Sandra C. Wisner

Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Trends

Author Order

Document Type

Co-Authors

Susan A. Bartels

Queen's University

Stéphanie Etienne

Gheskio Centers

Sabine Lee

University of Birmingham

Heather Stuart

Queen's University

Luissa Vahedi

Washington University in St. Louis

Georgia Fraulin

University of Alberta

Carla King

New York University

Gregory L. Ferraro

North Carolina State University

Cooperative Institutions

Queen's University

University of Birmingham

Washington University in St. Louis

University of Alberta

Gheskio Centers

Kingston Health Sciences Centre

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

McMaster University

Bridge University

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Field

Haiti's right to remedy and health-an urgent call to action

The Lancet Regional Health - Americas (2022)

Susan A. Bartels Sandra C. Wisner

Call to action

Right to Health

10.1016/j.lana.2022.100236

Cite

Citations (3)

Cholera in the Time of MINUSTAH: Experiences of Community Members Affected by Cholera in Haiti

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2022)

Susan A. Bartels Georgia Fraulin Stéphanie Etienne Sandra C. Wisner Sabine Lee

In 2010, Haiti experienced one of the deadliest cholera outbreaks of the 21st century. United Nations (UN) peacekeepers are widely believed to have introduced cholera, and the UN has formally apologized to Haitians and accepted responsibility. The current analysis examines how Haitian community members experienced the epidemic and documents their attitudes around accountability. Using SenseMaker, Haitian research assistants collected micronarratives surrounding 10 UN bases in Haiti. Seventy-seven cholera-focused micronarratives were selected for a qualitative thematic analysis. The five following major themes were identified: (1) Cholera cases and deaths; (2) Accessing care and services; (3) Protests and riots against the UN; (4) Compensation; and (5) Anti-colonialism. Findings highlight fear, frustration, anger, and the devastating impact that cholera had on families and communities, which was sometimes compounded by an inability to access life-saving medical care. Most participants believed that the UN should compensate cholera victims through direct financial assistance but there was significant misinformation about the UN’s response. In conclusion, Haiti’s cholera victims and their families deserve transparent communication and appropriate remedies from the UN. To rebuild trust in the UN and foreign aid, adequate remedies must be provided in consultation with victims.

Cholera

Cholera vaccine

10.3390/ijerph19094974

Cite

Citations (3)

The Invisible Hand

Journal of International Criminal Justice (2017)

Sandra C. Wisner

The relationship between crime and commerce remains largely unexamined within the realm of international criminal justice. While corporations continue to be immune from prosecution at the international level for violations of international criminal law, individuals, acting on behalf of corporations, have largely evaded liability as well. In this spirit, the author explores the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) ability to prosecute business leaders that profit from, enable and facilitate the act of forced population transfer, and hones in on the more challenging aspects of conducting such prosecutions. This article begins by examining the legal requirements for establishing guilt based upon the accessorial mode of liability of aiding and abetting. It then considers the extent to which pursuing these kinds of prosecutions will require a rethinking of the concept of who bears the greatest degree of responsibility. The systematic policies of forced population transfer employed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, in which businesses play an important role, will be used as a framework through which to assess the feasibility of such prosecutions. The author concludes that although there is no theoretical barrier to the ICC asserting jurisdiction over such leaders, successful prosecutions of this nature may prove challenging.

Realm

Criminal jurisdiction

10.1093/jicj/mqx019

Cite

Citations (18)

‘MINUSTAH is doing positive things just as they do negative things’: nuanced perceptions of a UN peacekeeping operation amidst peacekeeper-perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse in Haiti

Conflict Security and Development (2021)

Carla King Gregory L. Ferraro Sandra C. Wisner Stéphanie Etienne Sabine Lee

Haiti's instability at the turn of the millennium demanded unprecedented changes towards community-based peacekeeping strategies. While deemed successful by some in reducing actualised violence, the UN Peace Support Operation, MINUSTAH, was wrought with allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and mired by the inadvertent introduction of cholera. To understand the host community's experiences with MINUSTAH, data was collected around seven UN bases from 10 locations in Haiti between June and August 2017. We find that Haitian perceptions on reporting, justice and responsibility for SEA are in juxtaposition with MINUSTAH's efforts towards stabilisation and security. While participants identified positive perceptions of MINUSTAH that aligned with the novel community violence reduction strategy employed in Haiti, outstanding concerns around SEA remain. We recommend the UN addresses its environment of impunity, alters its practices and policies to be victim/survivor-centred and improve transparency and communication with host communities. The UN must make the systemic changes necessary to address impunity or provide reparations for peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA.

Impunity

Peacekeeping

International community

Sexual Violence

10.1080/14678802.2021.1997453

Cite

Citations (15)

Criminalizing Corporate Actors for Exploitation of Natural Resources in Armed Conflict

Journal of International Criminal Justice (2018)

Sandra C. Wisner

A coherent framework for the protection of natural resources in situations of armed conflict remains absent. This concern is heightened by the current prevalence of self-financed war economies centred on mineral exploitation. Interestingly, targeted sanctions regimes imposed by the Security Council to resolve natural resource-related armed conflicts have predominantly focused on foreign forces. In doing so, such regimes have uncovered the seemingly vital role that the private sector plays in these modern ‘resource wars’. The effectiveness of natural resources sanctions regimes set out by the Security Council in coercing a change in target behaviour is debated. Nonetheless, the interplay of these sanctions regimes with international criminal law has developed in specificity and authority and thus warrants investigation. In this spirit, this article examines the extent to which United Nations natural resources sanctions regimes impact the international criminal architecture and, in particular, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecution of corporate actors for the war crime of pillage. This article will proceed in three sections. First, it analyses the linkage between listings for Security Council sanctions and the initiation of investigations at the ICC and, in particular, the regimes’ influence on triggering investigations against corporate actors. Second, it assesses the ability of these regimes’ expert reports to establish criminal complicity, with a specific focus on the practice of the ICC in admitting these reports into evidence. Third, it reflects on these regimes’ potential to influence prosecutorial strategy at the ICC towards a focus on the economic dimensions of armed conflict. The article concludes that the sanctions regimes can have a considerable impact on the international criminalization of corporate actors involved in the continuation of these modern resource wars.

Complicity

Economic Sanctions

International community

10.1093/jicj/mqy060

Cite

Citations (20)

“It’s because We are ‘Loose Girls’ That’s why We had Children with MINUSTAH Soldiers”: A Qualitative Analysis of Stigma Experienced by Peacekeeper-Fathered Children and Their Mothers in Haiti

Journal of Interpersonal Violence (2022)

Luissa Vahedi Heather Stuart Stéphanie Etienne Sandra C. Wisner Sabine Lee

Sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) perpetrated by UN peacekeepers while on mission is a violation of human rights and undermines the goal of upholding human rights in countries that host peacekeeping missions. In addition to survivors, children fathered by peacekeepers are also victims of SEA that need protection. Stigma poses negative life course consequences for SEA survivors and their peacekeeper-fathered children. However, there is a considerable lack of empirical research concerning the stigma experiences of SEA survivors and their children in post-colonial contexts. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by drawing on The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti as a case study to examine the lived experiences of stigma among SEA survivors and their resultant children. Using 18 qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted in 2017 with Haitian women raising peacekeeper-fathered children, we organized qualitative codes according to Link and Phelan’s conceptual model of stigma. The stigmatization process was explored through the themes of labeling, stereotyping, separation, and status loss and discrimination, as described by Link and Phelan. In addition, we nuanced the lived experiences of stigma by discussing the buffering roles of familial acceptance, skin phenotype, and the Haitian context. The findings have implications for the UN. We advocate that stigma be recognized and acted upon as a fundamental protection concern for SEA survivors and their children. Accordingly, the UN has an obligation to provide stigma-related supports for victims and complainants as well as to facilitate long-term child support for the children left behind by peacekeepers.

Peacekeeping

Stigma

Obligation

10.1177/08862605211072178

Cite

Citations (5)