Humanitarian intervention and human rights: The contradictions in ECOMOG

To the residents of the target community, humanitarian intervention connotes an act of benevolence, which will ease their suffering and ensure the protection of human rights. However, such interventions and the eventual conduct of troops, no matter how well meaning, rarely produce this outcome. Liberia and Somalia are just two examples. This article, through an analysis of the ECOMOG intervention in Liberia, examines the human rights issues brought about in ‘humanitarian missions’, particularly in instances of peacekeeping and peace enforcement. It argues that there are inherent contradictions in peace enforcement operations and efforts to protect human rights and that the institutional set‐up of the organisation authorising these operations will determine the extent to which human rights violations can be curbed. The article discusses the impact of the ECOMOG operations on human rights in Liberia and how the institutional values of the parent organisation, ECOWAS, affected the conduct of the troops. It concludes with a discussion on prospects for institutionalising human rights protocols under ECOWAS in national legislation of member states, to guide future military operations.