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Abstract

United Nations peacekeeping has evolved from monitoring ceasefires and controlling buffer zones to protecting civilians, re-establishing state authority, and/or neutralizing armed groups that pose a threat to peace and security. This evolution has triggered debates concerning the appropriate legal framework to assess the conduct of peacekeepers (e.g., whether International Humanitarian Law (IHL) applies). It has also generated serious and recurrent allegations of violations to the detriment of people under peacekeepers’ protection. Moreover, individuals affected by peacekeepers have had no real opportunity to resort to justice. Against this backdrop, the thesis expounds on the legal conundrum associated with the growing role of peacekeepers and the lack of accountability for their conduct. Specifically, since investigations of violations are both a stepping stone to guarantee accountability and redress for victims, the thesis scrutinizes the challenges inherent in the duty to investigate alleged IHL violations in the context of Peace Support Operations (PSOs) with so-called ‘robust mandates’. After examining the relevant international rules applicable to PSOs, the thesis demonstrates that the duty to investigate is primarily incumbent on the UN. It further highlights how the existing accountability mechanisms have proven inadequate to fight impunity and failed to provide victims with adequate remedies. The thesis concludes that, on the one hand, the UN has to investigate the conduct of its forces to meet its international law obligations and live up to the values it is meant to exemplify, and, on the other hand, that host states and troop-contributing countries need to coordinate their efforts to address existing accountability gaps.

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