International armed conflicts are conflicts between states. The four 1949 Geneva Conventions and Protocol I deal extensively with the humanitarian issues raised by such conflicts. The whole body of law on prisoners of war, their status and their treatment is geared to wars between States (Third Convention). The Fourth Convention states inter alia the rights and duties of an occupying power, i.e. a state whose armed forces control part or all of the territory of another state. Protocol I deals exclusively with international armed conflicts.

Under Protocol I of 8 June 1977, wars of national liberation must also be treated as conflicts of an international character. A war of national liberation is a conflict in which a people is fighting against a colonial power, in the exercise of its right of self- determination. Whereas the concept of the right of self-determination is today well accepted by the international community, the conclusions to be drawn from that right for the purposes of humanitarian law and, in particular, its application to specific conflict situations are still somewhat controversial.

The majority of today's armed conflicts take place within the territory of a state: they are conflicts of a non-international character. A common feature of many such internal armed conflicts is the intervention of armed forces of another state, supporting the government or the insurgents.

The substantive rules of humanitarian law governing non-international armed conflicts are much simpler than their counterparts governing international conflicts. They are derived from one main source, namely article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, which obliges the parties to an internal conflict to respect some basic principles of humanitarian behaviour already mentioned above. Article 3 is binding not only on governments but also on insurgents, without, however, conferring any special status upon them.

Additional Protocol II of 1977 supplements Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions with a number of more specific provisions. This is a welcome contribution to the strengthening of humanitarian protection in situations of internal armed conflict. Protocol II has, however, a narrower scope of application than common Article 3. It applies only if the insurgent party controls part of the national territory.

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International and Regional Instruments for Protection

International legal instruments take the form of a treaty (also called agreement, convention, protocol) which may be binding on the contracting states. When negotiations are completed, the text of a treaty is established as authentic and definitive and is "signed" to that effect by the representatives of states. There are various means by which a state expresses its consent to be bound by a treaty. The most common are ratification or accession. A new treaty is "ratified" by those states who have negotiated the instrument. A state which has not participated in the negotiations may, at a later stage, "accede" to the treaty. The treaty enters into force when a pre-determined number of states have ratified or acceded to the treaty.

When a state ratifies or accedes to a treaty, that state may make reservations to one or more articles of the treaty, unless reservations are prohibited by the treaty. Reservations may normally be withdrawn at any time. In some countries, international treaties take precedence over national law; in others, a specific law may be required to give an international treaty, although ratified or acceded to, the force of a national law. Practically all states that have ratified or acceded to an international treaty must issue decrees, amend existing laws or introduce new legislation in order for the treaty to be fully effective on the national territory.

Many international treaties have a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the treaty.

Many provisions of the four Geneva Conventions, the two Protocols, and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are broadly accepted as restating customary international humanitarian law applicable to all countries. Humanitarian law applies specifically to armed conflict situations, which would ordinarily qualify as "public emergencies". (Weissbrodt)

Unlike human rights treaties, which often have a monitoring body to which individuals and states can submit complaints, humanitarian law relies much more on informal procedures.

The Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols require the States party to adopt a number of measures in order to assure compliance with these treaties. Some of these measures have to be taken in peacetime, others in the course of an armed conflict. In this short overview, only three such obligations will be mentioned, as examples:

- Instructions to and training of the armed forces: the complex set of obligations arising out of the Conventions and the Protocols must be translated into a language which is clearly understandable to those who have to comply with the rules, in particular the members of armed forces, according to their ranks and their functions. Good manuals on humanitarian law play a decisive part in effectively spreading knowledge of that law among military personnel. Rules which are not understood by or remain unknown to those who have to respect them will not have much effect.

- Domestic legislation on implementation: Many provisions of the Geneva Conventions and of their Additional Protocols imperatively require each State Party to enact laws and issue other regulations to guarantee full implementation of its international obligations. This holds particularly true for the obligation to make grave breaches of international humanitarian law (commonly called "war crimes") crimes under domestic law. In the same way, misuse of the red cross or the red crescent distinctive emblem must be prosecuted under domestic law.

- Prosecution of persons who have committed grave breaches of international humanitarian law: Such persons must be prosecuted by any State party under whose authority they find themselves. That State may, however, extradite the suspect to another State Party which is willing to prosecute him. Individuals accused of violating humanitarian law may also be tried by an international criminal court. The United Nations Security Council has established two such courts: the Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. On 17 July 1998, a Diplomatic Conference convened by the United Nations in Rome adopted the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949) (article 44, 70)
This treaty protects refugees during war. Refugees cannot be treated as "enemy aliens".

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1) (1977) (article 73)
"Persons who, before the beginning of hostilities, were considered as stateless persons or refugees ... shall be protected persons..., in all circumstances and without any adverse distinction."

Advocacy, Educational and Training Materials

For advocates

Code of Conduct for Conflict Transformation Work (International Alert)
This short guide is designed to act as an ethical framework for transformation work and outlines the necessary principles for reaching constructive resolution to conflict. Major topics discussed in this guide include human rights in the context of conflict transformation work, impartiality, and establishing peaceful partnerships. This guide is appropriate for use in the grassroots, academic, research, religious or military sectors.

Victims' Guide to the International Criminal Court (Reporters sans frontièrs)
This guide explains the new International Criminal Court (ICC), what its jurisdiction is and how to bring a case before it, how victims should address a complaint, as well as describing the challenges and obstacles it faces. The guide includes chapters on: crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the Court (crimes of aggression, crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes); crimes that particularly target women and children; the participation of victims in trials; the protection and safety of victims and witnesses; and reparations.

For armed forces

For humanitarian workers

IASC Training Modules on Internally Displaced Persons (Norwegian Refugee Council/Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)
Comprehensive training package on internally displaced persons. This online training program consists of several modules which, used alone or together, discuss the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons guaranteed by international law. The following modules are currently available on-line: A Definition of Internally Displaced Persons; Legal Origins and International Obligations; Protection from Displacement; Return, Resettlement, and Reintegration; and Recipients as Resources: Community Based Programming.

United Nations Blue Book (by Martin Knotzer, Roland Ulbert and Harald Wurth)
This handbook incorporates basic principles of criminal justice, human rights and humanitarian law for UN civilian peacekeeping missions. It provides a compact overview of relevant international standards and norms for field monitors in criminal justice.

For journalists

Human Rights Reporting for Journalists (Institute for War and Peace Reporting)
This module provides background and resources for journalists covering human rights issues and matters concerning international humanitarian law. It also provides practical guidelines for journalists investigating human rights abuses. The module is divided into four parts: history, current frameworks, practical tips for journalists and online resources.

Practical Guide for Journalists (Reporters sans frontièrs)
This handbook is intended to provide practical guidelines for journalists conducting investigations into violations of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. It includes chapters on the basic documents on the principle of press freedom, reference documents on professional ethics, guidelines for journalists who investigate human rights violations, procedures for protecting journalists; guidelines for writing reports on investigations; and relations with International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organisations defending human rights and press freedom.

Reporting Human Rights and Humanitarian Stories: a Journalist's Handbook (by Jo-An Velin)
This handbook aims to support journalists who report stories with human rights or humanitarian components. It includes chapters on international human rights law and international humanitarian law; topical chapters (disasters and war; migrants and refugees; minorities and indigenous/tribal peoples; women and children); country profiles with basic statistical data and a thesaurus.

For educators

Guidelines for Military Manuals and Instructions on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict (ICRC)
These guidelines are a summary of the existing applicable international rules which must be known and respected by members of the armed forces.

 


Other Resources