Description of Documents and Literature
| DOI | 10.1177/092405199701500414 |
| Published date | 01 December 1997 |
| Date | 01 December 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
NQHR
4//997
have brought the neutral position
of
the UN in the peace negotiation into jeopardy. By
addressing also the context the reader could have assessed better, whether ONUSAL
interpreted its humanitarian task restrictively or not.
The author states though that ONUSAL could have given more attention to
humanitarian issues. An example she gives is that ONUSAL paid no attention to those
'people whose liberty had been restricted for reasons related to the armed conflict.' (p. 39)
In chapter 3, the author points out that ONUSAL only addressed the situation in detention
centres in general, and gave no specific attention to those detained as a result
of
the
conflict. Here again it must be pointed out that the author would have done well to address
the context in which the mission was operating. For example, from the information
provided by the author it is unclear whether detention as a result
of
conflict was an issue.
If the author would have interviewed ONUSAL personnel, information would have been
obtained as to whether the mission received any complaints regarding this type of
violation. Maybe detention as a result
of
conflict was not an issue and therefore, ONUSAL
focused on the poor situation in detention centres in general. Nevertheless, from the
discussion provided by the author no conclusion can be drawn whether detention as a
result
of
conflict was an issue.
On the whole, the book provides the reader with ample analysis
of
the legal foundation
for UN involvement in verifying humanitarian norms in El Salvador. However, the reader
could have benefited from an analysis
of
the political context in which changes have taken
place within the UN regarding the maintenance
of
international peace and security. This
would have allowed the reader to understand why the UN has become more active in
peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations, in areas
of
conflict such as El
Salvador. It is regrettable that the author chose to include ONUSAL documents (which
take up more than
half
the book and which are now available over the Internet), instead
of
including a more contextual analysis.
DESCRIPTION OF
DOCUMENTS
AND LITERATURE
Academic freedom 4 : education and human rights /Ximena Erazo, Mike Kirkwood and
Frederiek de Vlaming. -
London:
Zed, 1996. - x, 246 p.
ISBN: 1 85649 378 4
Since 1988 the World University Service and Zed Books have published a series
of
reports
on academic freedom. This is the most recent volume in this series; it offers an overvieW
of
the international standards in this field and spells out the obligations
of
States in
guaranteeing the educational rights of citizens. The reports on specific countries and
regions (Armenia, Brazil, Central America, Central Asia, China, Colombia, Guatemala,
Kenya, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru and Zambia) show a wide range
of
obstacles standing in the way
of
a full realisation
of
the right to education.
Casualties in peacetime :a study on violence and intimidation in the armed forces in
Europe /edited by Marc Hulst ... [et al.]. -
Utrecht:
European Council
of
Conscripts
Organisations, 1997. - 130 p.
The title
of
this book, 'Casualties in peacetime', seems to be contradictory in itself. This
publication shows, however, that not only war, but also peace is a time that makes victims
among the ranks
of
conscripted soldiers. In this book the European Council
of
Conscripts
Organisations demonstrates that conscripts in the armed forces in Europe are exposed to
a very high level
of
violence and intimidation. This is done by bringing forward a large
562
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