A Case Study: Human Rights Violations in Gaza: A qualitative analysis of the UN’s responsibility under the principle of R2P to combat the violations of articles 3 & 13 of the UDHR in Gaza

Abstract

This case study examines how the United Nations (UN) is responsible, in accordance with the concept of the Responsibility To Protect (R2P), for combating the violations of articles 3 and 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in Gaza. These articles entail the right to life, liberty and security of person (article 3) and the right to freedom of movement and residence (article 13). Henec, the focus lies on the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip since 2007 and how this has resulted in a humanitarian crisis thereby violating Gazans’ human rights. The research paper highlights the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and explains how the human rights violations fall under the principle of R2P. Many scholars have neglected to shed light on the UN’s responsibility to act in the case of the blockade on Gaza seeing as the emphasis is put on the availability of aid and other reactive measures. Therefore, this research paper aims to apply Young’s justice theory and social connection model of responsibility in order to form a better understanding of how the UN is to be held accountable for the human rights violations in Gaza. Thus the focus lies on analyzing the UN’s moral and social responsibility to act on the blockade and as such the analysis is based on a qualitative approach. This thesis uses a thematic content analysis on data which mainly consists of documents, conventions, articles and other drafted reports from the UN, their subsidiary agencies as well as other human rights organizations. As a result, this study finds that the blockade has severely impacted the lives of Gazans by limiting their access to basic necessities such as food, water, sanitation, adequate health care and electricity. Due to the limitations caused by the blockade, Gazans have been denied their freedom of movement and have lost their right to self-determination resulting in major mental traumas which they cannot recover from. The UN has taken many reactive measures to improve the living conditions in Gaza, despite their efforts however, these measures have not resolved the issue of the human rights violations. This is because these measures are short term solutions meaning that they do not actually address the root cause of the problem, and hence the humanitarian crisis remains.