Before 1989, peacekeeping was a predominantly military activity and civilians were largely involved in humanitarian assistance. In general, both peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance efforts were relatively small, specific and contained. With the change of function, scope and size of peace missions over the past decade, however, the distinction between political, military and humanitarian tasks in the pursuit of peace has become blurred. More often than not, a larger, multifunctional task force was set up which collapsed peacekeeping, peacemaking, humanitarian assistance and even enforcement into a single effort.
The new multifunctional peace missions (sometimes referred to as "new generation peace operations") have involved complex processes, which require the use of both civilian and military personnel in unified and consolidated missions. Traditional military tasks such as monitoring cease-fires, maintenance of buffer zones between hostile forces and the monitoring of troop withdrawals have frequently been expanded to include the disarmament and demobilisation of combatants and the monitoring of adherence to the broader terms of a peace agreement. Again, however, it must be emphasised that such tasks are executed in support of political objectives.
The political objectives of a peace mission are commonly defined either by the conflicting parties in the form of a peace accord, often reached with the support of the international community in the form of the UN, or regional and sub-regional groupings such as the OAU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In the case of Chapter VII peace support operations, however, the UN Security Council must provide a mandate which will define the politico-military objective.
Most modern peace missions are led by a civilian representative of an intergovernmental organisation - most commonly a Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG). The SRSG is normally a high-ranking diplomat with international status who has been carefully chosen for his/her credibility amongst the conflicting parties and knowledge of the conflict in question.
The SRSG is supported by an experienced multi-national staff with a wide range of responsibilities for the success of the peace mission. These people are not political actors in their own right but form a direct link in the SRSG's line of authority to the other civilian role players in the peace missions. The staff typically includes political officers, secretarial staff, translators/interpreters and technical staff required to manage the control and communication requirements of the SRSG.
At the functional level, a large number of civilians will also be engaged in a wide range of activities such as electoral monitoring and assistance, promoting and monitoring human rights, monitoring disarmament and adherence to sanctions, providing humanitarian assistance, de-mining and security provision. The exact mix of civilian role players will depend on the particular demands of the peace process and will differ from mission to mission. This has often resulted in uncertainty and confusion as to what the exact role of various civilian players should be and has created tremendous challenges in the realm of co-operation and co-ordination. The latter is compounded by the fact that most of the civilian component is appointed by the UN as individuals who are not responsible to their national governments, or belong to a multiplicity of private or non-governmental organisations which are not part of the UN system.
Whenever countries are stricken by war, famine or natural disaster, the UN helps provide humanitarian aid. Part of this aid is in the form of direct assistance from the UN operational agencies and programmes: the UN Development Programme (UNDP); the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA); the World Health Organisation (WHO); the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO); the World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The Office of the UNHCR is responsible for the protection and assistance of over 26 million people around the world who have fled war or persecution, seeking at the same time durable solutions to their plight. In early 1997, UNHCR's major operations were in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, with over 1.4 million people in need; the former Yugoslavia (over 2 million people); and western Asia (some 2.3 million Afghan refugees). All UN emergency relief is co-ordinated by the UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, who heads the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs.
In addition to the UN agencies, non-governmental organisations have become increasingly important players in the humanitarian and human rights areas. Major NGOs such as CARE, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, Medecins Sans Frontieres, and World Vision - as well as many lesser known organisations - have been in the front lines of relieving desperate human suffering.
Because of their disciplinary system and hierarchy, it is much easier to co-ordinate the activities of civilian police within contemporary peace missions. While many multifunctional peace missions since UNTAG (Namibia, 1989) have included a significant police component, the role of the police is now eclipsing that of the military in a number of ongoing UN missions. For example, two of the most recently established missions are dedicated exclusively to issues of policing - the UN Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONHU), and the UN Police Support Group in Croatia.
The mandate of the longer-standing UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995 to present) is also concerned exclusively with law enforcement activities and it is executed by some 1 976 civilian police from 40 countries (with only three military support personnel). While not exclusively devoted to policing matters, the UN Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) had some 361 civilian police. With the gradual withdrawal of military personnel the mission's police component continued to verify the neutrality of the Angolan National Police, the incorporation of UNITA personnel into the national police, as well as the quartering and occasional deployment of the rapid reaction police.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, civilian police do not deploy to maintain law and order within the host country of a peace mission. According to the UN handbook, the mission of the Civilian Police Component is to "undertake the supervision or control of local civil police in order to ensure that law and order are maintained effectively and impartially, and that the human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully protected".
2.4. The Military Role
This military commitment to peace missions (peace support operations) includes those activities where the military operates in support of the political / diplomatic / humanitarian objectives of the broader mission. Latter-day peace missions have been associated with the ending of proxy Cold War conflicts, assisted by the UN or other multinational organisations (Namibia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Mozambique and Angola). In these cases, the peace process started with a cease-fire as part of a comprehensive peace agreement and multinational military forces deployed in the affected areas with the consent of the parties to the conflict. The role of the military included activities such as:
The separation of combatants;
The disarmament of irregular forces;
The demobilisation and transformation of regular and irregular forces into a unified army;
Assistance with reintegration into civil society; and
Assisting with elections for new governments.
Such operations brought Namibia to independence, transformed society and politics in Cambodia and El Salvador and provided a basis for the reconstruction of Mozambique, demonstrating the utility of a broader concept of peace support operations. None of these missions required the UN to deviate significantly from the established peacekeeping principle of the non-use of force.
On the other hand, peace missions have also been launched in the wake of conflicts precipitated by the resurgence of more primordial animosities that were suppressed, rather than addressed, during the Cold War freeze. Peace missions have been launched where there is no peace to keep, but where there is a strong international desire to support humanitarian assistance efforts while attempts are made to find a political solution to the conflict. In such insecure environments, the military obviously has a prominent role to play in providing minimal standards of security and stability. The two most salient examples of this type of operation are those conducted in Somalia (UNOSOM I and II, April 1992-March 1995) and the former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR, March 1992-December 1995), whilst the Rwandan mission (UNAMIR, October 1993-March 1996) is recognised as the most obvious failure.
In all cases, international law has particular relevance for peace support operations in two major areas: authorisation and competence; and operational capabilities. In the first area, the law provides a legal basis and assists the peacekeeper with firm legal authority. In the second area, the law provides the peacekeeper with international status and ground rules. It also furnishes principles of responsibility to guide the conduct of the force.
Rules of Engagement (ROE) provide political direction, within legal parameters, and guidance to commanders at all levels governing the use of force. Force Commanders will analyse the relevant Security Council resolution mandating the operation, assess the threat in their designated area of operations and make recommendations for approval of specific ROE by the responsible international organisation. At all times forces involved in peace support operations must operate in full compliance with the rules of the law of armed conflict.
One of the guiding principles of peace support operations is that the mission should generally be achieved without the use of military force, although circumstances may necessitate the use of force to ensure the safety of the force or to fulfil the mandate of the operation. Incidents should be prevented or stopped by negotiation, persuasion or show of force, rather than by the use of force. Force should only be used when peaceful means have failed to stop a hostile act or when necessary to accomplish mandated tasks.
The use of unnecessary force undermines the credibility and impartiality of a peace support force to the host countries, the parties in the conflict and within the international community. It may escalate the level of violence and create a situation in which the peace support force becomes part of the local problem. The use of force must be carefully controlled and restricted. ROE will therefore provide detailed prescriptions on aspects such as restraint in use of weapons and pyrotechnics, circumstances warranting the use of force, as well as rules to be adhered to once the decision to use force has been taken by the proper authority.
The military force structure depends on the political mandate of the mission, the size of the area, the nature and expected duration of the mission and other factors such as lines of communications, terrain, weather, threat and logistical requirements. To enjoy broad legitimacy, the force must be a task oriented, multinational organisation. The dominance of a single nationality in the force should be avoided. In practice however, the final composition of a peace support force is very often the result of a negotiated agreement involving considerable political and practical compromises.
The most significant component will normally be infantry battalions that can hold positions, provide presence and observation, man checkpoints and conduct patrols. Armoured reconnaissance units are particularly useful when the situation is fluid or involves a large area. Helicopter units will perform essential functions such as movement of personnel and material, reconnaissance, surveillance and medical evacuation.
Although the posture of the military force to be deployed is determined by the mission in question, certain generic military force elements can be partially or entirely present in particular peace mission. For planning purposes, the UN maintains a record of the number of civilian police pledged by member states for participation in peace missions, as well as a predominantly military standby roster divided into the following categories of personnel: military observers; operational; support; medical; and "others" (including a small number of civilian specialists and experts ranging from surgeons to procurement personnel).
More than half of the UN peacekeeping operations established before 1989 consisted solely of unarmed UN Military Observers (UNMOs). Traditionally, the primary tasks of UNMOs have been the supervision, monitoring, verification and reporting of cease-fire agreements, separations and withdrawals of forces, as well as the cessation of foreign assistance to former belligerents. Since 1989, however, UNMOs have had to accept numerous other organisational and representative tasks and responsibilities in the performance of their mandated duties, including:
Monitoring of the disarmament, demobilisation, regrouping and cantonment processes of military forces;
Assisting in the location and confiscation of weapons caches;
Maintaining liaison with and between belligerent factions, other (civilian) UN agencies, NGOs, and neighbouring countries; and
Providing assistance to humanitarian agencies in the supervision and conduct of prisoners of war exchanges, food distribution, the provision of medical care, etc.
The diversity and complexity of the tasks of the military observer will depend on the mandate of the particular mission and the prevailing political and military situation. UNMOs usually perform such tasks alone or in pairs, in a foreign cultural and linguistic environment, under difficult living conditions and in high stress situations. UNMOs have lately been regaining some of the prominence they enjoyed during Cold War era peace missions. After a brief experiment with large-scale, multifunctional peace missions (1989-1995), the UN is now conducting much smaller and more specialised military observer missions, whilst delegating the large-scale, military functions to regional organisations and arrangements. In fact, 14 of the 16 UN peace support operations currently deployed are either decades old, or observer missions, or both.
Most peace support operations within which the military assumes a prominent role tend to be primarily landward by nature. The army will, accordingly, play a prominent role in such missions. Typical elements of an army contribution to a peace support operation would include infantry (to perform protection and escort duties); engineers (demolition, demining, construction, water provision etc.); signals/communication contingents; armour (ensuring effective traffic control and vehicle control points in peacekeeping operations, and to play a more offensive role in peace enforcement operations), and military police personnel (to ensure discipline within the armed forces in question). The very nature of peace support operations has meant that the bulk of operational personnel has been infantry, and infantry contingents continue to constitute the bulk of the forces deployed in contemporary peace support operations. However, the UN has noted that there remains a shortage of communications and logistics personnel, as well as engineers.
The primary task of engineers is to provide ground mobility. Other important tasks will include: provision, storage and distribution of water; provision of sewerage and other waste disposal facilities; provision and distribution of electrical power; maintenance and repair of existing essential civil facilities and installations as appropriate; and location, removal and disposal of mines and other unexploded ordnance. Prior co-ordination will ensure that there are adequate engineering resources available for deployment.
Military police have appropriate training, experience and equipment to contribute significantly to peace support operations, especially where there may have been a breakdown in law and order. Military police units would work in close co-operation with the civil police component of the force, as well as the local police authorities. Because of the sensitive nature of such missions, military police would also focus on curtailing illegal activities or breaches of local law by members of the force.
Military medical capabilities may be called on not only for military reasons but also for assistance to civilian populations affected by natural disasters or conflicts. This could range from the provision of a medical task team to the establishment of a fully-fledged Military Hospital.
Air force elements are always in demand, but often in short supply during peace support operations. Air assets have the flexibility to deploy across long distances in a very short time and once deployed, can cover large areas for surveillance, reconnaissance, communications, search and rescue or, in extreme cases, close air support to besieged forces or for their extraction. Maritime patrol aircraft can more closely monitor coastal and international waterways to identify potential violators of internationally agreed sanctions and embargoes. Transport aircraft are able to move large quantities of goods, services and resources in and out of a region. These aircraft may also be used to deploy forces rapidly or transport fact-finding teams and mediators throughout the area. Aircraft are also able to evacuate sick and wounded personnel to medical facilities outside the mission area.
Navy vessels and aircraft can patrol international waterways, as well as coastal waters with the consent of the host country, to monitor cease-fire agreements or in compliance with internationally sanctioned embargoes. Maritime assets would be essential for support operations such as the clearing of mines from designated waters and the escort of merchant ships passing through areas of conflict. Maritime task forces can provide search and rescue, intelligence, logistical, communications, medical evacuation, and possibly close air support, to peace support forces. Embarked amphibious forces can provide an immediate reaction force to a peace support operation and can be available to support humanitarian missions. Both air and sea transport assets have been listed by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) as presently in short supply.
To meet specific needs during a peace support operation, the military forces of individual nations usually deploy with a national support unit. This unit provides logistic services such as stores, finances and secure rear-link communications for the transmission of national situation reports and other traffic.