Análisis de la incidencia de armas no convencionales sobre la Seguridad Humana en sociedades postconflicto. El caso de Camboya y las minas antipersonal. Periodo de estudio: 1998 - 2008

Abstract

This research addresses the incidence of non-conventional weapons on Human Security in post-conflict societies, based on the case-study of anti-personnel landmines in Cambodia. The study includes a historical background of the war and conflict scenarios that for several decades affected the Cambodian society. Such background is essential to understand the complexity of the landmine phenomenon that is currently faced in the country. As a result, Human Security is analyzed based on the affliction caused by anti-personnel landmines on the survival of civilians and other human groups that have been and continue to be harmed by the presence and involuntary activation of such weapons. The analysis is conducted taking into consideration issues such as: the response of the Cambodian government to overcome the problem; the initiatives undertaken by national and international non-governmental organizations to address the same concern; the particularities of the Asian context; and, the understandings and interpretations in the region towards the concept and practice of Human Security. This research is conducted based on the discipline of International Relations within the theoretical framework of Critical Security Studies. The main findings of the investigation show that the effects of anti-personnel landmines in Cambodia on Human Security are considerably negative, since they seriously jeopardize the effective right to survival of civilians; generate constant threats and risks to both individuals and groups that lead to the weakening of the social tissue; cause Human Rights violations of those who have survived; and impose great challenges -at the social and political level, among others- to overcome both the presence of such weapons as well as the effects they produce.