The Role of the UN Peacekeeping in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

The objective of this essay is to explore the UN peacekeeping approach to human rights issues in light of the legal and political connection between promotion and protection of human rights and maintenance of international peace and security. To begin with, the evolution of peacekeeping vis-à-vis human rights will be examined from the first experiences of the UN missions in this field, mainly focused on the promotion of human rights, to the most recent ones where the protection of human rights is a fundamental component of their mandate. Then, the study will dwell on three aspects of human rights protection in UN peacekeeping that have become important in recent years, namely the cooperation with international justice to prosecute those having committed the most serious violations of human rights; the protection of civilian during crises; and the duty for peacekeeping itself to respect human rights during the accomplishment of its mission.