Conflict and peace

Conflict and peace

Some of the most egregious instances of human rights abuses occur in conflict zones. The Peace and Conflict theme of BHRIGHT serves as a focal point for the Centre and University’s work to examine and analyse the various roles and impacts businesses have in situations of armed conflict and peace-building efforts around the world.

Some of the most egregious instances of human rights abuses occur in conflict zones. The Peace and Conflict theme of BHRIGHT serves as a focal point for the Centre and University’s work to examine and analyse the various roles and impacts businesses have in situations of armed conflict and peace-building efforts around the world.

Some of the most egregious instances of human rights abuses occur in conflict zones. The Peace and Conflict theme of BHRIGHT serves as a focal point for the Centre and University’s work to examine and analyse the various roles and impacts businesses have in situations of armed conflict and peace-building efforts around the world.

Our goal is to positively influence business behaviour in conflict-affected areas, and related public policy and regulation at the domestic and international levels. We do so through scholarly research and collaboration with industry and civil society partners. This work includes the development of practical guidance for businesses and other stakeholders to explore how to achieve more responsible business practices in conflict-affected areas, including respecting the laws of armed conflict and the protection of human rights.  Concurrently, the cluster explores the possibilities and perils of the private sector’s involvement in humanitarian and peace-building activities.  

"BHRIGHT acknowledges and thanks Australian Red Cross for its collaboration within the theme of responsible business in conflict zones. That partnership has made many of the resources featured on this page possible. We recognise Australian Red Cross’ unique role in advancing knowledge of international humanitarian law (laws of armed conflict), including amongst the Australian business community."

Text And Media Video

Business operating in conflict zones with Jonathan Kolieb

Dr Jonathan Kolieb discusses researching business and human rights in conflict zones.

Theme resources

Feature publications

At first glance, it can be hard to see how international humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the laws of war, is relevant to Australian businesses. Some people think the Geneva Conventions – which form the cornerstone of IHL – only relate to governments and humanitarian workers, not private industries like mining and energy companies. But IHL is an important and often overlooked consideration in discussions about responsible business practices in complex environments. And a diverse range of businesses face real ethical and legal risks in the context of armed conflict.

These businesses have the power and influence to significantly impact – positively and negatively – the communities in which they operate. A genuine application of the ‘do no harm’ principle should involve a proactive understanding, honouring and promotion of IHL in their business operations.

Australian Red Cross and RMIT University have teamed up to develop a simple framework to help businesses include international humanitarian law (IHL) – also known as the laws of war – in their existing risk-management protocols and human rights due diligence processes.

Our Seven Indicators framework will help businesses address and mitigate these risks through the implementation of international humanitarian law standards. Adherence to this framework will also help businesses demonstrate their commitment to upholding the universally accepted standards of responsible and humane conduct in conflict-affected areas.

Academic publications

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This article examines the question of how a business operating in a conflict-affected area can uphold human rights. It contends that a crucial yet often overlooked element is a business’s commitment to embedding the fundamental standards of international humanitarian law (IHL) (as distinct from international human rights law) into its policies and practices. While some businesses operate with greater conflict sensitivity than others, in most cases they do not use an IHL lens to do so. The article outlines the significance of IHL for business and provides an affirmative case for greater integration of IHL into the Business and Human Rights project, including its governance instruments and practical tools, to help realise the goal of responsible business conduct in conflict-affected areas.

Description: The current United Nations process for drafting a Business and Human Rights treaty employs international human rights law as its paradigmatic frame of reference, including for the scope of corporations’ legal obligations. Applying an evaluative framework based on Thomas Franck, Robert Keohane and David Victor’s works on the legitimacy and effectiveness of international law and governance, this Article critiques the use of international human rights law for this purpose. Instead, due to several conceptual and practical advantages, it argues that the set of corporate human rights obligations to be enshrined in this first treaty should be based on the narrower scope of international criminal law.

Remarkably, proponents of corporate accountability for international crimes, as well as those taking the contrary view, both invoke the legal history of the Nuremberg-era and in particular its treatment of major German corporations, to bolster their arguments. Seventy years after the fact, the Nuremberg-era’s legacy towards holding corporations legally accountable for participation in grave violations of international law remains at the centre of the contemporary debate, yet mired in confusion. This article offers an approach to understanding the competing modern-day interpretations of Nuremberg’s legacy, and explores what insights can be drawn from the dispute that may inform the future of corporate accountability for international crimes.

  • Jonathan Kolieb, ‘Australia: The Great Southern Land of Corporate Accountability? Prospects of Human Rights Litigation Against Corporate Bad-Actors in Australian Courts,’ Pandora’s Box Law Journal (2017)

The April 2013 US Supreme Court's Kiobel decision has caused quite a flutter amongst many corporate lawyers and the executives they work for. The decision greatly diminishes the threat to their collective bottom-line of the Alien Tort Statute ("ATS") - a heretofore much vaunted weapon in the armoury of advocates pursuing compensation claims in US courts on behalf of victims of alleged corporate human rights abuses.

  • Jonathan Kolieb, ‘Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell -  A Challenge to Transitional Justice,’  Macquarie Law Journal, Vol. 13, Special Edition: Achieving Transitional Justice (2014)

This case note reviews the 2013 US Supreme Court decision in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co (‘Kiobel’) with reference to its potential implications for transitional justice. It argues that the Alien Tort Statute was an innovative transitional justice mechanism that has, due to the Kiobel decision, been sharply curtailed. Moreover, what the Court offered by way of reasoning for its dismissal of the Kiobel case, and what it did not say regarding liability for corporations raise concerning issues for the prospects of non-American human rights victims seeking redress and justice in US courts.

  • Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb and Jonathan Kolieb, ‘Corporate Sustainable Peace-building:  Exploring the Potential for Corporate Contributions to Conflict Resolution in Africa’ in Salome Bronkhurst and Urmilla Bob (ed.),Conflict-Sensitive Adaptation to Climate Change in Africa, DWV, Berlin (2014)

  • Jonathan Kolieb, ‘Protecting the Most Vulnerable: Embedding Children’s Rights in the Business And Human Rights Project’ in Research Handbook on Human Rights and Business, Surya Deva and David Birchall (eds.), Edward Elgar (2020)

This chapter explores the relationship between business and children’s rights, including the responsibilities of business to uphold children’s rights. After an historical overview of international children’s rights, it analyses those children’s rights and related principles that are pertinent to business and their human rights responsibilities. The chapter assesses the treatment of children’s rights by key business and human rights (BHR) processes and instruments, including the UN Guiding Principles, and highlights some key child rights issues impacted by business activities. Finally, the chapter offers some thoughts as to the way forward to better integrate children’s rights into the BHR discourse and to continuously improve businesses’ respect and advancement of children’s rights.

  • Jonathan Kolieb,  “Jesner v. Arab Bank: The US Supreme Court Forecloses on Accountability for Corporate Human Rights Abuses,” Australian International Law Journal, Vol. 24 (2018)

On 24 April 2018, the US Supreme Court handed down its decision in Jesner v. Arab Bank. In a remarkable decision, the majority in Jesner ignored or overturned its own recent decisions and denied the ATS’s applicability to corporations. This is the latest in a string of lawsuits to reach the highest court in the United States brought against a non-American multinational corporation for serious human rights abuses committed beyond the borders of the US under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS).

  • Marta Poblet and Jonathan Kolieb, ‘Responding to Human Rights Abuses in the Digital Age: New Tools, Old Challenges’ Stanford Journal of International Law, Vol. 54 (2018)

The twenty-first century cyberspace offers unprecedented opportunities for prosperity and development, but also a series of new and evolving threats to international peace, security, and human rights. For some years now, there have been sustained efforts from civil society groups across the world to harness the Internet for human rights causes. However, by publicising human rights abuses in near-real time to mass audiences, the new uses of digital technologies may also challenge the legitimacy of the international legal order itself, especially if states are not able to action their legal obligations to prevent those crimes. This Article examines some examples of the interplay between people, digital tools, and open data, and the capacity to deploy innovative digital ways to assist human rights monitoring. It also considers both the opportunities and challenges involved in using digital tools to assist in the prevention of egregious human rights abuses, such as war crimes and genocide.

Podcast

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Better Place: Talking International Law

Better Place is a podcast developed by Peace and Conflict Theme Leader Jonathan Kolieb to celebrate those who have pursued practical careers in international law. The series includes in interviews with human rights advocates, peacekeeping professionals and international law professionals. Better Place hopes to demystify what it means to “do” international law and provide students of international law some insight into some illustrative career journeys of leading international law practitioners.

YouTube Channel

Better Place: Talking International Law

Modules

Free Business-oriented training modules featured on Australian Red Cross training website. Jonathan Kolieb has contributed to the development of the online modules.

This features several short online modules designed for businesspeople (including sustainability, legal and risk managers) and security personnel: 

  • "Introduction to Security, Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law"
  • "International Humanitarian Law for Company Leaders"
  • "International Humanitarian Law for Energy and Extractives Companies"
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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.

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aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.

More information