INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW (IH Law)
·
It is a set of rules which seek, for
humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects
persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts
the means and methods of warfare. International humanitarian law is also known
as the law of war or the law of armed conflict.
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW protects
those who do not take part in the fighting, such as civilians and medical and
religious military personnel. It protects those who have ceased to take part,
wounded, shipwrecked and sick combatants, and prisoners.
These categories of person are entitled to respect for their lives and for their physical and mental integrity.
It is forbidden to kill or wound an enemy who surrenders or is unable to fight; the sick and wounded must be collected and cared for by the party in whose power they find themselves. Medical personnel, supplies, hospitals and ambulances must all be protected.
Food, shelter and medical care, and the right to exchange
messages with their families.
The main emblems are the red cross, the red crescent and
the symbols identifying cultural property and civil defense facilities.
fail to discriminate between those taking part in the fighting and those, such as civilians, who are not, the purpose being to protect the civilian population, individual civilians and civilian property; cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering;· cause severe or long-term damage to the environment.
Humanitarian law banned the use of many weapons, including
exploding bullets, chemical and biological weapons, blinding laser weapons and
anti-personnel mines.
- IH Law is part of international law, which is the body of rules governing relations between States.
- International law is contained in agreements between States treaties or conventions, in customary rules, which consist of State practise considered by them as legally binding, and in general principles.
- IH Law applies to armed conflicts. It does not regulate whether a State may actually use force; this is governed by an important, but distinct, part of international law set out in the United Nations Charter.
- IH Law is rooted in the rules of ancient civilizations and religions warfare has always been subject to certain principles and customs.
- Universal codification of international humanitarian law began in the 19thcentury.States have agreed to a series of practical rules, based on the bitter experience of modern warfare. These rules strike a careful balance between humanitarian concerns and the military requirements of States. As the international community has grown, an increasing number of States have contributed to the development of those rules. International humanitarian law forms today a universal body of law.
Agreements prohibit the use of certain weapons
and military tactics and protect certain categories of people and goods.
These agreements include:
·
the 1954 Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, plus its two protocols;
·
the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention;
·
the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention and
its five protocols;
·
the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention;
·
the 1997 Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel
mines;
·
the 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
·
IH Law
applies only to armed conflict; it does not cover internal tensions or
disturbances such as isolated acts of violence. The law applies only once a
conflict has begun, and then equally to all sides regardless of who started the
fighting.
·
IH Law
distinguishes between international and non-international armed conflict.
International armed conflicts are those in
which at least two States are involved. They are subject to a wide range of
rules, including those set out in the four Geneva Conventions and Additional
Protocol I.
Non-international armed conflicts are those restricted to the territory of a single State, involving either regular armed forces fighting groups of armed dissidents, or armed groups fighting each other. A more limited range of rules apply to internal armed conflicts and are laid down in Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions as well as in Additional Protocol II.
International humanitarian law covers:
·
the protection of those who are not, or no
longer, taking part infighting;
·
restrictions on the means of warfare – in
particular weapons and the methods of warfare, such as military tactics.
