Conduct of Hostilities

III. Means and Methods of

Warfare
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare

• Refers to the complex and large set of norms

that are relatively fragmented and not
systematically identified as such.
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare
Two type of norms:

1. General principles banning certain effects

2. Specific rules addressing particular weapons or
methods
III. Means and Methods of Warfare
– Prohibitions and limitation on means and methods
of warfare were prompted by the concern to
protect combatants which saw the emergence of
the principle prohibiting weapons causing
superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering and
the ban on specific weapons such as explosive
projectiles weighing less than 400 grams or dum-
dum bullets, as well as particular methods like
killing or wounding treacherously.
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Basic Rules

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

to choose methods of warfare is not unlimited

2. It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and material

and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous
injury or unnecessary suffering

3. It is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare

which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread,
long-term and severe damage to the natural environment.
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Prohibited
or Restricted use of Weapons
a. Explosive bullets- any projectile of a weight
below 400 grammes, which is either
explosive or charged with fulminating or
inflammable substances is prohibited.

b. Dum-dum bullets - dum-dum” bullets (i.e.,

“soft-nosed” or “hollow-point” bullets) are
prohibited
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Prohibited
or Restricted use of Weapons
c. Certain conventional weapons
aa. Mines - Precautionary should measures to
be taken when using landmines (Restricted)

bb. Incendiary weapons- The anti-personnel use

of incendiary weapons is prohibited, unless it is not
feasible to use a less harmful weapon to render a
person hors de combat.
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Prohibited
or Restricted use of Weapons
c. Certain conventional weapons
cc. non-detectable fragments - The use of weapons
injuring by fragments not detectable by X-rays is a war crime
under the legislation of some States, thus prohibited.
dd. Blinding weapons - The deliberate use of laser
systems, other than those prohibited by Protocol IV, to blind
combatants would frustrate the aim and purpose of the
prohibition of laser weapons that are specifically designed
to cause permanent blindness.
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Prohibited
or Restricted use of Weapons
c. Certain conventional weapons
ee. Explosive remnants of war- Protocol on
Explosive Remnants of War is an important
element in the efforts to end the post-conflict
death, injury and suffering that is a regular feature
of modern warfare.

ff. cluster munitions - causes unacceptable

harm to civilian, thus, it is prohibited
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare
-Prohibited or Restricted use of Weapons
gg. Other weapons for which limitation are
under discussion
-light weapons
- anti-vehicle mines
- fragmentation weapons
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare
-Prohibited or Restricted use of Weapons
d. Chemical weapons- The use of chemical weapons is prohibited. Also, the
use of riot-control agents as a method of warfare is prohibited.

The use of herbicides as a method of warfare is prohibited if they:

a) are of a nature to be prohibited chemical weapons;
b) are of a nature to be prohibited biological weapons;
c) are aimed at vegetation that is not a military objective;
d) would cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to
civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which may be expected to be
excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage
anticipated; or
e) would cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural
environment.
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Prohibited
or Restricted use of Weapons
e. Poison - Employing poison or poisoned weapons constitutes a war
crime in international armed conflicts under the Statute of the
International Criminal Court.

f. Bacteriological and biological weapons - The use of biological weapons

is prohibited.

g. Nuclear weapons- the Court cannot conclude definitively whether the

threat or use of nuclear weapons would be lawful or unlawful in an
extreme circumstance of self-defence, in which the very survival of a
State would be at stake.
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Prohibited
or Restricted use of Weapons
• new means and methods” – In the study,
development, acquisition or adoption of a
new weapon, means or method of warfare, a
High Contracting Party is under an obligation
to determine whether its employment would,
in some or all circumstances, be prohibited by
this Protocol or by any other rule of
international law applicable to the High
Contracting Party.
III. Means and Methods of Warfare -Prohibited
or Restricted use of Weapons
• Art. 36 of Protocol I requires the State parties to assess whether
the use of any new weapon or of any new method of warfare
that they develop or plan to acquire or deploy in operations is
allowed by, and compatible with international law.

• . Art. 36 does not specify the practical modalities of such reviews,

which are left to the parties to decide. It is understood that the
legal review should cover the weapons themselves and the ways
in which they might be used. Particular attention should be paid
to the potential effect of the weapon concerned on both civilians
(prohibition of indiscriminate effects) and combatants
(prohibition of unnecessary suffering).
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare
-Prohibited Methods of Warfare
• This encompasses any tactical or strategic
procedure meant to outweigh or weaken the
adversary
• Contemporary IHL forbids, for instance,
methods of warfare involving terror, starvation,
reprisals against protected persons and
objects, pillage, the taking of hostages,
enforced enrolment of protected persons and
deportations.
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare - Prohibited
Methods of Warfare

Three premises on the limitation or prohibition of

warfare:
• The choice of the methods of warfare is not unlimited
• The use of methods of a nature to cause unnecessary
suffering or superfluous injury is forbidden
• The only legitimate object of war is to weaken the military
forces of the enemy.
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare -
Prohibited Methods of Warfare
• Denial of quarter and perfidy are war crimes

a. Denial of quarter
- main aim of the prohibition of the denial of quarter is
to protect combatants when they fall into enemy
hands by ensuring that they will not be killed. The
objective is to prevent the following acts: to order that
there shall be no survivors, to threaten the adversary
therewith, or to conduct hostilities on this basis.
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare -
Prohibited Methods of Warfare
b. Perfidy :the distinction between perfidy and
permissible ruses of war

- Perfidy – is an act inviting the confidence of an

adversary to lead him to believe that he is
entitled to, or obliged to accord, protection
under the rules of international law applicable in
armed conflict, with intent to betray that
confidence”
 III. Means and Methods of Warfare -
Prohibited Methods of Warfare
b. Perfidy :the distinction between perfidy and
permissible ruses of war

- Ruses of war – these are acts intended to

confuse the enemy

c. starvation of civilians
III. Means and Methods of Warfare – Cyber
Warfare
• Is defined as the Means and methods of
warfare that rely on information technology
and are used in situations of armed conflict.

• If considered an attack under the IHL meaning,

a cyber operation will have to comply with the
principles of distinction, proportionality and
precautions.
 IV. IHL and Humanitarian Assistance

• IHL recognizes that civilian population of a

State affected by an armed conflict is entitled
to receive humanitarian assistance.

• It regulates in particular the conditions for

providing humanitarian assistance in the form
of food, medicines, medical equipment or
other vital supplies, to civilians in need.
 IV. IHL and Humanitarian Assistance-
Principles
a. Starvation of civilians; prohibited method of
warfare - attacking objects indispensable to the
survival of the civilian population and denying access
of humanitarian aid intended for civilians in need
b. The right of the civilian population to be assisted -
The parties to the conflict must allow and facilitate
rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian
relief for civilians in need, which is impartial in
character and conducted without any adverse
distinction, subject to their right of control.
 IV. IHL and Humanitarian Assistance-
Principles
c. Belligerents bear primary responsibility
d. Medical assistance may benefit civilians or
combatants
 Definition and Characteristics of
Humanitarian assistance
• Additional Protocol II requires that relief
actions for the civilian population in need be
organised but does not contain a specific
provision on access of humanitarian relief
even though such access is clearly a conditio
sine qua non for relief actions.6
 IV. IHL and Humanitarian Assistance- Rules
of Treaty
a. the starting point: Art. 23 of Convention IV
addressed to all “high contracting parties, not
only the parties to the conflict.

b. Limitations: with regard to the beneficiaries,

with regard to the kind of assistance and
conditions
 Rules of Treaty
b. If the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory
is inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to
relief schemes on behalf of the said population, and shall
facilitate them by all the means at its disposal.

c. If the civilian population of any territory under the control of a

Party to the conflict, other than occupied territory, is not
adequately provided with the supplies mentioned in Article 69 ,
relief actions which are humanitarian and impartial in character
and conducted without any adverse distinction shall be
undertaken, subject to the agreement of the Parties concerned in
such relief actions
 Protection of those providing humanitarian
assistance
. Under the Statute of the International Criminal
Court, intentionally directing attacks against
personnel involved in a humanitarian assistance
mission in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations is a war crime in international
armed conflicts, as long as such personnel are
entitled to the protection given to civilians
under international humanitarian law
The Protection of Water Supplies and Water
Engineers
• IHL seeks to protect any individual who is in
the hands or in the power of the enemy, and
that the assistance or relief which is their due
is inconceivable without a guaranteed
minimum level of health and hygiene – in
other words, without water, which is the life-
giving element in any and all circumstances.
The Protection of Water Supplies and Water
Engineers
• Combatants shall not poison or render
otherwise unfit for human consumption water
indispensable for the health and survival of
the civilian population.