Conflict Termination from a Human Rights Perspective

The exact moment when the application of jus post bellum is supposed to begin and end is still under debate. This chapter approaches the question from a human rights perspective, analyzing the practice of international human rights bodies regarding “post”-conflict situations. Elections, the reintegration of militia, security sector reforms, the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, and progressing economic developments have been used as political factors for marking an approaching end of jus post bellum. However, international practice also shows that assessment of the “post” needs to be context specific and varies according to the concrete case at hand. The chapter assesses the ECtHR decision Sejdić and Finci v Bosnia and Herzegovina, recommendations of UN human rights monitoring bodies concerning Lebanon’s post-Civil War confessional power-sharing system, and the transition of Libya after the international military intervention in 2011. The chapter concludes with a synopsis of indicators for defining the temporal scope of jus post bellum.