International Humanitarian Law
International Humanitarian Law
The International Humanitarian Law also known as the Law of Armed Conflicts or the Laws of War has rules that control armed conflicts. It controls the way war is conducted. The law seeks to protect people who do not take part in the warfare. International Humanitarian Law recognizes two types of conflict: international armed conflicts and non-international armed conflicts. A crucial distinction should be made between the two conflicts.
Non-international conflicts are covered in the Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocol II. Article 13(2) of Additional Protocol II restricts attacks on the civilian population and the individual civilians. Acting contrary to this act is referred to as war crime by the Statute of the International Criminal Court. .
During war only combatants may be targeted. International Committee of the Red Cross further defines that military manuals rule that a clear distinction should be made between combatants and civilians. The principle of distinction is at times referred to as the principle of distinction between combatants and non-combatants. In this case, the civilians who do not participate in the war are the non-combatants. This principle of distinction is applied in every armed conflict. It orders that individual civilians, civilian populations and civilian objects such as hospitals, schools and homes should never be attacked. Contrary to this, the actions are viewed as thoughtless attacks. However, civilians who participate in warfare are considered to be unlawful combatants. Such civilians are subject to prosecution as well as the unlawful combatants.
Terror groups pose as a threat to the lives of civilians as well as combatants. In many countries terrorism is viewed as a crime not a war. Although the principle of distinction exists, categorizing terrorism as non-international conflicts still remains a debatable issue. The International Humanitarian Law condemns attacks involving terror groups. In my opinion, however, the approach of distinction is not yet sufficiently adequate when dealing with terror groups since a clear distinction as to whether terrorism falls under international or non-international conflicts is yet to be made.
Bibliography
International Committee of the Red Cross. “Practice Relating to Rule 1. The Principle of Distinction between Civilians and Combatants.” Customary IHL. Last modified 2014, http://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/cha-chapter1-rule1
