MILANMUN 2015 Disarmament Forum
Issue one: The question of the presence of military forces in conflict zone
Chair: Annabel Kling
Introduction
This question of the presence of military forces in conflict zones was first really
recognized in 1965 when the "Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the
Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty," was
adopted by the United Nations. Despite its efforts, parties and member states continue to violate
this Declaration. It has two main points "no state shall organize, assist, foment, finance, incite
or tolerate subversive, terrorist or armed activities directed toward the violent overthrow of
another state, or interfere in civil strife in another state." and "no state has the right to intervene,
directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external affairs of any other
state . . .” There are currently 16 peacekeeping operations led by the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations which follow three main principles; consent of the parties,
impartiality, and non-use of force except in self-defense and defense of the mandate. Today
there are many authorized official country forces in foreign countries, which are mainly forces
in Afghanistan and Iraq, but France has recently sent forces to several West African countries.
This issue does not only have to do with official military forces and peacekeeping operations,
but also the efficiency of 'Private Military and Security Companies' (PMSC’s), which can be
considered to help conflict situations, when mercenaries are sent into foreign territory, however
due to private contracting, corruption, and the many violations of human rights, it starts a debate
of whether or not their presence is beneficial for the conflict or if their presence will lead to
them being a third party in the conflict. Today there are many conflict zones such as, but not
limited to, Syria, Ukraine, Iraq, DR Congo, Kashmir, Central African Republic, South Sudan,
Colombia where military forces operate and this commission's duty is firstly to question
whether the presence of such states in foreign territory is justified and/or if it violates the
"Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the
Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty,". Secondly we are looking for further ways
to maintain or make peace in conflict zones with a minimum amount of force. Delegates should
also be focusing on the policies of the peacekeeping operations and how they do not apply
PMSC’s. Currently there are 27 conflicts in the world and we must look whether military
presence is really beneficial towards the situations and whether it will help towards the goal of
peace.
Definition of Key Terms
Peace keeping:
“United Nations Peacekeeping helps countries torn by conflict create conditions for
lasting peace.” Peacekeeping has been an effective tool used by the UN to help countries
rid of conflict and restore peace. Peacekeeping has strengths, such as legitimacy, burden
sharing, and an ability to deploy and sustain troops and police from around the globe,
integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to advance multidimensional mandates.
Todays multidimensional peacekeeping operations are called upon to aid political
process, to protect civilians, help in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of
former combatants. In addition they support elections, protect and promote human rights
and assist in restoring the law.
Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC’s):
“States have relied on private contractors to support military operations in conflict
situations. Without the necessary democratic scrutiny and public debate, private military
and security companies (PMSC) have provided services that traditionally were performed
by national armies and public authorities –such us interrogation of detainees, protection
of military assets, training of local armed forces, collection of intelligence and the
performance of defensive and even offensive military activities.”
Mercenary:
According to the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and
Training of Mercenaries …
“ 1. A mercenary is any person who:
(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;
(b) Is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain
and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation
substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and
functions in the armed forces of that party;
(c) Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by
a party to the conflict;
(d) Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and
(e) Has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a
member of its armed forces.
2. A mercenary is also any person who, in any other situation:
(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad for the purpose of participating in a concerted
act of violence aimed at:
(i)
(ii)
Overthrowing a Government or otherwise undermining the constitutional order of
a State; or
Undermining the territorial integrity of a State;
(b) Is motivated to take part therein essentially by the desire for significant private gain
and is prompted by the promise or payment of material compensation;
(c) Is neither a national nor a resident of the State against which such an act is directed;
(d) Has not been sent by a State on official duty; and
(e) Is not a member of the armed forces of the State on whose territory the act is
undertaken.”
Sovereignty:
a) unlimited power over a country
b) a country's independent authority and the right to govern itself
Military services: “refers to specialized services related to military actions, including
strategic planning, intelligence, investigation, land, sea or air reconnaissance, flight
operations of any type, manned or unmanned, satellite surveillance, any kind of
knowledge transfer with military applications, material and technical support to armed
forces and other related activities.”
Security services: “refers to armed guarding or protection of buildings, installations,
property and people, any kind of knowledge transfer with security and policing
applications, development and implementation of informational security measures and
other related activities”
Background Information:
UN Peacekeeping forces in conflict zones
A) Principles of UN peacekeeping
There are three basic principles that continue to set UN peacekeeping operations apart as
a tool for maintaining international peace and security. These three principles are interrelated and mutually reinforcing towards the goals of the peacekeeping operations:
1) Consent of the parties…
Consent of the parties refers to when UN peacekeeping operations are deployed
with the consent of the main parties who are part of the conflict. This means that
the parties must commit to a political process. The consent of the parties is
important because with the acceptance and commitment of these parties, it allows
the UN to have freedom in both political and physical aspects to carry out
authorized tasks.
Without the consent of the main parties…
However without the consent of the main parties, deploying a peacekeeping
operation could become a risk due to the fact the operation could become a party to
the conflict, therefore defeating the purpose of its role of keeping the peace, instead
they would be drawn towards enforcement action.
How the Consent of the parties could differ from the consent from the locals…
The Consent of the party does not guarantee that there is also consent at the local
level, especially if the main parties have a weak government or are internally
divided.
2) Impartiality…
Impartiality is crucial to maintaining the consent and cooperation of the main
parties, but it should not be confused with inactivity. Impartiality signifies that the
United Nations peacekeepers should be impartial in their dealings with the parties
to the conflict, however should be active and not neutral in the execution of their
mandate. but not neutral in the execution of their mandate.
Peacekeeping operation should not condone actions by the parties that violate the
undertakings of the peace process or the international norms and principles that a
United Nations peacekeeping operation upholds.
Although the peacekeeping operation should maintain good relations with the
parties, they should avoid activities or actions that might compromise their image
of impartiality. However a mission should not be scared from making a harsh
compromise of the principle of impartiality in the fear of misinterpretation and/or
retaliation.
Failure to be impartial may undermine the peacekeeping operation’s credibility and
legitimacy, and may lead to a withdrawal of consent for its presence by one or
more of the parties, therefore this is why impartiality is so important to the role the
peacekeeping operations play.
3) Non-use of force except in self-defense and defense of the mandate…
UN peacekeeping operations are not an enforcement tool. However, they may use force
at the tactical level, however only with the authorization of the Security Council, if acting
in self-defense and defense of the mandate.
Sometimes in certain volatile situations, the Security Council has given UN peacekeeping
operations has given them mandates authorizing them to “use all necessary means”,
robust peacekeeping. When this is allowed, it is used to prevent forceful attempts to
disrupt the political process, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical attack,
and/or assist the national authorities in maintaining law and order.
However these is a difference between robust peacekeeping and peace enforcement…
 Robust peacekeeping involves the use of force at the tactical level with the
authorization of the Security Council and consent of the host nation and/or the
main parties to the conflict.
 By contrast, peace enforcement does not require the consent of the main parties
and may involve the use of military force at the strategic or international level,
which is normally prohibited for Member States under Article 2(4) of the Charter,
unless authorized by the Security Council.
When making the decision if to use robust peacekeeping or not there are certain
factors that the parties must think about such as mission capability; public
perceptions; humanitarian impact; force protection; safety and security of personnel;
and, most importantly, the effect that such action will have on national and local
consent for the mission.
16 peacekeeping operations led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
in the countries listed below
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Haiti (MINUSTAH)
Western Sahara (MINURSO)
Mali (MINUSMA)
Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI)
Liberia (UNMIL)
Central Africa Republic
(MINUSCA)
Democratic Republic of the
Congo (MONUSCO)
Republic of South Sudan
(UNMISS
Abyei (UNISFA)
Darfur (UNAMID)
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Middle East (UNTSO)
Syria (UNDOF)
India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)
Kosovo (UNMIK)
Cyprus (UNIFICYP)
Lebanon (UNIFIL)
Current Conflict Zones:
1. Guatemala
2. Israel & The Occupied Palestinian Territories
3. DR Congo
4. Colombia
5. Central African Republic
6. Burundi
7. Burkina Faso
8. Myanmar
9. Iraq
10.Ivory Coast
11.Kashmir
12.Kenya
13.Lebanon
14.Liberia
15.Mali
16.Nepal
17.Niger
18.Nigeria
19.Pakistan
20.Rwanda
21.Somalia
22.South Sudan
23.Sri Lanka
24.Sudan
25.Syria
26.Thailand
27.Uganda
28.Ukraine
29.Western Balkans
Authorized official military forces stationed in conflict zones:
The two main countries that have official military forces stations situated in their
countries that are considered conflict zones are Afghanistan and Iraq, however recently
France has sent forces to several West African countries. Situated in Afghanistan is the
ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) which is made up of parties such as the
United States, Canada, Northern Alliance, Australia, Italy, Germany, Georgia, Jordan,
United Kingdom, Turkey, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan. The ISAF was sent to Afghanistan to oversee military operations in the
country and train Afghan National Security Forces. Afghanistan still remains a conflict
zone. Forces such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland, Iraqi
Kurdistan Peshmerga, took part in the war in Iraq, which lasted from 2003 up until
2011.This country and Syria are still involved in a conflict with mercenaries and Islamist
terrorist organizations.
Mercenary Forces involved in conflicts: Known as Private Military and Security
Companies (PMSCs) are important to this issue due to the fact that they are military
forces however they can operate without any formal rules and often do.
Examples of such companies are:
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G4S Secure Solutions
Aegis Defense Services
Defion internacional
Academi/formerly called Blackwater
Recently in 2007 a team of Blackwater guards driving in four armored vehicles
entered Nisour Square, in western Baghdad and shot 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians, this
is one of several involving Americans killing unarmed civilians, inflaming antiAmerican sentiment in Iraq.
The controversy in the use of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) is if
the corruption within them will lead to more of a negative affect rather than a positive
one, this is all based up the contracts. Other wise said, “the apparent lack of
appropriate legal consequences for human rights violations involving private
contractors has led to claims of lack of accountability of PMSCs and their personnel.”
Due to this legal questions have arisen such as “what it is the legal status and the legal
regime applying to PMSCs and their personnel under international and national law;
what are the responsibilities of States linked to them; and what are the jurisdictional
avenues for prosecuting PMSCs and seeking redress for victims.”
Conflicts areas where foreign military forces operate:
-Afghanistan
-Iraq
-Lebanon
-DR Congo
-Mali
Major countries and organizations involved
The United States of America: The US is currently present in over 70 countries conflict areas.
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization): “NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the
freedom and security of its members through political and military means. NATO is an alliance
of countries from Europe and North America. It provides a unique link between these two
continents for consultation and cooperation in the field of defense and security, and the conduct
of multinational crisis-management operations. Today, approximately 40,000 military personnel
are engaged in NATO missions around the world, successfully managing complex ground, air
and naval operations in all types of environment. These forces are currently operating in
Afghanistan, Kosovo, and the Mediterranean, off the Horn of Africa and in Somalia. NATO is
also conducting air policing missions on the request of NATO member countries, and Allies are
supporting Turkey’s air defense system with the deployment of Patriot missiles.”
Afghanistan: Due to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan despite the ‘help’ of foreign military
forces, Afghanistan plays a big role in the debate of the presence of military forces in a conflict
zone. Afghanistan opposes and does not see the ISAF as an ally in trying to stop the ongoing
conflict but sees them as a party to the conflict.
Iraq: Due to their history of foreign countries military forces going into their country during
conflict, this makes them an important country in this debate.
France: They recently have sent forces to several West African countries.
Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO): They play a big role in restoring and
maintaining peace in areas of conflict.
Ukraine: Due to the current situation in Crimea Ukraine plays a big role in this debate because
they oppose the Russian military presence, in their country, which is supposed to be there to
‘protect’ the pro-Russians.
Russia: After the creation of an Ukrainian government in which there are Nazi ministers and
after the massacre of 80 trade union members in Odessa by armed Nazi groups the Eastern areas
of Ukraine wanted a larger autonomy/independence. A part of the population moved to Russia.
The armed resistance probably receives support from Russia.In late February 2014, Russia was
accused to have sent unmarked troops and military equipment into Ukraine. Russia answered
that the trucks were Red Cross assistance and that they had been checked by international
observers.
Relevant UN Treaties and Events and Websites
o Montreaux Document https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/fdfa/foreignpolicy/international-law/international-humanitarian-law/private-military-securitycompanies/montreux-document.html
o International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers
o https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc_863_fallah.pdf which deals with
mercenaries.
o International Convention against the Recruitment, Use,Financing and Training of
Mercenaries http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r034.htm
o http://www.un.org/disarmament/ UNODA site
o http://www.isaf.nato.int/mission.html NATO program in Afghanistan
o http://www.privatesecurityregulation.net/introduction
o In December 1965, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a "Declaration
on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the
Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty," which states that "no state
has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the
internal or external affairs of any other state . . ." and "no state shall organize,
assist, foment, finance, incite or tolerate subversive, terrorist or armed
activities directed toward the violent overthrow of another state, or interfere in civil
strife in another state."
o Universal Declaration of Human Rights
o Peacebuilding Commission, resolution 60/180 and resolution 1645 (2005) of
20 December 2005, the United Nations General Assembly and the Security
Council mandated it to
(a) “to bring together all relevant actors to marshal resources and to advise on and
propose integrated strategies for post-conflict peace building and recovery;
(b) to focus attention on the reconstruction and institution-building efforts
necessary for recovery from conflict and to support the development of
integrated strategies in order to lay the foundation for sustainable development;
(c) to provide recommendations and information to improve the coordination of all
relevant actors within and outside the United Nations, to develop best practices,
to help to ensure predictable financing for early recovery activities and to
extend the period of attention given by the international community to post
conflict recovery.”
Previous attempts to solve the issue
In 1965 the "Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of
States and the Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty," was adopted my the
United Nations, however despite its efforts, parties around the world continuously violate
this declaration.
Possible solutions
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Foreign military forces that make the decision of being present in a conflict zone must
help rebuild war-torn states, this includes, but not limited to political stability, education
system, rebuild city, help establish law and order, basic health insurance, minimum wage
and help victims/soldiers. This is to prevent foreign military forces from just being
present for their own beneficial gain, so they would actually make a difference in the
conflict zone.
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In order to prevent a withdrawal of funds/help the UN could create a department, which
makes sure the foreign military has enough finance to fulfill the positive tasks they set
out to do in the conflict zone.
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Make sure that the military is not providing rebels with arms or that they being stolen
/trafficked
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Have consent of the parties.
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In order to prevent mass atrocities by following the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
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Follow the Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of
States and the Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty
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Follow the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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Follow the Peacebuilding Commission, resolution 60/180 and resolution 1645 (2005)of
20 December 2005
Bibliography
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/principles.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/
http://www.conflictmap.org/
http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/
http://controlpmsc.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/world/middleeast/in-iraq-relief-after-news-ofblackwater-convictions.html?_r=0