INTRODUCTION TO

INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW

UNIVERSITY OF ST. LA SALLE

COLLEGE OF LAW
International Humanitarian Law Class

Facets of War

Armenian Genocide - 300,000 - 1,500,000

Korean War - 400,000 - 4,500,000

Iran-Iraq War - 500,000 - 2,000,000

Vietnam War - 800,000 - 3,000,000

Afghanistan War - 1,500,00 - 2,000,000

Second Congo War - 2,500,000 - 5,400,000

World War I - 15,000,00 - 65,000,000

World War II - 40,000,000 - 85,000,000

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The
Social Contract [18 Century]
th

War is not a relation between man and man, but between State and
State, and individuals are enemies only accidentally, not as men or even
citizen, but as soldiers, not as members of their country, but
defenders

The object of war being the destruction of the hostile State, the other
side has a right to kill its defenders while they are bearing arms, but as
soon as they lay them down and surrender they cease to be enemies or
instrument of the enemy, and become once more merely men, whose
lives no one has any right to take.
Jus Ad Bellum or Jus Contra
Bellum

law on the use of war

1919 Covenant of the League of Nations

1928 Treaty of Paris (Briand-Kellogg Pact)

Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter

(law on the prevention of war)

 Jus in Bello

law in war

international rules, established by treaties or custom,

which are specifically intended to solve problems directly
arising from international or non-international armed
conflicts and which, for humanitarian reasons, limit the
right of parties to a conflict to use methods and means of
warfare of their choice or protect persons and property
that are, or may be, affected by conflict.
 INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW

part of Public International Law (Grotius)

rules governing the conduct of an armed conflict (treaties or

customary rules)

spares those who do not, or no longer directly participate in

hostilities

restricts violence to the amount necessary to achieve the aim of

the conflict

restricts the use of methods and means of warfare of their choice

 Application

- applies between States which are parties to the same treaty.

- also applies between these States and other belligerent

parties who accept that treaty and apply its provisions.

States taking part in an armed conflict are belligerents.

State not taking part:

Neutral States;
Protecting Powers;
Substitutes
 The Birth of IHL

Major Civilizations (Hammurabi, King of Babylon; Bible;

Koran)

Cartels, Codes of Conduct, Covenants

Lieber Code

Henry Dunant (Memory of Solferino, 1862) and Guillaume-

Henri Dufour (Chair, 1864 Diplomatic Conference)
 Components of IHL

Customary Law

Hague Law (Law of War)

Geneva Law (Humanitarian Law)

 Customary Law

The right of Parties to a conflict to choose methods or

means of warfare is not unlimited.

Belligerents may not cause suffering and destruction out

of proportion to the aim of war, which is to weaken or
destroy the military potential of the enemy.

 Treaty Law

1864 Diplomatic Convention (1st Geneva Convention of 1864)

Groundwork for IHL

standing written rules of universal scope to protect the victims of conflicts

multilateral nature, open to all States

obligation to extend care without discrimination to wounded and sick

military personnel

respect for and marking of medical personnel, transports and equipment

using an emblem
 Other IHL Treaties

Pre-World War I

1864 Geneva Convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded in
armies in the field

1868 Declaration of St. Petersburg (prohibiting the use of certain projectiles in

wartime)

1899 The Hague Conventions respecting the laws and customs of war on land and
the adaptation to maritime warfare of the principles of the 1864 Geneva Convention

1906 Review and development of the 1864 Geneva Convention

1907 Review of The Hague Conventions of 1899 and adoption of new Conventions
 Hague Law

First Hague Convention of 1899

Pacific Settlement of Disputes

Respect of the Laws and Customs of War on Land (emphasis on POWs, Looting,
bombardments, killing of hors de combat, collective punishment)

Protection of Marked Ships

Restriction on Use of Projectiles or Explosives from Balloons

Restriction on Use of Projectiles Solely for Asphyxiating Poisonous Gaxes

Restriction on Use of Expanding Bullets; Dum Dum Bullets

Second Hague Convention of 1907

Reiteration of First Hague Convention but with Special Emphasis on

Protection of Civilian, Merchant and Medical Vessels
 Post-World War I

1925 Geneva Protocol for the prohibition of the use in war of

asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and of bacteriological
methods of warfare

1929 Two Geneva Conventions:

Review and development of the 1906 Geneva Convention
Geneva Convention relating to the treatment of prisoners of
war (new)
 Geneva Law

Post-World War II

1949 Four Geneva Conventions:

I. Amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed
forces in the field

II. Amelioration of the condition of wounded, sick and shipwrecked

members of armed forces at sea

III. Treatment of prisoners of war

IV. Protection of civilian persons in time of war (new)

 1954 The Hague Convention for the protection of cultural
property in the event of armed conflict

1972 Convention on the prohibition of the development,

production and stockpiling of bacteriological (biological)
and toxic weapons and on their destruction

1977 Two Protocols additional to the four 1949 Geneva

Conventions, which strengthen the protection of victims of
international (Protocol I) and non-international (Protocol II)
armed conflicts
 1980 Convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of
certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be
excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects (CCW),
which includes:

- the Protocol (I) on non-detectable fragments

- the Protocol (II) on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of

mines, booby traps and other devices

- the Protocol (III) on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of

incendiary weapons
 1993 Convention on the prohibition of the development,
production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons
and on their destruction

1995 Protocol relating to blinding laser weapons

(Protocol IV [new ] to the 1980 Convention)

1996 Revised Protocol on prohibitions or restrictions on

the use of mines, booby traps and other devices
(Protocol II [revised ] to the 1980 Convention)
 1997 Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling,
production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their
destruction

1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

1999 Protocol to the 1954 Convention on cultural property

2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the rights of the child

on the involvement of children in armed conflict

2005 Additional Protocol III to the 1949 Geneva Conventions

 Beginning and End of
Armed Conflict
Beginning:
First hostile act;
Unresisted occupation.

During:
IHL does not affect the legal status of the States involved.

End:
General close of military operations;
Termination of occupation.
 Applicability of IHL

International Armed Conflict

Non-international Armed Conflict

Internationalized Armed Conflict

NB: Only Common Article 3 and/or Protocol II apply to

B.
 International Armed
Conflict (IAC)

fighting between armed forces of at least two States

(Article 2, 1949 Geneva Conventions)

wars against colonial domination, alien occupation

[Article 1 (4), 1977 Additional Protocol I]
 Non-International Armed
Conflict (NIAC)

regular armed forces and organized identifiable armed

groups

between armed groups fighting one another

intensity and duration

 Internationalized Armed
Conflict (IZAC)

intervention of 3rd party State

Effective control (Nicaragua v. US)

Essential Rules
of IHL
 Humanity

humankind shall be treated humanely in all

circumstances by saving lives and alleviating suffering,
while ensuring respect for the individual (Jean Pictet,
Commentary on the Geneva Conventions)

bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded

on the battlefield

promote mutual understanding, friendship, co-operation

and lasting peace amongst all peoples
 Distinction

The parties to the conflict must at all times distinguish

between civilians and combatants. Attacks may only be
directed against combatants. Attacks must not be
directed against civilians.

The Parties shall at all times distinguish civilian objects

from military objectives and accordingly shall direct
their operations only against military objectives. (Article
48 of Additional Protocol I)
The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians,
shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence
the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the
civilian population are prohibited. [Article 51 (2) of the
Additional Protocol I]

In case of doubt whether an object which is normally

dedicated to civilian purposes, such as a place of worship, a
house or other dwelling or a school, is being used to make an
effective contribution to military action, it shall be presumed
not to be so used. [Article 52 (3) of the Additional Protocol I]
 Military Necessity

As to OBJECTS:

must only be intended to help in the defeat of the enemy

must be an attack on a military objective

Attacks shall be limited strictly to military objectives. In so far as

objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those
objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an
effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial
destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling
at the time, offers a definite military advantage. [Article 52 (2) of
the Additional Protocol I]
As to WEAPONS:

In any armed conflict, the right of the Parties to the

conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not
unlimited

It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and

material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause
superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering (Article
35 of Additional Protocol I)
(Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion, ICJ 1996)

weapon must be sufficiently precise to limit risks

ifan envisaged use of weapon would not meet the
requirements of IHL, a threat to engage in such would
be contrary to law
 Proportionality

it is prohibited to cause unnecessary suffering to combatants

avoid a harm greater than that unavoidable to achieve legitimate

military objectives

Indiscriminate attacks:
(a) those which are not directed at a specific military
objective;

(b) those which employ a method or means of combat

which cannot be directed at a specific military objective; or

(c) those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which
cannot be limited as required by IHL [Article 51 (4) of the Additional
Protocol I]

(d) an attack by bombardment by any methods or means which treats as a

single military objective a number of clearly separated and distinct
military objectives located in a city, town, village or other area containing
a similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects; and

(e) an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian

life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination
thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct
military advantage anticipated. [Article 51 (5) of the Additional Protocol I]
 The Martens Clause

"In cases not covered by this Protocol or by other

international agreements, civilians and combatants remain
under the protection and authority of the principles of
international law derived from established custom, from the
principles of humanity and from the dictates of public
conscience. [Article 1 (2) of Additional Protocol I]

Principles of the law of nations, as they result from the

usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of
humanity and the dictates of the public conscience." (Articles
63, 62, 142, 158 of the Four Geneva Conventions)