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ADVISORY SERVICE

ON INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW____________________________________

What is International Humanitarian Law?

What is internationalhumanitarian law?

International humanitarian law is aset of rules which seek, forhumanitarian reasons, to limit theeffects of armed conflict. It protectspersons who are not or are nolonger participating in the hostilitiesand restricts the means andmethods of warfare. Internationalhumanitarian law is also known asthe law of war or the law of armedconflict.

International humanitarian law is

part of international law, which is thebody of rules governing relationsbetween States. International law iscontained in agreements betweenStates treaties or conventions , incustomary rules, which consist ofState practise considered by themas legally binding, and in generalprinciples.

International humanitarian lawapplies to armed conflicts. It doesnot regulate whether a State mayactually use force; this is governedby an important, but distinct, part ofinternational law set out in theUnited Nations Charter.

Where did internationalhumanitarian law originate?

International humanitarian law isrooted in the rules of ancientcivilizations and religions warfarehas always been subject to certainprinciples and customs.

Universal codification of

international humanitarian lawbegan in the nineteenth century.Since then, States have agreed to aseries of practical rules, based onthe bitter experience of modernwarfare. These rules strike a careful

balance between humanitarianconcerns and the military

requirements of States.

As the international community hasgrown, an increasing number ofStates have contributed to thedevelopment of those rules.International humanitarian law formstoday a universal body of law.

Where is internationalhumanitarian law to be found?

A major part of international

humanitarian law is contained in thefour Geneva Conventions of 1949.Nearly every State in the world hasagreed to be bound by them. TheConventions have been developedand supplemented by two furtheragreements: the AdditionalProtocols of 1977 relating to theprotection of victims of armedconflicts.

Other agreements prohibit the useof certain weapons and militarytactics and protect certaincategories of people and goods.These agreements include:

! the 1954 Convention for theProtection of Cultural Propertyin the Event of Armed Conflict,plus its two protocols;

! the 1972 Biological WeaponsConvention;

! the 1980 ConventionalWeapons Convention and itsfive protocols;

! the 1993 Chemical WeaponsConvention;

! the 1997 Ottawa Convention onanti-personnel mines;

! the 2000 Optional Protocol tothe Convention on the Rights of

the Child on the involvement ofchildren in armed conflict.

Many provisions of internationalhumanitarian law are now acceptedas customary law that is, asgeneral rules by which all States arebound.

When does internationalhumanitarian law apply?

International humanitarian law

applies only to armed conflict; itdoes not cover internal tensions ordisturbances such as isolated actsof violence. The law applies onlyonce a conflict has begun, and thenequally to all sides regardless ofwho started the fighting.

International humanitarian lawdistinguishes between internationaland non-international armed conflict.International armed conflicts arethose in which at least two Statesare involved. They are subject to awide range of rules, including thoseset out in the four GenevaConventions and AdditionalProtocol I.

Non-international armed conflictsare those restricted to the territory ofa single State, involving eitherregular armed forces fighting groupsof armed dissidents, or armedgroups fighting each other. A morelimited range of rules apply tointernal armed conflicts and are laiddown in Article 3 common to the four

Geneva Conventions as well as inAdditional Protocol II.

It is important to differentiatebetween international humanitarianlaw and human rights law. While

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some of their rules are similar, thesetwo bodies of law have developedseparately and are contained indifferent treaties. In particular,human rights law unlikeinternational humanitarian law applies in peacetime, and many ofits provisions may be suspended

during an armed conflict.

What does internationalhumanitarian law cover?

International humanitarian lawcovers two areas:

! the protection of those who arenot, or no longer, taking part infighting;

! restrictions on the means ofwarfare in particular weapons

and the methods of warfare,such as military tactics.

What is protection?

International humanitarian lawprotects those who do not take partin the fighting, such as civilians andmedical and religious militarypersonnel. It also protects thosewho have ceased to take part, suchas wounded, shipwrecked and sickcombatants, and prisoners of war.

These categories of person areentitled to respect for their lives andfor their physical and mentalintegrity. They also enjoy legalguarantees. They must be protectedand treated humanely in allcircumstances, with no adversedistinction.

More specifically: it is forbidden tokill or wound an enemy whosurrenders or is unable to fight; thesick and wounded must be collected

and cared for by the party in whosepower they find themselves. Medicalpersonnel, supplies, hospitals andambulances must all be protected.

There are also detailed rulesgoverning the conditions ofdetention for prisoners of war and

the way in which civilians are to betreated when under the authority ofan enemy power. This includes theprovision of food, shelter andmedical care, and the right toexchange messages with theirfamilies.

The law sets out a number of clearlyrecognizable symbols which can beused to identify protected people,places and objects. The mainemblems are the red cross, the redcrescent and the symbols identifyingcultural property and civil defencefacilities.

What restrictions are there onweapons and tactics?

International humanitarian lawprohibits all means and methods of

warfare which:

! fail to discriminate betweenthose taking part in the fightingand those, such as civilians,who are not, the purpose beingto protect the civilianpopulation, individual civiliansand civilian property;

! cause superfluous injury orunnecessary suffering;

! cause severe or long-term

damage to the environment.

Humanitarian law has thereforebanned the use of many weapons,including exploding bullets, chemicaland biological weapons, blindinglaser weapons and anti-personnelmines.

Is international humanitarian lawactually complied with?

Sadly, there are countless examples

of violation of internationalhumanitarian law. Increasingly, thevictims of war are civilians.However, there are important caseswhere international humanitarianlaw has made a difference inprotecting civilians, prisoners, the

sick and the wounded, and inrestricting the use of barbaricweapons.

Given that this body of law appliesduring times of extreme violence,implementing the law will always bea matter of great difficulty. That said,

striving for effective complianceremains as urgent as ever.

What should be done toimplement the law?

Measures must be taken to ensurerespect for internationalhumanitarian law. States have anobligation to teach its rules to theirarmed forces and the general public.They must prevent violations orpunish them if these neverthelessoccur.

In particular, they must enact laws topunish the most serious violations ofthe Geneva Conventions andAdditional Protocols, which areregarded as war crimes. The Statesmust also pass laws protecting thered cross and red crescentemblems.

Measures have also been taken atan international level: tribunals havebeen created to punish actscommitted in two recent conflicts

(the former Yugoslavia andRwanda). An international criminalcourt, with the responsibility ofrepressing inter aliawar crimes, wascreated by the 1998 Rome Statute.

Whether as individuals or throughgovernments and variousorganizations, we can all make animportant contribution to compliancewith international humanitarian law.

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