Nonviolent Intervention

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In contrast to military so-called humanitarian intervention , non- violent intervention is understood to be the active non-violent intervention of external, impartial third parties in a violent conflict. The term can also describe a class of methods for nonviolent action .

Class of methods

Gene Sharp and then others like Theodor Ebert classify certain nonviolent methods under the concept of nonviolent intervention. Contrary to the protest, these are characterized by direct confrontation with the opposing party . Sharp divides 40 different methods into psychological, physical, social, economic and political categories. Examples of this are sit-ins , overloading administrative systems or fasting.

Third Party Intervention

Intervention by third parties is contrary to humanitarian intervention by non-state actors and is in any case unarmed and non-violent. The nonviolent methods used are:

  • Massive short-term presence (e.g. international peace marches in conflict areas, successfully used e.g. in Cambodia)
  • Conflict Mediation (Mediation)
  • Nonviolent interposition in general (interpositioning)
  • Protective accompaniment (Accompaniment)
  • Monitoring and protective presence (Presence). The intervention takes place at the invitation of civil actors in the conflict area. Examples of social actors are Peace Brigades International or Nonviolent Peaceforce .

The various forms of unarmed protection are also summarized under the term civil peacekeeping. The term itself is mainly established in the English literature as "'Unarmed civilian protection (UCP)", but is also worth discussing because of the conceptual proximity to (armed) peacekeeping by UN blue helmets, which is why some organizations prefer to speak of "unarmed protection" . Since the term "civil peacekeeping" has been introduced for a long time, it is retained here. For example, on March 14, 2016, the German Bundestag held a hearing on the topic of “Opportunities for unarmed civil peacekeeping”.

Civil Peacekeeping

Historically, civil peacekeeping goes back to the Indian peace army Shanti Sena . Since 2014 the Federation for Social Defense (FSIO) has started a campaign on civil peacekeeping , which other peace organizations have joined.

The actors in civil peacekeeping are mostly deployed by non-governmental organizations, both national and international. Well-known organizations in this field are: Peace Brigades International , Witness for Peace , Nonviolent Peaceforce . The Civil Peace Service also includes civil peacekeeping operations , but also numerous others. People from the global south, like those from the north, work as civil peacekeeping forces .

tasks

The concrete task of civil peacekeeping is diverse and z. Sometimes they overlap with those of other forms of nonviolent intervention (see above):

  • Monitoring of ceasefires and other agreements
  • Accompaniment of people at risk, especially social activists who claim human rights
  • Prevention of violence in particularly dangerous situations (elections, votes)
  • Establishment of "early warning systems", control of rumors
  • Initiation of a dialogue between hostile groups
  • Establish contact with the armed actors (military, guerrilla) in order to negotiate protection agreements
  • Offer training to enable people to protect themselves and their neighbors

functionality

Unarmed civilians have no means of direct coercion or threats of violence to deter them. The UN blue helmets, on the other hand, are very well armed - and that is one of the reasons why they are often perceived as parties to the conflict. The actors of civil peacekeeping are respected rather than neutrally because of their superficial defenselessness. This results in personal protection that is also transferred to the contact persons. Experience shows that potential violent criminals who have no problem attacking locals also shy away from attacking internationals. In addition, the internationals are trained in de-escalating communication and strive to build trusting relationships on all sides of the conflict.

Operation costs of civil peacekeeping

According to information from Nonviolent Peaceforce, including all costs of the organization (including management, public relations), an emergency worker costs less than 50,000 euros / year. This also includes (social) insurance for the emergency services. For comparison: A US soldier in Afghanistan costs US $ 1.2 million a year.

Countries of operations for civil peacekeeping

A selection of the countries in which civil peacekeeping took place in 2015 :

  • South Sudan
  • Philippines
  • Syria
  • Myanmar

Spread of nonviolent intervention in general

There is nonviolent intervention

  • On all continents
  • At home and abroad
  • As a short-term intervention (e.g. peace marches) or as a long-term project
  • By trained and paid peace workers and grassroots activists
  • As a mass action by young people and as an NGO training course "train the trainer"
  • For religious and spiritual motivation or for political reasons
  • Decidedly non-violent and anti (!) Militaristic or as part of the “integrated” security concept of one's own government
  • As an action by state actors (e.g. the OSCE)

According to the Ministry for Economic Cooperation, more than 800 skilled workers were sent to over 50 countries from Germany alone between 1999 and 2014.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Gene Sharp, Waging Nonviolent Struggle , Boston: Extending Horizon Books, 2005, pp. 62ff.
  2. ↑ See Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan (Editor), Thomas Weber Nonviolent Intervention Across Borders: A Recurrent Vision ISBN 1 880309 11 4
  3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Definition of Nonviolent Peaceforce  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / de.nonviolent-peaceforce.de
  4. ↑ See Academy for Conflict Transformation, Nonviolent Intervention by a Third Party , Bonn: Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst, 2005.
  5. ↑ | http: //www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/unarmed-civilian-protection
  6. ^ German Bundestag: Sustainable Peace with Unarmed Civilians , accessed on April 14, 2016.
  7. ↑ http://www.soziale-verteidigung.de/international-gewaltfrei/
  8. ↑ http://www.soziale-verteidigung.de/fileadmin/dokumente/international/Ziviles_Peacekeeping_-_mit_Kopf-neu201403.pdf
  9. ↑ Christian Wernicke: Report reveals failed US policy in the Hindu Kush , Süddeutsche Zeitung of June 8, 2011.
  10. ↑ WoW - effective without weapons, the book for the exhibition ... eBook, ISBN 3-7347-5842-4 .

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