Aid groups urge NATO to separate military and humanitarian activities to protect civilians in Afghan

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03 Apr 2009

Ahead of today's NATO Summit, the International Rescue Committee and 15 other relief organizations operating in Afghanistan have sent a letter to delegates urging that NATO troops clearly identify themselves in Afghanistan and distinguish military actions from humanitarian activities, as a means of protecting Afghan civilians and aid workers.

The letter was sent to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and heads of state, ministers and other representatives of NATO member countries.

According to the aid agencies, civilians in Afghanistan are increasingly at risk. In 2008, civilian casualties rose by as much as 40% compared to 2007 and aid worker fatalities doubled to 31 killings. The letter also notes that access to people in need of assistance and protection is consistently deteriorating.

The aid groups stress that military forces, including NATO, endanger the civilians they aim to protect and contravene international law when they do not clearly identity themselves and inadvertently or deliberately blur the lines between military and humanitarian activities.


read more: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/OYAH-7QRPXC?OpenDocument

[Posteritatis]

1. I can get behind this; it'd be hard to do without further endangering the aid workers though.. (nt)

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2. I agree

The military has assumed many roles which are best managed by civilians, but there is a need for protection which has forced civilians out of those jobs or made the risks unacceptably high and the military has stepped into that vacuum, like with their agriculture initiatives. There must be a problem with coordination of those efforts, though, for these groups to complain. It won't be easy or fault-proof.

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3. .

[leftstreet]

4. K&R