Foreign Policy and International Law

Introduction

The focus of this Insight is on the criminal accountability of members of the military component that may be part of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations (military members). Unfortunately, several member states that have contributed military members (Troop Contributing Countries or TCCs) have failed to hold their members accountable for alleged criminal misconduct such as rape.

A special thank you to Rebecca Hamilton for her editing and review of this article.

Introduction

[H]ope is an important and constitutive aspect of the human person. Those who commit the most abhorrent and egregious of acts and who inflict untold suffering upon others, nevertheless retain their fundamental humanity and carry within themselves the capacity to change . . . To deny them the experience of hope would be to deny a fundamental aspect of their humanity and, to do that, would be degrading.[1]