INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW and THE IRAQ CRISIS

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INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAWandTHE IRAQ CRISIS

• 
  SUSAN SOUX
• 
  April 2003

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International Humanitarian Law ?

• the RULES which seek, for humanitarian reasons,
  to limit the effects of armed conflict, protect
  people who are not, or are no longer taking part
  in the hostilities, and to restrict the methods
  and means of warfare employed

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IHLorthe law of armed conflicts or law of
war

• Geneva
• Hague

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Geneva

• the law of Geneva is designed to safeguard
  military personnel who are no longer taking part
  in the fighting and people not actively involved
  in hostilities
• Hors de combat
• Civilians
• Medical/religious personnel

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The Hague

• the law of The Hague establishes the rights and
  obligations of belligerents in the conduct of
  military operations, and limits the means of
  harming the enemy

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International humanitarian law prohibits all
means and methods of warfare which

• fail to discriminate
• cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering
• cause severe or long-term damage to the
  environment.

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Other agreements prohibit the use of certain
weapons and military tactics and protect certain
categories of people and goods.

• ? 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 four 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.
• Many provisions of international humanitarian
  law are now accepted as customary law that is,
  as general rules by which all States are bound.
•  

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HENRI DUNANTBATTLE OF SOLFERINO
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History

• 1859 Battle of Solferino
• 1863 ICRC
• Geneva Conventions - 1864
• Hague laws 1899/1907
• 1949 Geneva conventions
• 1977 Additional Protocols

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Geneva Conventions 1949
Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed
Forces in the Field. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the
Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked
Members of Armed Forces at Sea. Geneva, 12
August 1949. Convention (III) relative to the
Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva, 12 August
1949. Convention (IV) relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
Geneva, 12 August 1949.

• Iraq ratified Geneva Conventions 1956
• US ratified in 1955

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Additional Protocols 1977

• Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of
  12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of
  Victims of International Armed Conflicts
  (Protocol I), 8 June 1977.
• Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of
  12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of
  Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts
  (Protocol II), 8 June 1977.
• Neither Iraq nor the US have ratified the
  Protocols

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International Human Rights Law

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
• International Covenant on Social,Economic and
  cultural Right
• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights
• other conventions/covenants
• Convention on the Status of Refugees 1951
• Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement -
  1998

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International Tribunals

• Nuremburg
• ICTY - Hague
• ICTR - Rwanda
• Sierra Leone
• International Criminal Court (Rome 1998/2002)
• Universal Jurisdiction
• Genocide
• War Crimes Crimes Against
  Humanity

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Current Issues

• Allegations of indiscriminate bombing
• Targeting under IHL
• Ensuring Humanitarian Access
• Status of Combatants, Civilians and Civilians
  Taking Up Arms
• Suicide Attacks - Perfidy
• Occupying Forces

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International Red Cross

• Protectors of the Geneva Conventions
• impartial, neutral and independent
• from any political objective
• Right to be present when conflict breaks out
• Protect the lives and dignity of victims of war
• Monitors compliance with Geneva Conventions
• Visits POWs
• Provides medical/humanitarian assistance

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IRAQ

• ICRC - in battle areas
• Hospitals
• Water
• Pows
• Tracing
• IFRC and Red Crescent Societies outside the
  battle
• Refugee camps
• Tracing
• Humanitarian assistance

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International Delegates
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Water Systems
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Medical Assistance
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Family Tracing
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Refugee Camps
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Orthopaedic Centres
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OrthopaedicCentres
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• Resources
• www.icrc.org
• www.ifrc.org
• www.redcross.ca
• http//www.ihlresearch.org/iraq/
• http//www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/civilians/
• www.unhcr.ch

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• "As human beings, we cannot be neutral, or at
  least have no right to be, when other human
  beings are suffering. Each of us...must do what
  he or she can to help those in need, even though
  it would be much safer and more comfortable to do
  nothing."
• - Kofi AnnanUN Secretary-General