Christian relief and development agency Tearfund welcomes the UN resolution to increase the protection of aid workers in conflict zones calling it a “step in the right direction”, but warns that it doesn’t go far enough in addressing the underlying issues.
Tearfund was a recent victim of the increasing attacks on humanitarian workers when an aid worker was killed earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Maheshe Chishagala Evariste, a Congolese national, who had been seconded to Tearfund from the hydraulic institute based in Bukavu, had been working on a water project to supply water to the town of Baraka when he was killed by a warring faction.
The original proposal before the UN Security Council declared attacks on aid workers to be a war crime under the statutes of the International Criminal Court (ICC). But because the US does not recognise the ICC, reference to it was removed. This weakened the resolution by leaving responsibility for prosecutions with national governments.
“With attacks on civilians and aid workers increasing at an alarming rate, the UN resolution is certainly a step in the right direction, but unfortunately it doesn’t go far enough,” comments Ian Wallace, Tearfund International Operations Director.
“Firstly because it seems to ignore the fact that war crimes are committed in situations of extreme insecurity where the legitimacy of the government is in question or where the government is itself the perpetrator. And secondly because the blurring of boundaries between the military and humanitarian workers has created a false perception of partiality and increased the number of attacks.”
“It is for this reason that the International Criminal Court is needed to remove the climate of impunity that has developed and to re-establish the standards set by the Geneva Convention,” continues Ian. “We regard the removal of the ICC in the resolution as unfortunate and a ‘watering down’ of a much needed effort to re-establish respect for civilians and aid workers who, under international humanitarian law are entitled to protection from attack.”