INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

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INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW (IHL)

& THE RED CROSS MOVEMENT

What is International Humanitarian Law (IHL)?

International Humanitarian Law (IHL), or the Law of War, consists of a set of laws which serves to limit human suffering inflicted during situations of international or non-international armed conflict. They include rules pertaining to the protection of cultural property and to the limited use of weapons. If wars cannot be prevented, then human suffering should be minimised. IHL lays out that even war has limits.

How did IHL and the Red Cross come about?

In 1859, when Swiss Henry Dunant witnessed the Battle of Solferino, he was moved by the suffering of the victims of warfare and came up with the idea of the creation of national relief societies.

In a meeting convened in 1863 by four citizens of Geneva and attended by specialists from 16 countries, ten resolutions were adopted which gave rise to the Red Cross.

The Swiss Government than convened a diplomatic conference in Geneva in August 1864 where delegates of 12 participating countries adopted the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field.

The Convention recognised the red cross on a white background as a protective emblem to be used by all armies for identifying their medical personnel, hospitals and ambulances.

The Geneva Convention of 1864 was adopted and expanded in 1949 to cover new categories of war victims due to the changing nature of conflicts and their widespread effects

In 1949, representatives from governments, shaken from the horrors of World War II gathered in Geneva for a diplomatic conference and adopted the new versions of the four Geneva Conventions in 1949.

The Geneva Conventions (1949)

Geneva Convention (I) – for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field.

Geneva Convention (II) – for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea.

Geneva Convention (III) – relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Geneva Convention (IV) – relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

What does it all mean?

Signatories to the Geneva Conventions pledge the following:

To treat humanely all persons who are not taking an active part in hostilities, as well as those who have been made incapable to participate in battle through injury or detention. There should be no distinction made as to race, religion, or creed.

To prohibit violence in particular extermination, torture, mutilation, deportations and other acts which diminish the dignity of the human being.

To respect the rights, customs, and honour of the human being, especially the rights of the most vulnerable groups – elderly, women and children.

To respect humanitarian activities by ICRC or other humanitarian organisations to protect and relieve war victims.

To disseminate the Geneva Conventions to armed forces and civilians in both times of war and peace.

Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions (1977)

Adopted to manage the new situations and changing realities of armed conflict.

Additional Protocol (I) – Protection of victims of international armed conflicts.

Expands provision of Geneva Conventions to include conflicts of national liberation / self-determination. Protection is detailed in favour of children, women and journalists and use of indiscriminate weapons and means of warfare which cause unnecessary human suffering and severely damages the environment is prohibited.

Additional Protocol (II) – Protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts.

Develops Article III of the Geneva Conventions relating to non-international armed conflicts. Fundamental guarantees are provided for those not party to the hostilities and general protection for the civilian population in non-international conflicts is provided for.

What constitutes International Humanitarian Law?

the Law of Geneva, designed to safeguard military personnel who are not or no longer taking part in the hostilities and persons not actively involved in the conflict, in particular civilians

the Law of The Hague, which establishes the rights and obligations of combatants in the conduct of military operations, and limits the means of harming the enemy.

Those two branches of IHL are not completely separate because the effect of some rules of law of the above are complementary. The Additional Protocols, which combine both branches of IHL, was adopted in 1977, and the distinction between the two branches of IHL are now merely historical.

Four Categories of Treaties related to IHL

The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the two Additional Protocols of 1977 form the core of IHL

Treaties prohibiting or restricting the use of certain weapons, the most important of which is the 1993 Convention on Chemical Weapons and the 1997 Ottawa Treaty on anti-personnel landmines.

Treaties on the protection of cultural property and monuments of artistic, architectural, or historical significance, the most significant of which is the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and its 2 additional protocols (1954 & 1999).

Treaties on international jurisdiction. The Rome Statute which aims to establish a permanent International Criminal Court to try war crimes and crimes against humanity is not yet in force.

Ratification of IHL Treaties

IHL Treaties	Number of States Parties
1949 Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims	188
1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions	156
1977 Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions	149
1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict	96
1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons	76
1995 Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons (Protocol IV to the 1980 Convention)	47
1996 Protocol on Prohibitions or Restriction on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps, and other Devices (Protocol II to the 1980 Convention)	47
1997 Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction	90
1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court	14

Source: ICRC, National Implementation of International Humanitarian Law: Activities of the ICRC’s Advisory Service on IHL (Feb 2000), p.2.

The Role of the Red Cross in IHL Dissemination

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the promoter and guardian of International Humanitarian Law and shares a common commitment with States and National Societies in the dissemination of IHL. The ICRC IHL Advisory Service offers technical assistance to States by helping authorities adopt national laws and regulations for application of the law within States' internal systems. It also serves in a facilitating role in enhancing capabilities of National Societies in their dissemination activities.

The Geneva Conventions has reached such a high level of ratification that it has obtained universality, binding even non-signatories to rules. However, with the possible exception of the Ottawa Convention, other treaties pertaining to humanitarian issues have yet to register the same amount of success, and much work remains to be done in the dissemination of IHL to educate the armed forces and the general public on the importance of IHL.

For more information on IHL, please visit the ICRC website on IHL at:
http://www.icrc.org/eng/ihl