Preparing an HR course for 2011. La Paquete Habana is a lovely case to connect with current Humanitarian Law crises. It works at the level of argument and principle. ref – Sri Lankan encirclement of LTTE fighters and civilians raises questions of the treatment of civilians and their need to find food and to be safe from armed interference. Sri Lanka is a great case study since both sides have argued their cases in the world media. No we did not target civilians of hospitals, they did. They are using civilians as a human shield as well as a target but we cannot tell who is an LTTE fighter and who is a civilian. We are letting civilians go but we cannot let them in case fighters escape. We have set up a safety zone, but we shelled it. You can believe that we are fighting within the remit of the Geneva Conventions but we will not let you verify that or let in humanitarian organisations! Same hugely contested arguments as Israel/Palestine in 2009, Sudan, Swat valley in Pakistan. THAT’s WHY an HR course is so vital!!
