International Humanitarian Law

International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is the set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effect 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 has two branches:

• the “law of Geneva”, which is designed to safeguard military personnel who are no longer taking part in the fighting and people not actively involved in hostilities, i.e. civilians;

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

International humanitarian law aims to limit the suffering caused by war, by forcing parties engaged in a conflict to: engage in limited methods and means of warfare; differentiate between civilian population and combatants, and work to spare civilian population and property; abstain from harming or killing an adversary who surrenders or who can no longer take part in the fighting; abstain from physically or mentally torturing or performing cruel punishments on adversaries.

International humanitarian law is applicable in two situations; that is to say, it offers two systems of protection:

a) International armed conflicts means fighting between the armed forces of at least two States (it should be noted that wars of national liberation have been classified as international armed conflicts).

b) Non-international armed conflicts means fighting on the territory of a State between the regular armed forces and identifiable armed groups, or between armed groups fighting one another.

Internal disturbances are characterized by a serious disruption of internal order resulting from acts of violence which nevertheless are not representative of an armed conflict (riots, struggles between factions or against the authorities, for example).

Humanitarian law is intended for the armed forces, whether regular or not, taking part in the conflict. Most IHL is now found in multilateral treaties, though an IHL treaty creates in effect a network of bilateral obligations and so usually enters into force after only two states have ratified. Also, unlike most other treaties, the rights and obligations are not reciprocal: if a treaty is violated by one party to a conflict another party is not entitled to respond in like form or commit a different breach of IHL.

IHL treaties can be divided into two main types, as we have said: those stating the rules on how hostilities can be conducted in a lawful manner (“Hague Law”) and those governing the treatment of non-combatants (“Geneva Law”).

Most IHL deals with international armed conflicts, that is, those between states. Even when a state sends armed forces to another state at its request to fight insurgents, that does not give the conflict an international character. Only States may become party to international treaties. All parties to an armed conflict – whether States or non-State actors – are bound by international humanitarian law.

International Humanitarian Law does not apply to situations of violence not amounting in intensity to an armed conflict. Cases of this type are governed by the provisions of human rights law and such measures of domestic legislation as may be invoked. The legal distinction between international and internal armed conflicts is becoming smaller. The central principles of IHL are that belligerents do not have an unlimited choice of means to attack the enemy; the distinction between combatants and non-combatants must be respected; non-combatants, whether prisoners of war, the sick or wounded, or civilians, must be treated with humanity; and attacks must be directed against military, not civilian and objectives.

4. Word study: Key Terms