CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Dronova, Kateryna |
|---|---|
| Title | HUMAN SHIELDS: STANDARD OF PROTECTION UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW |
| Summary | This thesis examines the existing legal framework governing the use of human shields, an increasingly deadly tactic prevailing in modern conflicts. International human rights law and international humanitarian law do not address the problem of human shields directly. In the absence of an express and clear treaty-based prohibition of this practice it is important to establish the realistic threshold of positive and negative obligations resting upon warring parties, which defines the standard of protection accorded to individuals used as shield. The purpose of this paper is to construe such a universal standard of protection based on the human rights norms, but which is also reflective of the realities of modern warfare. One of the conclusions of this thesis is that addition of customary principles of humanitarian law to the established human rights framework renders a modified framework designed to consider the human shields dilemma, which is effective and in line with the rule of law and realities of the decision-making in emergency situations. The cogent and reasonable interpretation is required towards the laws governing the use of persons as human shields and the employment of lethal force against targets shielded by civilian population. Due to the factual complexity of shielding cases such framework should comprise of the separate but not isolated review of obligations of impeded party and shielding party. This paper urges the condemnation of any variation of the practice of human shielding and calls for the new international law to be developed in order to resolve the problems associated with the technique. |
| Supervisor | O'Keefe, Roger |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/dronova_kateryna.pdf |
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