What is International Humanitarian Law: What You Should Know

 

IHL is a set of rules that seeks, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It does not set out the conditions under which States can resort to the use of armed force.

IHL is applicable only in case of an international or non-international armed conflict; in case of other situations of violence not reaching the threshold for armed conflict, such as internal disturbances, internal tensions and other forms of collective violence that do not amount to armed conflict, IHL is not applicable and such situations are regulated by human rights law and domestic law.

Besides other sources of international law such as customary international law, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 are the main treaty source of IHL although there are a number of other relevant treaties.

An international armed conflict (IAC) occurs every time one or more States have to resort to armed force against another State.

It occurs regardless of the reasons or the intensity of this confrontation.

Occupation is governed by the rules applicable to international armed conflicts.

IHL aims to prevent and alleviate human suffering and war without discrimination based on sex. However, it does recognise that women face specific problems in armed conflict, such as sexual violence and risks to their health. Women must be “especially protected” from sexual violence. Women prisoners must be housed separately from men, to avoid sexual abuse. IHL further includes specific rules protecting expecting mothers and mothers of young children.

Children also benefit from special protection under IHL. Specific rules aim at protecting them from the effects of hostilities or from any other danger arising from the general circumstances of war.

Journalists engaged in professional missions in countries experiencing armed conflict must be respected as long as they are not taking part in hostilities. The Missing and dead also benefit from specific protection under IHL.

The First Geneva Convention provides protection for the wounded and sick soldiers on land and members of the armed forces’ medical services. No distinction may be made among wounded soldiers. Priority in the order of treatment for both civilians and combatants can be authorised only for medical reasons.

In cases where, for example, medical services are overwhelmed by an influx of wounded and sick, both friends and enemies, the doctors will attend first to those patients for whom delay might be fatal or at any rate prejudicial, proceeding afterwards to those whose condition is not such as to necessitate immediate attention.

In situations of armed conflict, internment refers to a specific type of non-criminal, non-punitive deprivation of liberty imposed for security reasons in armed conflict. The status of prisoner of war is primarily granted to combatants who have fallen into the power of an adverse party in an international armed conflict. The applicable rules on deprivation of liberty protect all persons detained in relation to an armed conflict.The rules regulating weapons prohibit the use of means and methods of warfare that are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering, and prohibit the use of weapons that are by nature indiscriminate and that cannot distinguish between civilians/civilian objects and combatants/military objectives.

Means and methods of warfare that cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or are incapable of distinguishing between civilian and military targets are prohibited regardless of whether there is a specific treaty regulating these weapons. In case there is a treaty and a State is not bound by it, that State remains bound to respect the rules and principles of IHL applicable to conduct of hostilities.

The use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare is prohibited under IHL.

Whether all Violations of The IHL can be considered as War Crimes?

Not all violations of IHL are considered war crimes, but only the most serious ones. The International Tribunal for former Yugoslavia is an international tribunal, having jurisdiction over the territory of the former Yugoslavia, created to prosecute individuals for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of war, genocide and crimes against humanity.

THE ICC AND NATIONAL JUDICIAL SYSTEMS

The role of the International Criminal Court is complementary to that of national judicial systems. It will investigate or prosecute only where the state is unwilling or unable to carry out the investigation or prosecution.

The Implementation of the International Humanitarian Law

Implementation of IHL is first and foremost the responsibility of the States Parties to the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. This responsibility is set forth in Article 1 common to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and in customary international law. It requires States to respect and ensure respect for IHL in all circumstances. In IHL governing NIACs, non-State armed groups must also respect and ensure respect for IHL.