USI-ICWA UN Peace Operations Hostage taking of Peacekeepers

Описание: Earlier, UN peacekeeping was generally associated with traditional peace operations inter-state conflicts. Peacekeepers were deployed inside a neutral and mutually agreed zone with the expectation of supervising an agreed ceasefire and prevent the recurrence of the violation until the cessation of hostilities. Since the armies of the states who were at war were separated by the peacekeepers deployed in the temporary security zone, they generally did not encounter the civilian population or the military of the states except in peculiar situations like deployment of UNIFIL in Lebanon. However, with the increasing number of intra-state conflicts and growing intensity of the violence, the peacekeepers often themselves become the target of violence. The threat to the life of peacekeepers can come in varying forms like getting caught in the crossfire of intra-armed group rivalry, direct attack by the armed elements or even at times being taken as hostages. Hostage taking of the peacekeepers by the armed groups in the conflict zone is often politically motivated. To counter the growing physical threat to the peacekeepers, there is now more emphasis on force protection measures and robust rules of engagement. Even the mandates have become stronger allowing the peacekeepers to use force and any other means as necessary to ensure their safety. But to free the hostages from their captors has multiple challenges. The use of force is generally retaliated and in the case of missions, where only unarmed observers are deployed, it will need a different approach to secure the release of hostages. The challenges can be more complicated when there is a presence of armed terrorist groups in the conflict zone. Eventually, response strategy to hostage-taking cannot be uniform and would vary as per the prevailing crisis. Analysis of the past hostage taking incidents, however, is important to draw lessons for prevention and resolution of such crisis in future.

This webinar deliberated on the nuances of challenges of hostage and response from the UN and the TCCs. The webinar tried to address the following issues:-
1. An overview of threat of hostage-taking of peacekeepers, implications, and tenets of macro rescue strategy.
2. Strategies, planning and execution of a hostage rescue in the context of two field missions (traditional and non-traditional peacekeeping operations): a) Strategy and challenges of hostage rescue when peacekeepers from larger TCCA are taken hostages (UNAMSIL).
b) Strategy when peacekeepers from smaller TCCs are taken hostages (UNDOF).