Bertrand G. Ramcharan

Human Rights and U.n. Peace Operations: Yugoslavia Bertrand G. Ramcharan

This unique book, one of the first of its kind, discusses how human rights actually featured in UN peace operations in the deadly conflicts in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1996. It is based on original materials in the possession of the author, who was Director of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslava from 1992 to 1996 and also served as Director of the Office of the UN Special Representative in charge of all peacemaking, peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations in the region. The book brings out the strategic centrality of human rights in the wide-ranging humanitarian operations. It shows how the peacekeepers built in a human rights dimension for the first time in the history of UN peacekeeping. And it shows how the peace negotiators sought to build their peace proposals on the foundations of human rights. It shows the peacemakers advocating justice for the victims while proceeding with their negotiating efforts. The great value of this book is that the author, who was personally involved in all of the activities he writes about, shows how human rights were instilled in practice in UN peace operations over a period of some four years and it also reveals, for the first time, some innovative ideas advanced that might be helpful in future peace operations.