From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM HUMANITARIAN RELIEFA further key aspect of the Geneva Conventions ensures the ability ofhumanitarian organisations to operate impartially according to theirmandates. Governments and warring parties must not allow theirofficials, allies, or citizens to disrupt life-saving aid. Despite this,attacks against civilians, including aid workers, are sadly still commonoccurrences. In Iraq, Oxfam was forced to close its office in 2004 dueto the threat to its staff, although it continues to support Iraqi partners.In Afghanistan, 89 aid workers have been killed since 2003, comparedwith a very small number who were targeted in the preceding 14 years.Part of the problem has been the blurring of the boundaries betweenmilitary and humanitarian activities when, for example, soldiers dressas civilians in order to deliver aid aimed at winning ‘hearts and minds’.International law can strengthen citizens’ efforts to hold states toaccount. In Colombia, CCJAR, a lawyers’ collective, was able to takethe government to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights onbehalf of the victims of a 1997 massacre in the village of Mapiripán byparamilitaries, with the collaboration and acquiescence of state securityforces, in which at least 49 people were seized, tortured, and killed. TheCourt found that the government’s investigation of the killings hadbeen inadequate and that the government had failed in its responsibilityto protect the community during the five days over which the massacretook place. It ruled that the authorities should pay compensation tothe victims’ families and guarantee their safe return to the village.The growing influence of international humanitarian law wasexemplified by the creation in 2002 of the International CriminalCourt, which has global jurisdiction over genocide, crimes againsthumanity, and war crimes. 199 The ICC’s mandate is to investigatecrimes committed in conflicts currently under way. In the autumn of2006, the Court issued arrest warrants in northern Uganda and theDRC, and in 2007 produced another set of indictments in Darfur. ICCwarrants may complicate delicate peace negotiations, as has occurredin Uganda, and may not help provide immediate protection ofcivilians under threat but, over the long term, international legalexperts believe that the prosecution of war criminals by the ICC willhelp deter violations of international humanitarian law.397