Editorial 1: The world needs blue helmets who act as blue helmets

Context

By being reduced to ‘bystander’ status in the ongoing and serious conflicts in the world, the United Nations is frittering away the dividends of its ‘enforceable peacekeeping’

Introduction

“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”

In suggesting this, Yehuda Bauer, Holocaust historian, rested his case wherein the ‘bystander’ was brought centre-stage and held accountable alongside the perpetrator for crimes against humanity.

The ‘bystander’ implies the collective conscience of the world which must work as the weapon of the powerless.
The United Nations through Chapter VI of its Charter is committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes,
Chapter VII of the same Charter prescribes the use of armed force with the authorisation of the Security Council in cases of aggression and breaches of peace threatening international security.
Chapter VII further exhorts member-states to make available such military or police forces as may be required to establish peace.
- Chapter VIII goes further and prescribes robust ‘regional arrangement’ in enforcing peace upon authorisation by the Security Council.

The Challenges of UN Peacekeeping: Hits and misses

Erroneous Beliefs About UN Effectiveness:— in its strongly worded Charter and over 1,00,000 peacekeepers on the ground — to eliminate wars and exploitation from the world.
- UN political diplomacy and peace operations have established peace in many theatres in seven decades of peacekeeping such as in Cambodia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Angola, Timor Leste, Liberia and Kosovo, to name a few notably successful UN engagements.
Instances of Failure: Yet, there have been glaring instances, such as in Rwanda (1994) and Bosnia (1995) where the UN was accused of being a bystander, unwilling or unable to protect non-combatants and vulnerable sections, especially women and children.
Restoration of commitment to civilian protection: That in subsequent missions, notably Sierra Leone (UNSMIL), Timor Leste (UNMIT), Darfur (UNAMID), South Sudan ((UNMISS) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), the UN brought the protection of civilians centrestage, thus restoring substantially, if not wholly, its commitment to its core values
- It highlights a tribute to its willingness to use institutional memory in improving peacekeeping to give primacy to protection of civilians.
Current global conflicts: Today the world is again on the brink of a much bigger war in Europe and West Asia precisely because, over the last three years,
- the UN has frittered away the dividends of its ‘enforceable peacekeeping’ between 2006 and 2020.
- It has been reduced to a ‘Bystander’ status again in the ongoing conflict in West Asia and the war in Ukraine.

Inadequate UN Response to recent conflicts

The UN’s response: Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Hamas-led massacre of non-combatants in Israel
- followed by an even larger offensive of Israel on hapless civilians in Gaza, the UN response in both theatres has failed to call out the perpetrator in no uncertain terms and take decisive action in protecting civilian lives.
- This has happened despite it having a 1,00,000-strong UN military and police forces at its disposal, as battle ready infantry battalions and as ‘standing capacity” at its logistics hub in Brindisi, Italy, that could have been deployed in robust numbers to contain a further loss of life and destruction of cities.
Missed Opportunities for deployment: There is little point in having such strong forces and yet be a bystander as both conflicts have widened, with the world continuing to witness unprecedented destruction.
- Even though 1,00,000 UN uniformed forces are deployed in many missions in Africa and elsewhere,
- it would have done no grave damage to the current missions were over half of them re-deployed in Ukraine, Gaza and West Bank, right between the warring forces, just as they continue to be in Cyprus between the Turks and Greeks or were deployed in Timor Leste, between Indonesian forces and the Timor Leste freedom fighters, the FRETLIN.

A lost chance to act with decision

The need for extraordinary interventions: The fact that contributing member-countries have committed these forces to not just maintain but also to enforce peace implies their consent to protect civilians regardless of the ‘theatre’.
- Otherwise, these well-armed and well provisioned troops are just biding their time till their rotation and pocketing the green bucks as a tribute.
Role of UN peacekeepers: Blue helmets must act as blue helmets, impartially and decisively, as in Kosovo (UNMIK 1999-2008) and Timor Leste (UNTAET, UNMIT 1999-2008), with legitimacy to use reasonable force.
- It needed just over 6,000 UN uniformed personnel (typically, two infantry brigades) in Kosovo and
- 3,000 UN police personnel (including the lightly-armed formed police units) and an
- infantry brigade from Australia, under operational command of UN Mission (UNMIT) in Timor Leste to restore peace and bring back the rule of law and an elected government.
Potential Impact of deployment: A deployment of similar numbers in a similar-sized geographical area of Israel-Gaza-West Bank would have contained the colossal loss of lives that has followed and is making this theatre a killing field with mounting civilian casualties.

There is a need for UNSC reform

Veto Power of the P5: This also brings us to the subject of much-needed reform in the functioning of the Security Council.
- The veto power of the P5, the Permanent Security Council members, instead of being a rock of stability for the UN peace operations to stand on, has more often than not acted as a mill-stone around their neck.
Impact of Veto on veace enforcement: The world has repeatedly witnessed the negative power of veto precisely at a time when ‘enforcing peace’ has become an urgent necessity in the face of threats to civilian lives.
- Nearly a million Tutsi civilians were killed in the now infamous Rwanda genocide of 1994-95 even as the French continued to support the Rwandan Army,
- the main perpetrators of the genocide, and UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) was a bystander.

The case for reform of the Security Council

Two-Pronged Approach to Prevent Future Genocides: o obviate such genocides in future by swift deployment and having a decisive role for the blue helmets rests on a two-pronged approach.
Expansion of Permanent Membership: The first is for the expansion of Permanent membership of the Security Council to include India (by virtue of it being the most vibrant voice of the global South) and South Africa (for long overdue representation from Africa).
- The second is to bell the veto cat.

Way Forward: Proposed Reforms for an Expanded Security Council

Structure of the Expanded Council: In an expanded Council of P7, rather than each member having veto power,
- contentious issues such as the use of force in West Asia to stop an expansionist Israel or in Ukraine to thwart the expansionist designs of Russia
- which in the current scenario will be vetoed by the U.S. and Russia, respectively — should have a division of votes of a P7 to decide on UN intervention.
Enabling UN Peace Operations: Once such a division of votes is in favour of peace operations to thwart hostilities, the deployment of UN standing troops or shifting troops between ‘missions’ should be enabled under Chapters VII and VIII of the UN Charter, with full executive powers to the UN military and police commanders on the ground.

Conclusion

Ultimately, if the UN cannot stand on its own feet and enforce peace despite having standing uniformed forces of the size of a sovereign nation, then UN-led peace operations must close and the plush halls of the UN be used only for exalted deliberations by another international non-governmental organisation or a think-tank. Wiithout a decisive action, the UN organization’s lofty ideals will remain unfulfilled, and it may ultimately become a platform for mere discussions rather than a force for peace.

Editorial 2:Working toward a meaningful ‘victims’ register’ in Bastar

Context

Compilation of the ‘register’, which has been tried globally as a conflict resolution tool, would have to an exercise in the spirit of truth and reconciliation.

Introduction

On September 20, 2024, the Union Home Minister met 55 people affected by Naxalite violence from the left-wing extremism-hit areas of Chhattisgarh, as highlighted in a report in this daily, “Surrender arms and join mainstream, or face action, Amit Shah tells Naxals”. The ground zero of the current phase of left-wing extremism activities, where most of the recent and successful tactical operations by security forces have been conducted, is the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh. It comprises the districts of Bastar, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Kondagaon, Sukma, Dantewada and Kanker.

An indication of the government’s approach

The Home Minister’s meeting with the victims is encouraging indeed when seen through the prism of successes of the security forces in counter-Maoist operations over the last six months or so.
- The initiative indicates the seriousness of the government to address the challenges in a manner that is beyond the realm of law and order.
The government’s approach to with left-wing extremism: has been to address the challenge in a holistic manner,
- in the areas of security,
- development,
- ensuring the rights of local communities, and
- with improvements in governance and
- public perception management.
- However, the parameters of success and performance on the ground have continued to be contextualised by the security bias of the approach.

Context of addressing the victims: and their conditions, it may be relevant to invoke recent public statements by the Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vijay Sharma.
- In May this year, Mr. Sharma had said that the State was making efforts to bring in new features and have better implementation in maintaining the victims’ register for people victimised due to violence in Bastar.
Alignment of the thought processes: of policymakers at the Centre and in the State bodes well for the resolution of the left-wing extremism challenge in the long run,
- wherein we move beyond our delusionary race to kill the last Maoist.

Categories of those affected

Treading ahead with policies: However one needs to tread ahead with the policies and their implementation, with a caveat that victim identity is not a monolith in conflict zones — and Bastar is no different.
Categories of victims: Two main categories of victims among several, are,
- The first category are the ones who have suffered at the hands of Maoists (and presumably these were the people who met the Home Minister).
  - The second category of victims who cannot be ignored comprise those who have suffered at the hands of the state to include security forces and the criminal justice system; intentionally or otherwise.
Victimization by Vigilante Groups: they have victimised the tribal community was the vigilante army called the Salwa Judum during the middle years of the first decade of this century.
- Case of Salwa Judum: In this period, in addition to people who fled their villages to live in Salwa Judum camps (where they continue to live even after two decades), about 55,000 tribals fled Chhattisgarh to take shelter in then unified Andhra Pradesh.
Internally displaced conflict victims: yearn to return to Chhattisgarh but are yet to get redress from the respective State governments.
- In addition, there are numerous victims of structural violence churned up by the conflict since the 1980s, when Maoist cadres entered the forests of Dandakaranya, seeking safe haven.
Dandakaranya region: has an area of about 92,000 square kilometres and includes parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Historical Context of Victimization

In fact the victimisation as a result of structural violence vis-à-vis tribal communities has been an ongoing process since colonial times and through the post-independence era.
The Maoists, after entering Dandakaranya, sought to champion the tribal cause that was a manifestation of centuries of victimisation.
Absent governance resulting from the policy of exclusion of tribal belts, gave tremendous elbow room to the Maoists to fill in the gap left by the state.

Way Forward: Making it work

Initiative to Identify Victims: and register the details in the victims’ register — talked about by Mr. Sharma — has tremendous potential to alleviate the plight of tribal communities who find themselves sandwiched between the Maoists and the state. T
The victims’ register, as an experiment, has been tried in more than a dozen countries as a conflict resolution or peacebuilding effort.
- Such an effort played a major role in resolving the deep-rooted left-wing extremism insurgency in Colombia.
Spirit of truth and reconciliation: However, the exercise of identifying victims shall have to be in the spirit of truth and reconciliation and agnostic to the nature of the perpetrators who carried out victimisation.
- If otherwise, such a well-intentioned exercise may end up creating divides in the society, as another version of the haves versus the have-nots conflict.
The rules of the victims’ register: experiment are concerned, victims and their families need to be given a benefit of doubt when they tell their stories, as many versions cannot be cross-checked in a tangible manner.