One of the Fundamental Rules of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, which were prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1978, requires parties to a conflict to distinguish at all times "between the civilian population and combatants in order to spare civilian population and property. In sum, nearly 3,000 people mostly unarmed civilians living and working in a country at peace were killed on this terrible day in human history, and a further 6,000 injured as a result of these terrorist attacks on 9/11.[26]. Germany signed the Convention of 1929, however, that didnt prevent them from carrying out horrific acts on and off the battlefield and within their military prison camps and civilian concentration camps during World War II. 37,708,430 questions answered No one size fits all legal approach to terrorism, particularly as to the judicial nature of the situation and the classification of suspected terrorists, is, or has proved to be, feasible in practice.[38], Two slides taken from the Google TimeLapse terrorism project, which has tracked and displayed terrorist attacks that occur worldwide each year over a twenty-year period from 1997-2017.[39]. It grants the ICRC the right to offer its services to the parties to the conflict. It requires humane treatment for all persons in enemy hands, without discrimination. The extreme, Islamo-fascist terrorists and insurgents of today do indeed present a new and different brand of non-State and unlawful Enemy combatant in armed conflict in modern times, that was certainly not envisaged in the drafting of the Geneva Conventions in 1949 or the IAC and NIAC Additional Protocols in 1977. This language was added in 1949 to accommodate situations that have all the characteristics of war without the existence of a formal declaration of war, such as a. To better illustrate this point, the following comprises a list of the known various terrorist plots and attacks that were prevented or stopped by the U.S. as a result of the CIAs enhanced interrogation programme during the early 2000s (among many other terrorist plots that remain classified and are therefore unknown to the general public): (1) the 2002 U.S. West Coast Airliner Plot; (6) the 2004 United Kingdom (UK) Urban Targets Plot; Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, as a direct result of the enhanced interrogation program the CIA was also able to successfully: (Bush, Decision Points, ibid., p. 171; United States Department of Defense (U.S. DoD), Summary of the High Value Terrorist Detainee Program, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Washington DC 20511, Military Commission Proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, 2008, http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Detainee_Affairs/, (accessed 12 September 2008); U.S. DoD, JTF-GTMO Information on Detainees, Military Commission Proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, 4 March 2005, http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Detainee_Affairs/, (accessed 12 September 2008)). when the government is obliged to use military armed forces against dissident insurgents, instead of simply the police force; or (2) non-government dissident groups must possess organized armed forces sufficient to render them parties to the conflict, meaning that they are operating under some kind of command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations within the State. cit., p. 2; [Boumediene v. Bush, 2008] A. Shapiro, Supreme Court Backs Rights for Terrorist Detainees, National Public Radio NPR, 12 June 2008, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91425261, (accessed 23 April 2019). PDF DoD Directive 2310.01E, 'DoD Detainee Program,' March 15, 2022 The 1906 Convention replaced the First Geneva Convention of 1864. Israel/Palestine, Operation Protective Edge (Gaza, 13 June - 26 August 2014), Libya, Report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2014/15). Hamdiarguedthat such detentionwas illegal under the Geneva Conventions, withoutexpress Congressional consent. In a clinical sense, any armed conflict that does not conform to the IAC definition provided in Common Article 2 of the Geneva Conventions or Article 1 of Additional Protocol I must ipso facto be regarded and treated as a NIAC armed conflict. It ensureshumane treatment without discriminationfounded on race, color, sex, religion or faith, birth or wealth, etc. The controversy especially concerned Americas use of CIA/Department of Justice government-approved enhanced interrogation techniques to extract information from approximately 33 uncooperative detainees on plans for future terrorist attacks and the members and organisational structure of the Al Qaeda terrorist network. Law of War (Abridged) Flashcards | Quizlet [10] Non-international armed conflict, ICRC Casebook How does Law protect in War?, 2019, https://casebook.icrc.org/glossary/non-international-armed-conflict, (accessed 23 April 2019). Equal treatment for women in State armed forces: Three practical As Condi Rice would write years later, The fact is, we invaded Iraq because we believed we had run out of other options. The principle of humane treatment requires that the wounded and sick, prisoners of war, civilians and other persons protected by IHL are treated humanely at all times. [1] Winston S. Churchill, Memoirs of the Second World War An abridgement of the six volumes of The Second World War, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1959, p. 12. In 1859, Genevan businessman Henry Dunant traveled to Emperor Napoleon IIIs headquarters in northern Italy to seek land rights for a business venture. In addition, these same national forces also failed to prevent, halt, suppress and punish combatants who committed genocide and crimes against humanity against these non-combatant civilians (see blogs , #18 Caveats Endanger & Caveats Kill: National Caveats in UN Operations in Angola, Rwanda & Bosnia-Herzegovina, #21 Srebrenica Aftermath: Serb Guilt & Dutch Liability for the Genocide in the UNPROFOR Safe Area in Bosnia, During this sudden uprising, violence was unleashed by angry Albanian mobs against the minority Serb population throughout Kosovo Province. Under this body of International Humanitarian Law for the conduct of war, known as the LOAC, This means that ratified laws of the LOAC must be applied and adhered to by the nations armed forces, The duty to obey the LOAC is so forceful that it demands obedience even to the extent of disobeying national superior orders that are perceived to be. (2) To reduce human suffering during conflict by safeguarding the fundamental principles of humanity in times of war. Intelligence information is much more often imprecise than it is precise[Included in our intelligence analysis was] WMD from the last Gulf War, the [testimony of Saddams defecting] son-in-law who gave information, [and the] monumental reams of intercepted information (cited in DeLong, ibid., p. 69). It was considered that this LOAC classification change would not only give more formal legal protection to the captured terrorists and extremist insurgents, but also automatically rule out any further use of enhanced interrogation techniques to extract actionable intelligence from the detainees no matter how effective or successful they were which advocates of the classification change deemed inhumane and a form of torture illegal under CIL (see endnote for a discussion on torture, and refer to American President George W. Bushs argument provided in endnote #30 above). [3] Modified images taken from Kosovo As it really is 1999-2003, Post-War Suffering Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren, 2019, http://www.kosovo.net/report.html, (accessed 17 January 2019); March Pogrom Kosovo 17-19 March 2004, News from Kosovo Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren, http://www.kosovo.net/news_pogrom.html, (17 January 2019); Rupert Colville, Kosovo minorities still need international protection, says UNHCR, UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency UK, 24 August 2004, https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2004/8/412b5f904/kosovo-minorities-still-need-international-protection-says-unhcr.html, (accessed 17 January 2019); and Burning of the Serbian village Svinjare, March 17, Kosovo.net, 2019, http://www.kosovo.net/pogrom_march/svinjare1/page_01.htm, (accessed 17 January 2019). During this sudden uprising, violence was unleashed by angry Albanian mobs against the minority Serb population throughout Kosovo Province. In sum, the tragic results of government-imposed caveat constraints on national forces within these three international security missions springing from a crippling unwillingness within government to allow their national military forces to use force when necessary were the commission by hostile belligerents of war crimes against both civilians and civilian objects within the missions. USA, Al-Shimari v. CACI Premier Technology, Inc. Central African Republic, Report of the UN Independent Expert, July 2016, Iraq: Situation of Internally Displaced Persons, Syria, Report by UN Commission of Inquiry (March 2017), Israel/Palestine, Accountability for the Use of Lethal Force, UN/Colombia, Human Rights Committee Clarifications and Concluding Observations (2016), International Criminal Court, Trial Judgment in the Case of the Prosecutor V. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Eastern Ukraine, OHCHR Report on the Situation: November 2016 - February 2017, South Sudan, AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan, Treaties, States Parties and Commentaries, Medical personnel, facilities and transports, General Statements on International Humanitarian Law, Chronology of Cases and Documents Relating to Past and Contemporary Conflicts. cit. In response, two Protocols Additional to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions were adopted in 1977. The lack of global consensus on these important definitions has meant that, while on the one hand most nations on the world stage absolutely oppose and condemn torture and inhumane treatment of any persons involved in an armed conflict, on the other hand, these nations hold diverse interpretations, understandings and positions on these terms and what they mean in reality and in practice during armed conflict. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/geneva-convention, medical personnel, facilities and equipment, wounded and sick civilians accompanying military forces, civilians who take up arms to fight invading forces, hospital ships cannot be used for any military purpose nor captured or attacked, captured religious leaders must be returned immediately, all sides must attempt to rescue any shipwrecked personnel, even those from another side of the conflict, theyre only required to give their name, rank, birth date and serial number when captured, they must receive suitable housing and adequate amounts of food, they must not be discriminated against for any reason, they have the right to correspond with family and receive care packages, the Red Cross has the right to visit them and examine their living conditions. How the malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous.[1]. In Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995, UNAMIR and UNPROFOR national contingent forces failed in their preeminent mandated duty to act in a robust military fashion to protect the lives of thousands of non-combatant civilians, sheltering in UN safe areas under their command, from the hostile intent and hostile lethal force actions of Enemy forces towards the local civilian population. In 1906, the Swiss government arranged a conference of 35 states to review and update improvements to the First Geneva Convention. [15], CIL refers to practices in warfare that are so consistently upheld and adhered to by a majority of States on the world stage that they have become generally regarded as law. [19] Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions 1949 (see pp. Article 12 stipulated the wounded and sick must not be murdered, tortured, exterminated or exposed to biological experiments. This variation in interpretation is especially apparent with respect to, or in contrast to, practices of lawful interrogation in response to national security threats or during national security emergencies where the State is seeking to fulfil its primary responsibility and duty to protect the lives of its citizens. For under the LOAC, Detaining Powers are clearly permitted to question detainees in order to ascertain their identity and status and to obtain information of military value, and are generally allowed to use skilful interrogation to induce detainees to provide intelligence of worth (NZDF LOAC Manual Chapter 15: Prisoners of War and other persons deprived of their liberty in the course of armed conflict, in Section Nine: Prisoners of War and Other Persons Deprived of Their Liberty, 149.335 Law of Armed Conflict, ibid., p. 36). They charged that Americans had committed unlawful torture. Al Qaeda terrorists attack the United States of America: On 11 September 2001 four passenger commercial aircraft were hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists, in a plot designed and enacted by the central Al Qaeda cell led by Osama bin Laden in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. [4] J. Derbyshire (MAJ, New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF)), 149.335 Introduction to LOAC, in Section One: Introduction to LOAC and Historical Development, 149.335 Law of Armed Conflict, Centre for Defence Studies, Massey University College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 2008, p. 5. . In addition, children should be well cared for and educated, and the following is prohibited: In 2005, a Protocol was created to recognize the symbol of the red crystalin addition to the red cross, the red crescent and the red shield of Davidas universal emblems of identification and protection in armed conflicts. In this Protocol, the fundamentals of "humane treatment" were further clarified. In previous blogs I have presented case-studies of Multinational Operations (MNOs) in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo, in which participating national forces bound by government-imposed national caveat constraints failed to use lethal force at the critical and necessary moments in order to fully uphold or pursue the primary security objectives of their security mission mandates. Humane treatment includes: be treated with respect for their dignity as human beings. After all, the State government regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq were indeed both clearly and successfully removed through warfare by a coalition of other States, and while the conflict evolved over time in both theatres to include multiple, non-State, regional insurgencies of extremist fighters waging war against both allied coalition forces and the new government apparatus of these States, the original coalition of States remained heavily involved in the prosecution of these wars towards the original goals of eliminating hostile Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks in these States and preventing any reestablishment of the terrorist networks in these States that would again present a direct threat to America and other freedom-loving, democratic nations around the world. This ruling meant that whereas formerly all captured terrorists and extremist insurgent detainees of the GWOT held by the U.S. had no legal rights and protections under the IAC Geneva Conventions, they were from that moment on guaranteed fundamentally humane treatment under the clear NIAC law of Common Article 3 in the 1949 Geneva Conventions (ratified by the U.S. whereas the Additional Protocols are not), which is also CIL. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Common Article 3 the article common to all four of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which alone treats Non-International armed conflict requires that, in addition to humane treatment for all military personnel hors de combat or taken Prisoner of War in International armed conflicts, all persons not taking an active part in hostilities within a Non-International armed conflict be likewise treated humanely in all circumstances, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, birth, wealth or any other similar criteria. Seven new ratifications since 2000 have brought the total number of States Party to 194, making the Geneva Conventions universally applicable. General (GEN) Tommy Franks, the U.S. Army former Commander of CENTCOM, has also defended Americas decision to go to war against the Saddam dictatorship in Iraq, stating that: The intelligence, while not precise, was overwhelming. I had asked the most senior legal officers in the U.S. government to review the interrogation methods, and they had assured me they did not constitute torture. On February 7, 2002 -- ten years ago to the day, tomorrow -- President George W. Bush signed a brief memorandum titled "Humane Treatment of Taliban and al Qaeda Detainees." The caption . It was considered that this LOAC classification change would not only give more formal legal protection to the captured terrorists and extremist insurgents, but also automatically rule out any further use of enhanced interrogation techniques to extract actionable intelligence from the detainees no matter how effective or successful they were which advocates of the classification change deemed inhumane and a form of torture illegal under CIL (see endnote for a discussion on torture, and refer to American President George W. Bushs argument provided in endnote #30 above).[33]. Still is to this day. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. At present, 168 States are party to Additional Protocol I and 164 States to Additional Protocol II,this still places the 1977 Additional Protocols among the most widely accepted legal instruments in the world. Namely: (1) The unimpeded killing of non-combatant civilians in all three international security operations; (2) The commission of genocide and crimes against humanity against thousands in Rwanda and Bosnia; and. Background Paper on Geneva Conventions and Persons Held by U.S. Forces Regarding the Humane Treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees (February 7, 2002), . This blog is a brief overview of the LOAC, Customary International Law, and the challenges posed to both by modern armed conflict today. These disasters in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo, involving national military contingents engaging in both UN- and NATO-led multinational security operations over a period of ten years, are more than government, military and humanitarian failures however. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks against New York and Washington D.C. in the United States in September 2001, America and its coalition of allies went to war against the Al Qaeda terrorist network that had planned and carried out those attacks, and also those States who either hosted and gave refuge to, or materially supported, the terrorist networks leaders and members. [11] The Use of Force in International Law: Types of Armed Conflict, Open University [Great Britain], 2019, https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/the-use-force-international-law/content-section-2.1.3, (accessed 23 April 2019). According to the American Red Cross, the new articles also added provisions to protect: Article 9 of the Convention specified the Red Cross has the right to assist the wounded and sick and provide humanitarian aid. Nobelprize.org.History of the Geneva Conventions. A punitive war took place firstly in Afghanistan in 2001 against the Taliban regime hosting and shielding Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist network. Not surprisingly, the disconnect and outright contradiction between the KFOR mission mandate and its key security objectives on the one hand, and the restrictive ROE of contributed KFOR national contingents on the other, had direct and serious consequences during the Kosovo Riots of 2004. 169-171). Adherence to the sanctions also gradually weakened as a number of governments France, Russia, Germany, and China, among others angled for oil contracts and other business opportunities with the Iraqis. According to Pejic, despite the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling of applying Common Article 3 (NIAC law) and Article 75 (IAC law) to detainees of the GWOT (both articles being fundamental principles of CIL), the reality is that: The two articles do notprovide any guidance on many substantive and procedural legal issues, nor on how to resolve practical questions, that arise in relation to captured unlawful combatants.[36]. clearly illegal under the LOAC to an ordinary person with ordinary common sense).[14]. The ICRChas a special role given by the Geneva Conventions: it handles, and is granted access to, the wounded, sick, and POWs. Counter to expectation, it has in fact been Non-International, rather than International, armed conflict that has predominated in theatres of conflict around the world since the end of WWII, and which still continues to represent the majority of armed conflicts today. Perhaps the most important and pressing evolution of CIL in recent decades concerns the treatment of captured Al Qaeda/Islamist terrorists, and terror-using insurgents (e.g. Between 2001-2006, Al Qaeda terrorists and local/foreign extremist insurgents captured in the territories of Afghanistan or Iraq committing acts of terror or violence against either Allied coalition forces or the new national governments, their forces, or their civilian population, were classed by the United States (U.S.) as, Under this classification of the LOAC, Taliban and Al Qaeda militants were, This absence of legal entitlement to the LOAC protections afforded to lawful armed combatants was strengthened further by the fact that these Islamist terrorists and insurgents conducted their operations out of uniform, failed to distinguish themselves from the civilian population thereby exposing innocents to harm, deliberately targeted innocent civilians themselves in terrorist attacks, forcibly used civilians as human shields to protect themselves from legitimate military responses provoked by their attacks, and, In short, as terrorists or terror-using insurgents in conflict theatres i.e.
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