PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS, WAR CRIMES AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

The end of the Cold War witnessed the growth and spread of legally established private military contractors (PMCs) playing largely undefined roles in wars, international security and post-conflict reconstruction. The operations of PMCs in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 21st century have been marked by gross human rights abuses and poor treatment and torture of prisoners of war (POWs). Indeed, PMCs are likely to step outside their contractual obligations and commit criminal acts. This article adds to the literature on the subject by arguing that the elusiveness of PMCs’ individual or corporate responsibility for war crimes presents one of the greatest challenges for international humanitarian law (IHL). This presents a dilemma for IHL, which seeks to address individual offences. The situation becomes even more complicated when non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs) are involved in the use of PMCs

Commercial tricycle riders’ perceptions of psychoactive drug use and the risk of road traffic accidents in Uyo, Nigeria

This article reports qualitative interview study on commercial tricycle riders’ perceptions of psychoactive drug use and the risk of road traffic accidents in Nigeria. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit ninety-four (n=94) commercial tricycle riders in Uyo, Nigeria. Data were collected through in-depth, individual interviews. Inductive and thematic analyses were undertaken on the interview transcripts. The tricycle riders reported frequently consuming significant quantities of licit and illicit drugs, including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and heroin. They attributed drug use to occupational hazards such as stress, fatigue and exhaustion. They recognized the effects of psychoactive drug use on tricycle riding, including impairment of vision, coordination and navigational abilities, and how these increase the risk of traffic accidents. Education, routine screening for drug use, curbing bribery and corruption among road safety officials, and curtailing availability of psychoactive drugs were recommended as measures for preventing drug use and road traffic accidents. Findings indicate significant overlap between lay and expert views on the risk factors for traffic accidents and counter-measures, highlighting the need to integrate lay perspectives into policy and action on road safety to improve outcomes.Keywords: Commercial tricycle riders, psychoactive drugs, road traffic accident

Non-Lethal Weapons and Force-Casualty Aversion in 21st Century Warfare

Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW) such as humanitarian intervention in peacekeeping operations have been the main arguments for the development and deployment of non-lethal weapons. Such weapons which are spin-offs of the current Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) seek to reduce human casualties in warfare by reducing deaths and neutralising bloodshed. This constitutes a great leap-backward from the destructive arsenals of previous centuries. Previous studies have examined the motivation for the use of non-lethal weapons as being influenced by deterrent capability, civil policing, riot control, and stability and peace support operations. The support for the development and deployment of non-lethal weapons to avert casualties in warfare has been left in relative neglect. This paper argues that the most significant military utility of non-lethal weapons in warfare in 21st century lies in Force-Casualty Aversion (FCA)

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and the Conceptualisation of Peace Using Adjectives

La importància de la pau per a la civilització humana ha tendit a erigir la pau com una mena de condició universalment essencial. Com que la pau significa coses diferents per a persones diferents, hi ha un buit en el debat sobre la conceptualització de la pau. Galtung (1969, 1990) veu la pau com quelcom "negatiu" o bé "positiu" i Richmond (2007) adopta un punt de vista liberal, tot argumentant que el concepte de la pau en si mateix és ontològicament inestable i essencialment discutit. La qüestió de la conceptualització s'ha hagut d'enfrontar a molts dubtes per part de la comunitat investigadora. Les explicacions que recullen raons a favor d'un ús cada vegada més gran d'adjectius per a qualificar la pau es troben amb el problema de la manca de recerca prèvia. Aquest article vol omplir aquest buit en la literatura de recerca sobre la pau tot intentant utilitzar la teoria lingüística per a aportar raons que expliquin per què hi ha tantes variacions en l'ús del concepte de la pau construït principalment mitjançant l'ajuda i l'ús d'adjectius. Es manté que la idea que hi ha darrere la hipòtesi de Sapir-Whorf ens pot ajudar a entendre les raons que hi ha darrere l'ús creixent d'adjectius per a conceptualitzar la pau en el context de la globalització actual d'aquest concepte.The importance of peace to human civilisation has raised peace to a somewhat universally essential condition. Since peace means different things to different people, there is a void in the debate on the conceptualisation of peace. Galtung (1969, 1990) views peace as being either negative or positive and Richmond (2007) adopts a liberal standpoint, arguing that the concept of peace itself is ontologically unstable and essentially contested. The issue of conceptualisation has been met with much hesitation on the part of the research community. Explanations giving reasons for the increasing use of adjectives to qualify peace are lacking in previous research. This article contributes to filling this gap in the peace research literature by attempting to use linguistic theory to provide reasons why there are many variations in the usage of the peace concept constructed mostly through the help and use of adjectives. It is argued that the idea behind the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis can assist our understanding of the reasons for this growing use of adjectives in the context of present day globalisation of the peace concept.La importancia de la paz para la civilización humana ha tendido a aumentar la paz hasta algo esencial en sentido universal. La paz significa cosas distintas para gente distinta y por eso existe un vacío en el debate sobre la conceptualización de la paz. Galtung (1969, 1990) ve la paz como "negativa" o "positiva" y Richmond (2007) adopta un punto de vista liberal, arguyendo que el concepto de paz en sí mismo es inestable en sentido ontológico y básicamente contestado. El asunto de la conceptualización ha topado con mucha indecisión por parte de la comunidad investigadora. Hay falta de motivos para obtener explicaciones sobre el aumento progresivo de adjetivos para calificar la paz en las investigaciones previas. Este artículo contribuye a rellenar ese vacío en la bibliografía sobre la búsqueda de la paz intentando usar la teoría lingüística para ofrecer motivos de por qué hay muchas variantes en el uso del concepto de paz, creadas principalmente gracias a la ayuda y el uso de adjetivos. Se comenta que lo que hay detrás de las hipótesis de Sapir-Whorf puede contribuir a nuestro conocimiento del motivo del uso creciente de adjetivos para conceptualizar la paz en el contexto de globalización actual del concepto de paz

Emile Driant/Capitaine Danrit. La warfiction francese tra revanche ed orientalismo

Emile Driant/Capitaine Danrit. La warfiction francese tra revanche ed orientalism