to provide for the need of the civilian population and to allow access to humanitarian agencies providing assistance. She contends that the international community has been ineffective in the face of severe human suffering in Syria where humanitarian access has been particularly restricted. She also reviews and considers the impact of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2139 of 22 February 2014 demanding humanitarian access and explores the question of whether the denial of humanitarian assistance judiciable at the ICC.

• Full text (restricted access : ICRC)

• Accountability for violations of international humanitarian law : essays in honour of Tim McCormack / ed. by Jadranka Petrovic