The Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts: well-trodden paths and new ways forward

The Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) of the Netherlands is an independent body which advises government and parliament on foreign policy, particularly on issues relating to human rights, peace and security, development cooperation and European integration.

The AIV produces advisory reports on its own initiative or at the request of government or parliament. All reports are presented to the relevant members of the government as well as to the House of Representatives and Senate. In most cases, the government members in question are the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence and the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. They are expected to send a government response to parliament within three months. The requests for advice, the reports and the government responses are all made public.The subject of this advisory report is both topical and urgent. Entire societies that until recently were relatively prosperous are being disrupted or destroyed. People are losing their lives, becoming disabled, losing their livelihoods, or being displaced. This causes untold human suffering. States, international organisations and non-governmental organisations irrefutably have a responsibility to protect civilians, including those in third countries, from large-scale violence. In the first place this is the obligation of the state in which these people are located and of the non-state armed groups that are active there.

This advisory report is not about their obligations or options as regards protecting the civilian population, but about the means at the disposal of other states, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations to fulfil this moral imperative when states and non-state armed groups prove unwilling or unable to fulfil their duties.