New York, 21 March 2003
General
Guidance for Interaction
Between
United Nations Personnel and Military Actors
in
the Context of the Crisis in Iraq
I. Introduction
1. Recent conflicts have shown that coordination between humanitarian and military actors, particularly in the early phases of a conflict, can be essential for the timely and effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and to help ensure the protection of civilians. Sharing of relevant humanitarian information, facilitation of humanitarian operations, and deconflicting humanitarian activities from military operations are key areas of such coordination . While interaction between civil and military actors on the ground is both a reality and a necessity, it is important to emphasize the constraints and limitations of civilian organizations in this respect. A perception of adherence to key the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality is of immediate practical relevance for humanitarian workers on the ground, e.g. in ensuring safe and secure operations, obtaining access across combat lines, and being able to guarantee equitable aid distribution to all vulnerable populations. Therefore, it is essential that there be maximum certainty and clarity for UN personnel involved in daily contacts or liaison arrangements with military forces operating in Iraq. As provided for in his terms of reference, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (HC), who is also the Designated Official (DO), will oversee all liaison with military forces.
2. This document is intended to provide practical guidance to UN personnel in their interaction with all military forces engaged in the Iraqi crisis, including Iraqi forces, those of neighboring countries, and forces of the US and its allies. It also provides some initial guidance regarding relations with military forces that may also be organs of an Occupying Power in Iraq. The guidance provided in this document will be reviewed on a continuous basis and will be revised to address additional concerns as they arise.
Any coordination between UN personnel and military forces in the context of the Iraq crisis should be guided by the following key considerations:
3.
Operational independence of humanitarian action: UN humanitarian agencies,
under the overall authority of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, must
retain the full control of UN humanitarian operations inside and outside Iraq.
Agencies must ensure that their operational independence is guaranteed at all
times, e.g. on issues involving freedom of movement, non-integration in
military planning, or access to communications.
4. Access to all vulnerable populations: UN humanitarian agencies must maintain their ability to obtain and sustain access to all vulnerable populations in all parts of Iraq and to negotiate such access with all parties to the conflict. The principle of humanity requires that suffering must be addressed wherever it is encountered.
5. Neutral and impartial aid distribution: UN humanitarian agencies must ensure that all vulnerable populations in all parts of Iraq receive aid in an equitable, neutral and impartial manner and without any political conditions attached. Humanitarian assistance must be provided on the basis of “needs only”; i.e., without outside interference with UN needs assessments and responses.
6. Security of humanitarian personnel: Under the guidance of UNSECOORD, UN humanitarian agencies are accountable for the safety and security of their staff and operations, both in Iraq and its neighboring countries. A perception of too close an affiliation with the operations or objectives of any military forces may impact negatively on the security environment for humanitarian staff and equipment as well as on the ability of humanitarian actors to assist and protect vulnerable populations.
7. Liaison arrangements with the HOC: Liaison arrangements and direct lines of communication with the Humanitarian Operations Centers (HOC), established jointly by the US and the Government of Kuwait, are essential to allow the sharing of information relevant to humanitarian operations as well as the facilitation of certain humanitarian operations before, during, and after conflict. Liaison should be conducted to the degree necessary to facilitate UN humanitarian operations. The guidance below would equally apply in case of liaison arrangements with other military forces or in places other than Kuwait.
|
q Establishing direct lines of communications and maintaining liaison arrangements with the military for information sharing and facilitation purposes. q Information sharing includes: Þ Security information: Obtain information relevant to the security situation inside Iraq, including potential NBC contamination, through the UNSECOORD liaison officer; Þ Humanitarian locations inside Iraq: Provision of coordinates of UN facilities and operations inside Iraq to the military through UNSECOORD as UN focal point; Þ UN humanitarian plans and intentions Þ Deconflicting: Provision of routes and timing of humanitarian convoys and airlifts to avoid accidental strikes on humanitarian operations or to warn of any conflicting activities; Þ
Population movements: Providing and receiving
information on major population movements, e.g. satellite imagery. Þ Post-strike information: Receiving information on strike locations and explosive munitions used during the military campaign to assist the prioritization and planning of humanitarian relief and mine-action/UXO activities. Þ Safe areas and safety zones: In the event that military forces may establish “feeding areas” for civilians caught in combat zones, the UN may offer advice on the potential negative consequences of such “safe havens”. q Facilitation includes: Þ Procedure for cross-border passages; Þ Air ops clearances; Þ ID card arrangements; Þ NGO liaison. q Extending invitations to military representatives (e.g. CIMIC officers) to attend UN humanitarian coordination meetings on specific agenda items of concern. q Participating in coordination meetings with the military hosted in the HOC facilities for the purposes of information sharing and facilitation. Impermissible
Action: q Collocation of any UN personnel with military forces or in facilities of the HOC. q Collocation includes: Þ No UN staff to be physically collocated or to establish offices within HOC facilities; Þ No UN emblems to be displayed within the HOC facilities; Þ Unless authorized by the HC/DO on a case by case basis, no UN staff should participate in public HOC events, including press conferences, joint ‘war game-like’ planning exercises, ceremonies, and other formal events; Þ No standing invitations for military representatives to UN coordination meetings. q Publicizing or disclosing to the media details of the liaison arrangements or individual communications, unless specifically authorized by the HC/DO or in accordance with the media guidance issued by the Steering Group on Iraq. |
8. Use of military assets for
humanitarian operations: The use of military assets in support of
humanitarian operations should be exceptional and only a last resort. It is
recognized that where civilian capacities are
not adequate or cannot be obtained in a timely manner to meet urgent
humanitarian needs, military and civil defence assets, including military
aircraft, can be deployed in accordance with the guidelines on ‘The Use Of
Military And Civil Defence Assets To Support UN Humanitarian Activities In
Complex Emergencies’, issued in March 2003 (for more details go to www.reliefweb.int/mcdls/mcdu/mcdu.html).
The main elements of these guidelines are as follows:
|
9. Use of military or armed escorts: The use of military or armed escorts for humanitarian convoys or operations is an extreme precautionary measure that should be taken only in exceptional circumstances. It is subject to the prior approval of the HC/DO and/or UNSECOORD (depending on the circumstances) and guided by the principles endorsed by the IASC in September 2001, i.e., as a means of last resort.
|
Impermissible
Action: q
Do not use military or armed escorts for
humanitarian convoys or operations, except under extreme circumstances, with
the prior approval of the HC/DO and/or UNSECOORD, and as a means of last
resort. |
10.
Liaison with US Disaster Assistance and Response Teams
(DART): Given the mixed military and civilian characteristics of the
DART teams the UN needs to carefully consider the manner in which it cooperates
with these teams. While UN agencies may be able to benefit from the findings of
early DART assessments (and mindful that any UN assessments could only take
place subject to prior security clearance of a UN re-deployment by UNSECOORD),
too close an affiliation with the teams may undermine the perception of the
UN’s neutrality and impartiality. Therefore, UN agencies should establish a
principled yet pragmatic relationship with the DART teams.
|
Permissible Action: q Liaison arrangements for security assessments: Þ
In accordance with the UNSECOORD Concept of
Operations for Security Assessments. q Information sharing with DART may include: Þ Obtaining information on DART humanitarian assessments, for example, through the rapid assessment forms developed by the UN Humanitarian Information Center and agreed to by OFDA; Þ Sharing of results of UN needs assessments with DART; Þ Evaluate and consider, as appropriate, findings of DART assessments in planning of UN response (along with information provided by other sources); Þ
If appropriate, invite individual civilian DART
representatives to join UN inter-agency needs assessment missions (the same
way the UN invites representatives of other donor agencies). Impermissible
Action: q Joint DART and UN needs assessment missions: Þ
UN agencies or UNDAC teams should not join DART needs
assessment missions. Rather, UN agencies should conduct their own independent
humanitarian assessments and use their own monitoring |