Rapport om Amnestys deltagande i utbildning av militärer och civila för fredsbevarande uppdrag Underlag till styrelsemöte 1-2 december 2009

Till: Styrelsen
Från: Tina Lundh
Datum: 16 november 2009

Rapport om Amnestys deltagande i utbildning av militärer och civila för fredsbevarande uppdrag

Skydd för mänskliga rättigheter i FNs och NATOs fredsmissioner

Syfte med rapporten:
Att kort berätta om varför Amnesty Internationals deltagit i den internationella civilmilitära övningen Viking 2008, och vad som uppnåtts med deltagandet.

Bakgrund:
Amnesty Internationals Svenska Sektion har deltagit i flera internationella civilmilitära övningar arrangerade av svenska försvarsmakten i samarbete med andra länder. För Amnesty International deltog pressekreterare Elisabeth Löfgren åren 1999, 2001, 2003 och 2005. Under övningen 2008 deltog Tina Lundh som Amnestys representant.

Den övningsserie som kallas Viking har tränat militärer och civila i multinationellt fredsarbete. Scenariot har varit en konflikt- och katastrofsituation liknande Kosovo. När övningen börjar anländer FN ihop med NATO med en fredsmission till konflikt- och katastrofområdet. Övningen handlar om fredsmissionens första två veckor i området. Militärer och civila övas i verklighetstrogna rollspel samtidigt som en stor del av övningen är datoriserad. År 2008 utfördes övningen i sex länder; Finland, Irland, Lettland, Litauen, Schweiz, Österrike och Sverige. De 3000 personers som övades år 2008 var militärer från mer än 25 länder, FN-personal från ett tiotal länder och svensk statlig personal som kriminalvårdare och poliser. I övningsledningen fanns utöver militärer också personer från Folke Bernadotteakademin, Kriminalvården, Rädda Barnen, Svenska kyrkan och Amnesty International.

Den statliga myndigheten Folke Bernadotteakademin arvoderar medverkande från civila organisationer, vilket gör att Amnesty inte tar av insamlade medel för denna utbildning för militärer och FN-personal.
Amnesty Internationals deltagande utgår från 15 Point Program for Implementing Human Rights in International Peace-keeping Operations (bilaga 1) framtaget av Amnestys huvudkontor.

Skydd för mänskliga rättigheter
Merparten av FNs fredsbevarande missioner sänds ut med mandat att skydda mänskliga rättigheter. Att få stopp på den väpnade konflikten är i sej att arbeta för mänskliga rättigheter, men inte nog. Dels har erfarenheter visat att utsända militärer och civila bevittnat brott mot mänskliga rättigheter utan att rapportera det, och dels att utsända själv begått brott. Detta är bakgrunden till att Amnesty International har tagit fram ett 15 punkters program för mänskliga rättigheter i fredsbevarande operationer.

Som en del i arbetet för att förbättra agerande och uppförande i fredsmissioner deltar Amnesty i multinationella civilmilitära övningar.

Viking 2008
Att representera Amnesty i Viking 2008 krävde stor ödmjukhet, stor arbetsinsats och klart fokus. Ödmjukheten handlade om att motsvara den stora respekt veteranerna inom Vikingledningen visade Amnesty. Det arbete som gjorts av Amnesty under åren 1999-2005 har betytt mycket för svenska försvarsmakten och resultatet är den stora respekten. Amnesty hade arbetat för att i övningen få med angelägna och allvarliga övergrepp mot mänskliga rättigheter såsom våldtäkter, sexuellt utnyttjande av barn, FN-truppers främjande av prostitution, med mera. En del i tidigare övningsledningar har motsatt sej dessa inslag och aspekter, och andra i övningsledningarna har pekat på nödvändigheten av realism och behovet av att öka trovärdigheten för fredsbevararna.

Arbetsinsatsen för Amnestys representant handlade om att i så tidigt skede som möjligt i scenariot skriva in delövningar som innefattar brott mot mänskliga rättigheter, att därefter se till att dessa delövningar blev kvar, genomfördes och sedan utvärderades. Klart fokus handlade främst om att undvika att bara bli ett alibi, bara en utsmyckning för den arrangör som pliktskyldigast och ytligt inkluderar mänskliga rättigheter. Att i en övningsutbildning lyckas påverka agerande och attityder hos de övade, deras tränare och övningsledning var och är en stor utmaning.

Att bära stafettpinnen vidare
Elisabeth Löfgren hade under flera år drivit det tunga arbetet med att få militärerna i ledningen att förstå att de senaste årens skandaler med FN-soldaters våldtäkter måste tas upp i övningen, liksom FNs främjande av prostitution. Detta arbete drev jag vidare under Viking 2008. Ur 15-punkters programmet belystes särskilt No international silent witnesses , stöd till kvinnors och flickors särskilda behov i väpnade konflikter, mänskligrättighetsverifiering, polisobservatörer, skydd för flyktingar, FN-personals efterföljande av mänskliga rättigheter och humanitära lagar och att ställa krigsförbrytare inför rätta.
Amnesty deltog i planering och ledning av delövningar inom ovanstående punkter. För att få med delövningar om våldtäkt som krigsbrott samarbetade Amnesty med försvarsmaktens genusrådgivare. Då uppdagades bland annat att FN-resolutionen 1820, som erkänner våldtäkter som vapen, inte fanns med i uppdragsbeskrivningen för den militära delen av fredsmissionen. Likaså framkom att övningens fredsavtal skrivits utifrån ett enkönat perspektiv. I delövningar om FN-personals främjande av prostitution samarbetade Amnesty med Rädda Barnen och fick stort gehör från den irländska militärledningen. Inga tysta vittnen var en genomgående röd tråd i flera delövningar såsom upptäckande av massgrav, mottagande av kvinnor som anmälde övergrepp, tortyr på fängelser, insamling av vittnesmål som senare skulle användas i krigsförbrytarrättegång, upprätthållande av ordning vid demonstrationer, avväpning med motsträviga milismän, med mera.
För att öka realismen under övningen producerade Amnesty också flera rapporter och pressmeddelanden.

Direkta resultat:
- Amnesty förekom varje dag i övningens tevesändning (ett låtsas-CNN producerade av riktiga journalister).
- Synliggörande av kvinnor och övergrepp mot kvinnor i övningsdokumenten.
- Ökat medvetande om att för kvinnor är kriget inte över vid eld-upphör.
- Nära samarbete med Kriminalvården om tortyr i fängelser.
- Nära samarbete med militärer om övergrepp på civila, vittnesmål och bevisinsamling mot krigsförbrytare och upprätthållande av ordning vid demonstrationer.
- Diskussion om FN-personals främjande av prostitution.

Utvärdering
Bilaga 2, Exercise evaluation from Amnesty International, skrevs i januari 2009 är en del av civila organisationernas utvärdering av hela övningen. (Hela utvärderingen Viking 08 Final Exercise Report, Annex G Civilian Dimension kan fås av den som så önskar.)

Sammantaget hördes Amnestys krav under övningen. När detta skrivs, november 2009, har planeringen för övning Viking 2011 och Illuminated Summer 2010 börjat. För båda övningarna ändras scenariot, blir mindre Balkanpräglat och utgår mer från erfarenheter i Centrala Afrika. För båda övningarna har Amnesty tillfrågats om att delta tidigt i förberedelser och scenarioskrivande.

Viking är den civilmilitära övning som NATOs högkvarter satsar på i Europa. I Viking 2011 kommer nya länder såsom Kirgistan och Georgien att delta. Den respekt och det intresse som övningsledningen, svenska försvarsmakten, NATO och Folke Bernadotteakademin visar Amnesty Internationals deltagande har krävt många års arbete. Att Amnestys frågor och krav får genomslag i övningen visar på resultat för detta mångåriga arbete. Ett fortsatt deltagande ger möjligheter att än mer driva på skydd för mänskliga rättigheter i fredsmissioner.


BILAGA 1

Amnesty International 15-Point Program for Implementing Human Rights in International Peace-keeping Operations

1. The political role of the international community.
The UN and its Member States should give early, consistent and vigorous attention to human rights concerns when designing and implementing peace settlements and should plan for a continued human rights program in the post-peace-keeping phase. The international community must be prepared to publicly condemn human rights violations during and after the settlement process and to ensure that recommendations for institutional reform are fully and promptly implemented. Human rights protection measures should be kept under review, strengthened as necessary and properly evaluated at the end of the operation.

2. No international `silent witnesses'.
All international field personnel, including those engaged in military, civilian and humanitarian operations, should report through explicit and proper channels any human rights violations they may witness or serious allegations they receive. The UN should take appropriate steps, including preventive measures, to address any violations reported.

3. Human rights chapters in peace agreements.
Peace agreements should include a detailed and comprehensive list of international human rights laws and standards to be guaranteed in the transitional and post-settlement phase, as well as providing for specific and effective oversight mechanisms. Peace settlements should require eventual ratification of any human rights treaties and adherence to any international systems of human rights protection to which the state concerned is not yet a party.

4. Effective and independent human rights verification.
A specialized international civilian human rights monitoring component should be part of all peace-keeping operations. These components should have adequate resources and staff with human rights expertise. Their mandates should include human rights verification, institution-building, legislative reform, education and training. Monitors should be trained and should operate under consistent guidelines and in conformity with international standards. Human rights components should be explicitly and structurally independent from the political considerations of the operation and on-going negotiations relating to the settlement and their decision-making mechanisms must not be constructed so as to permit parties to the conflict to obstruct investigations. Effective human rights mechanisms, such as advisers or independent jurists, should also be established in less comprehensive peace settlements and should have an oversight role in matters such as the release of prisoners and the guarantee of rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

5. Ensuring peace with justice.
Peace settlements should provide for impartial investigation of past abuses, processes aimed at establishing the truth and measures to ensure that any perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice. Individual responsibility for human rights violations, past and present, must be made explicit and sweeping pre-conviction amnesties should not be part of peace settlements.

6. On-site human rights monitoring.
Human rights monitors should be mandated out to carry out investigations and verify compliance with human rights obligations and to take corrective action in respect of violations. They should have broad access to all sectors of society and relevant institutions and the full protection of those who are in contact with them must be assured. Peace-building measures, such as institutional and legislative reform and education and training, must complement but never replace the verification role.

7. Frequent and public reporting.
To guarantee the effectiveness, security and credibility of international human rights personnel there must be frequent comprehensive public reports of their activities and findings which should be broadly disseminated nationally as well as internationally.

8. International civilian police monitors.
Civilian police monitors should monitor, supervise and train national police and security forces and verify their adherence to international human rights and criminal justice standards. Police monitors should cooperate fully with any human rights component or mechanisms and should themselves be trained in and fully respect international human rights and criminal justice standards at all times. There should be full public reporting of their activities.

9. Long-term measures for human rights protection.
Human rights components in peace-keeping operations should assist in the establishment of permanent, independent and effective national institutions for the long-term protection of human rights and the reinstitution of the rule of law, including an independent judiciary and fair criminal justice system. Other mechanisms, such as ombudsmen or national commissions, may be encouraged to reinforce respect for human rights. Such mechanisms must be impartial, independent, and competent with the necessary powers and resources to be effective. They should conform to international guidelines and must never be a substitute for a fair and independent judicial system. While national institutions are being constituted, consideration should be given to establishing an interim relationship with relevant international tribunals.

10. Human rights education and advisory assistance programs.
Public education and training on human rights standards and complaints procedures should be provided to all sectors, particularly the judiciary, lawyers and law enforcement officials. Other technical assistance programs should be provided, including drafting legislation in conformity with international standards and support for national human rights NGOs. Such programs should not be a substitute for human rights verification by a specialized monitoring component.

11. The protection of refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees.
Refugee repatriation programs should include an effective monitoring and protection aspect for as long as necessary. International refugee law and protection standards must be adhered to at all times, including the principles of non-refoulement, the right to seek asylum and repatriation only on a voluntary basis with international supervision.

12. The gender dimension.
Measures should be taken to guarantee consideration and respect for the particular needs of women in armed conflict situations. Peace-keeping personnel should receive information on local cultural traditions and should respect the inherent rights and dignity of women at all times. Human rights components should include experts in the area of violence against women, including rape and sexual abuse.

13. Adherence of international peace-keeping forces to human rights and humanitarian law standards.
The UN should declare its formal adherence to international humanitarian law and human rights and criminal justice standards, including in relation to the detention of prisoners and the use of force. The UN should ensure all troops participating in international peace-keeping operations are fully trained in those standards and understand their obligation to adhere to them. There should be specific mechanisms at the international level for monitoring, investigating and reporting on any violations of international norms by peace-keeping personnel and to ensure that personnel responsible for serious violations are brought to justice in accordance with international standards.

14. Prosecution of war crimes and attacks on international peace-keeping personnel.
The investigation and prosecution of violations of humanitarian and human rights law or attacks against international peace-keeping personnel should be undertaken by appropriate national authorities or under international jurisdiction. Any international mechanisms must conform to international fair trial standards and the creation of a permanent institution for the prosecution of international crimes should be encouraged.

15. Continued promotion and protection of human rights in the post-settlement phase.
Effective international human rights monitoring and assistance should be continued for as long as necessary, until it is clear that the government concerned is implementing international human rights guarantees effectively. The UN's human rights bodies should develop a more effective and comprehensive role in the post-settlement phase.


BILAGA 2

Exercise evaluation from Amnesty International
Viking 08 was a great exercise in many aspects. Amnesty International appreciates being involved at an early stage, which made it possible to add more human rights perspectives and issues to the training audience. Amnesty International also wishes to highlight the respectful team spirit within the civilian-military co-operation. It has been a very positive experience because of the way the military, state organisations, international organisations and non-governmental organisations invited to co-operation, understanding, sharing their experience and competence without reservation.

The main part of this evaluation report addresses areas that can be improved.

1. Scenario and storyline
During the Exercise it became clear that the scenario and the storyline ought to be improved. Reality as verdicts from international war crime courts and tribunals, and as new resolutions from the United Nations Security Council, has not yet been applied in the scenario. In the beginning of the exercise the divergence between the mandate and the rules of engagement concerning Resolution 1325 and 1820 was detected. What was the written mandate for the mission had not been operational. In the end of the exercise it was clear that it was too much of a happy ending. Even though there is a ceasefire violence against civilians continues. For millions of girls and women in Congo-Kinshasa the war did not end with the peace agreements in January 2008. Comparing the peace agreement in Congo-Kinshasa with the Bogaland peace agreement unveiled that the BPA is written in an anachronistic way. It is anachronistic in the sense that it neglects mentioning war crimes as rape and sexual violence. The BPA should also better reflect experiences from peace agreements written with broad participation of the society in the conflict country, as recommended in resolutions from the Security Council.
Amnesty International proposes a new scenario or a reviewed and modified scenario for an up-coming Viking Exercise (or its successor). Amnesty International also recommends that civilian organisations a human rights organisation, like Amnesty or Save the Children, and a humanitarian assistance organisation, like Red Cross or Swedish Church, participates in the process of writing a new scenario and storyline. In the preparation for the Viking 08 exercise the Folke Bernadotte Academy arranged seminars regarding the crosscutting issues, as human rights and gender, and achieved improved awareness. The natural next step is to integrate the crosscutting issues in the story writing.
Recommended aspects to incorporate in a new scenario: experience from Congo-Kinshasa, Sudan and other ongoing missions in Africa, as from missions in the Middle East and the Caucasus; cross-culture aspects, new resolutions from the Security Council, consequences of crimes identified in international war criminal courts (like the case of Liberia), an elaboration of the civil society within the scenario that includes presence of local civilian organisations and actors.

2. No international silent witnesses
The main objective for Amnesty International’s participation is to stress that all international field personnel should report through explicit and proper channels any human rights violations they may witness or serious allegations they receive. Amnesty Internation’s 15-point program for implementing human rights in international peace operation includes: human rights verification, ensuring peace with justice, frequent and public reporting, adherence of international peacekeeping forces to human rights and humanitarian law standards, and prosecution of war crimes.
The training audience in Amnesty’s perspective is the military personnel and from Viking 08 also the UN personnel. Regretfully the police was not properly integrated in the preparations and realization of the exercise, nor at the site in Sweden or the other sites. Amnesty International stresses that civilian police monitors is crucial for the exercise.
As Amnesty International does not have field personnel it is not of current interest to participate with training audience.

3. Gender dimension
In the preparation and during the exercise there was a criticism regarding training responsible officers and public relation officers to handle sexual misconduct among field personnel. It can never be said to often: To be credible when trying to make peace and make right you have to start with you own behaviour. A peace operation cannot silently witness abuse from its own integrates. Therefore what sadly has been a pattern in peace operations must be addressed in exercises to make progress in preventing those abuses.
Secondly other issues with crosscutting gender aspects were parts of the game:
- The neglect or absences of addressing sexual violence as war crime in the rule of engagement as in the peace agreement was dealt with as an inject addressed to the joint command.
- Threats against female political candidates in the elections in Xland was another gender dimension (even though the training audience at the UN headquarter missed that).
Worth mentioning is the independent media gaming. The media group was excellent in the sense that their work was so close to reality. Media does not reflect what is happening in an area, a situation or a peace operation. Media reflects spectacular misbehaviour and misconduct. That is why the car accident in Xland was so big, why the sexual misconduct at the Irish site, and why torture in prison was given such an attention in the television news. At an organisation or a brigade there is a need for frequent and regular briefings about the situation. If that is not arranged a lot of people will – mistakenly – believe that media gives them the truth.

4. Civil-military coordination when preparing events and incidents
The preparation of events and incidents can be improved. First step is to review or rewrite the scenario and storyline with broader participation. In some cases events was written only in a military perspective to uniformed personnel. A civil-military interaction was then at a late stage added to those events. Likewise some incidents were written only by civilians with lack of knowledge about military structure, and modifications were added afterwards, or the incident shortened. A lot can be gained if the events from start are written in coordination civil-military, with various links in a long chain to improve the learning process.

5. Coordinated reflections
With more coordinated events and incidents constructions it would also be more interesting to civil-military cooperation when reviewing and reflecting during the exercise. As an example Amnesty International and the military gender adviser had a reflection concerning how the different brigades handled reports of rape used as weapon in war.

6. Administration
The administration worked well thanks to the very professional staff at Swedint. However, it would in future exercises be more efficient and comfortable to stay at the student hotel at Livgardet instead, as the exercise demands long days and travel takes additional time.

7. Early involvement of non-governmental organisations in the preparation
The Folke Bernadotte Academy has made a lot of effort to involve non-governmental organisations at an early stage. Even so there are obstacles that need to be addressed:
- Motivation. An early dialogue with each non-governmental organisation is necessary to sort out indistinctness and to motivate. Questions to be addressed: What can the organisation contribute with? How is the contribution integrated in the exercise? What is the cost for the organisation? To be able to influence the scenario and storyline will improve the motivation for an organisation like Amnesty International.
- Cost sharing. Many fund raising dependent organisations need cost sharing. And that is more important if the organisation cannot see an achievement in terms of policy dialogue or learning process.
- Experience sharing. Amnesty International (and some other organisations) has participated in all Viking exercises and its experience could be useful for other non-governmental organisations.