"Spain is a model in terms of troop training" 

Just a few days ago, the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine turned one year old. In these 365 days we have seen how war - once again in Europe - has ravaged a country, killing thousands of civilians and causing devastating consequences, both in human and material terms. However, in addition to Ukraine, there are many other armed conflicts around the world today. Despite what is happening on European soil, we should not forget the people of Africa or the Middle East who are also suffering from the effects of war.

With the aim of addressing several current conflicts and their effects on the civilian population, the Spanish Human Rights Observatory has organised a conference at the Miguel de Cervantes University of Europe (Valladolid) dedicated to analysing the role of the armed forces in conflicts. The conference "Armed forces in the international framework of humanitarian law", which is followed by the Catalejo 2023 Awards ceremony, began with a round table focused on the civilian population in war conflicts: Balkans, Daesh, Afghanistan and Ukraine. 

This issue counted with the participation of Santiago Castellá, subdelegate of the Government in Tarragona; Pilar Rangel, professor of International Public Law and International Relations at the University of Malaga; Ignacio Sell, professor at the Camilo José Cela University; and Javier García Media, professor at the University of Valladolid.

Firstly, Santiago Castellá presented the international framework of human rights, alluding to historical events such as the Peace of Westphalia, the Second World War and the creation of the United Nations and its many conventions and declarations. "The permanent struggle of humanity has brought us to know very hard times, circumstances in which there has been a great lack of humanity", he pointed out. 

After explaining the evolution and the efforts made to establish rules that protect human rights, Pilar Rangel focused on the current situation in the Sahel, a region that is experiencing a worrying expansion of jihadist terrorism. The Sahel is also one of the poorest areas in the world, which pushes the population to work for organised crime trafficking drugs entering the Gulf of Guinea or for terrorism. 

"The circumstances in the Sahel are ideal for terrorists to run wild," says Rangel, who points out that, during the time of the caliphate in Iraq and Syria, many analysts were already pointing to the Sahel as the next jihadist hotspot.

The civilian population is the main victim of this situation. Terrorist groups enter villages, razing everything in their path or forcing community leaders to impose the sharia. Civilians also become collateral damage in the clashes between the national armed forces and the jihadists. Indeed, the Malian army itself, trained by France and other European countries, is accused of violating the human rights of the population.

MINUSMA, the UN mission in the region, has also been the target of attacks by jihadist organisations. In fact, it is the UN mission that has received the most attacks. 

To this serious panorama must be added the Wagner group, linked to Russia, which has a presence in several African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali. Here, once again, the victims are civilians. It is estimated that Wagner has killed between 300 and 500 civilians while carrying out anti-terrorist operations in Mali.

Ignacio Sell, for his part, highlighted the important role of new technologies in today's conflicts. In addition to favouring the development of weapons, technology can also serve to help the civilian population in wars. On this point, Sell highlighted technological initiatives in digital platforms such as databases that serve to anticipate situations, as well as mechanisms to monitor the advance of troops and locate material damage so that the population knows which services are disabled.

Similarly, those who leave the country and become refugees can rely on technology to send economic resources, process state aid, create funds or access the country's public administration. As an example, Sell presented the Together application, used to facilitate the lives of refugees in Spain. 

Returning to the victims of conflicts, Javier García Medina highlighted the serious situation of women, children, the elderly and the disabled. He also recalled that a conflict does not begin when the bombs start to fall, but before, with messages of hatred that create fear and psychological effects on the population. "War is not just the battle. There is no industry, no commerce", says Medina, who also underlines the threats faced by children, such as mutilation, sexual abuse or trafficking, as well as women, who are targets of gang rapes in times of war.  

In this sense, Medina also mentions the elderly and the disabled, who face problems from the very first moment the conflict breaks out because they cannot take refuge in shelters or protect themselves. "Their security is much more threatened," he says. "These people are often left behind. In the refugee camps, they are not prepared for people with disabilities. There are no necessary services," Medina explains. 

Despite the challenges and threats we face today, the speakers say that we have come a long way in terms of human rights. "Any country that violates human rights does not go unpunished," says Castellá. However, they do point out that there are certain areas in the world where these rights are not guaranteed. "We have made progress, but in the case of Africa, many failed states cannot guarantee human rights. If governments or international missions cannot protect civilians, they will have failed," explains Rangel. 

Sell, for his part, affirms that, despite not suffering from war or conflict, many authoritarian regimes do not respect the freedoms of their citizens. In this sense, we could mention, for example, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is responsible for the deaths of almost 500 people during the demonstrations that began last September. "A meeting of this kind in another country would be banned," says Medina. 

The second round table, moderated by the journalist and director of ATALAYAR, Javier Fernández Arribas, focused on "peacekeeping forces as guarantors of humanitarian law". Participants included Jaime Íñiguez, Major General in the reserve; Alfonso García-Vaquero, Brigadier General; and Ignacio López, Colonel 2nd Chief of the International Cooperation Secretariat of the Guardia Civil.

Before giving way to the speakers, Fernández Arribas recalled his experience as a journalist in conflict zones such as the Balkans and Lebanon, praising the work of the Spanish Armed Forces in the field, not only on a military level, but also in helping the civilian population. 

At the beginning of his speech, Jaime Íñiguez recalled that no incident of any kind has ever been reported within the Spanish Armed Forces abroad, which demonstrates the good training and values of the national soldiers, who are trained in International Humanitarian Law, laws that seek to mitigate the effects of armed conflicts. According to a 2016 UN report, if these rules related to wars were respected, many of the consequences of conflicts would not exist or would be less. There would not be as many civilian deaths or displaced persons.

In addition to analysing traditional and conventional threats, Íñiguez noted that cybersecurity and Wagner-type private companies are also being addressed. For NATO, some of the priorities or "cross-cutting issues" are the protection of civilians, children, cultural heritage, as well as the fight against sexual violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking. NATO missions also aim to build integrity in the countries where it intervenes.

In these countries, foreign troops cooperate with the country's forces, as was the case in Mali or Afghanistan, although on many occasions, national forces did not respect human rights or standards related to the treatment of prisoners. 

Alfonso García-Vaquero, for his part, stresses that it is necessary to have an interlocutor in the conflict zone when deploying. "It is necessary to establish a clear and frank dialogue with a single interlocutor who is a legal representative of the country," he explains. Among the challenges, the Brigadier General mentions the difficulty of identifying members of terrorist groups in areas affected by this scourge. "They hide among the population, but the first priority is to protect and to ensure that there is no collateral damage," he remarked. 

García-Vaquero also listed several priorities of the Spanish Armed Forces in conflict zones, namely the protection of women, children, the elderly, the wounded and refugees. "Spain is a model in terms of troop training," he acknowledged. It is also a priority, within the troops, to maintain morale, leadership and uphold values. "We are a family, we have to keep united in line with these human values," he stressed. 

To conclude, Ignacio López once again praised the work of the Spanish Armed Forces, pointing out that the country "is a reference for others". López described the Guardia Civil's international projection through crisis management missions and international police operations. For López, the force is key in "areas that do not need a total deployment but do need support", as the Guardia Civil "does a good job in military-civilian tasks". Between 1991 and 2022, more than 6,400 Civil Guards have participated in international and civilian crisis management missions, having received prior training in human rights and international humanitarian law.

The Guardia Civil has an important role to play in assisting European policy in projects that promote development. "There is no development without security, and there is no security without development," López stresses. Some of these initiatives are carried out in the Sahel or in Latin America. "It is not necessary to intervene to protect human rights, you have to start working when you start to detect problems".