Comment on the Pilot Empirical Survey Study on the Impact of Counterterrorism Measures on Humanitarian Action

Abstract

Counterterrorism laws and policies have been and will almost certainly continue to be part of the political landscape facing humanitarian actors. As terrorist-designated non-state actors increasingly control access to territory, humanitarian actors will continue to face dilemmas presented by adhering to counterterrorism legal requirements while delivering principled humanitarian assistance. Along with past literature, the Pilot Empirical Survey Study on the Impact of Counterterrorism Measures on Humanitarian Action (the Study) indicates that some humanitarian actors both perceive and experience an adverse impact arising from counterterrorism laws and policies on the provision of life-saving assistance. The results of the Study can help inform states, donors, policy-makers, humanitarian actors, and other parties of possible areas of tension or issues that might warrant legal or policy change (or both). Those results can also help shape research agendas. In this Comment, I provide my views on these issues, based not only on the Study but also on the other work of the Counterterrorism and Humanitarian Engagement (CHE) Project, which is now part of the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (HLS PILAC). The CHE Project at HLS PILAC has been conducting legal research, policy analysis, and engagement efforts with counterterrorism officials, government donors, and humanitarian actors for over five years. While the Study serves as the first effort to quantitatively assess the impact of counterterrorism regulations at a general level on humanitarian action, the broader efforts of the CHE Project suggest a number of areas for possible reflection, decision-making moments, and critical questions for consideration by donor governments and the humanitarian sector.