Alex Freris | NOHA - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Alex Freris

The twentieth century was stigmatized by the high number of armed conflicts which took place all ... more The twentieth century was stigmatized by the high number of armed conflicts which took place all over the globe; from South Africa to Finland and from Colombia to China the world suffered immensely. The huge number of civilians’ and combatants’ deaths led to a parallel increase in the number of treaties. From the Geneva Conventions of 1864 to the Hague Conference of 1907 and from the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to the Additional Protocols of 1977 the law governing armed conflicts steadily developed. However, the fall of the Berlin wall and the consequences of the 9/11 attacks changed the world order. From the Yugoslavian war to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Syria the acquis of the past were put into question; humanitarian emergencies have become more complex than ever, parties to the conflict do not hesitate to violate the laws of war, humanitarian principles are challenged, access to humanitarian organizations is denied and, the most important, civilians are paying an extremely high death toll.

According to several reports, the number of civilians’ victims of armed conflicts, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (I.D.Ps) and people in need of treatment has rapidly increased. Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Central African Republic (CAR) are some of the main contemporary humanitarian emergencies were civilians rights, as described in International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and other corpus of law, have been violated. However, one of the most appalling issues is the consequences of war on vulnerable populations and, more specifically, on children.

Child recruitment and their use as child soldiers, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access are the most important challenges that children have to face and the international community seems unable to react.

Keywords; children, protection, child recruitment and use, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, denial of access, attacks on schools and hospitals, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Human Rights Law

Word count; 34.987

Intensive Programme assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master... more Intensive Programme assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Masters in Humanitarian Action Programme, UCD.

The twentieth century was stigmatized by the high number of armed conflicts which took place all ... more The twentieth century was stigmatized by the high number of armed conflicts which took place all over the globe; from South Africa to Finland and from Colombia to China the world suffered immensely. The huge number of civilians’ and combatants’ deaths led to a parallel increase in the number of treaties. From the Geneva Conventions of 1864 to the Hague Conference of 1907 and from the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to the Additional Protocols of 1977 the law governing armed conflicts steadily developed. However, the fall of the Berlin wall and the consequences of the 9/11 attacks changed the world order. From the Yugoslavian war to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Syria the acquis of the past were put into question; humanitarian emergencies have become more complex than ever, parties to the conflict do not hesitate to violate the laws of war, humanitarian principles are challenged, access to humanitarian organizations is denied and, the most important, civilians are paying an extremely high death toll.

According to several reports, the number of civilians’ victims of armed conflicts, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (I.D.Ps) and people in need of treatment has rapidly increased. Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Central African Republic (CAR) are some of the main contemporary humanitarian emergencies were civilians rights, as described in International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and other corpus of law, have been violated. However, one of the most appalling issues is the consequences of war on vulnerable populations and, more specifically, on children.

Child recruitment and their use as child soldiers, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access are the most important challenges that children have to face and the international community seems unable to react.

Keywords; children, protection, child recruitment and use, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, denial of access, attacks on schools and hospitals, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Human Rights Law

Word count; 34.987

Intensive Programme assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master... more Intensive Programme assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Masters in Humanitarian Action Programme, UCD.