SELECTED TOPICS IN

 HUMANITIES
English Version

Dr Korany Gnedy
 INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW (IHL)


▪ It is commonly referred to as the laws of war, laws and customs of war, or the law of
armed conflicts. It is a set of principles and rules that limit the use of violence during
armed conflicts or the effects resulting from war on humanity in general
▪ It is a branch of public international human rights law aimed at protecting individuals
affected by armed conflicts, such as protecting properties and assets unrelated to
military operations
▪ It seeks to protect civilians not directly involved or those who have ceased to
participate in armed conflicts, such as the wounded, shipwrecked, and prisoners of
war.
▪ It can be said that international humanitarian law was initiated with the "Geneva"
Convention of 1864, followed by several important conventions and protocols.
 

▪ International humanitarian law, concerning the protection of war victims and the
conduct of hostilities, has been influenced by significant international human rights
instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European
Convention on Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights
▪ This is because individuals are entitled to enjoy their inherent human rights and
dignity equally during wartime as they do in the time of no war.
▪ States may not restrict a person’s rights except in exceptional emergency situations
and without significant restrictions.
▪ The Geneva Conventions, which include international conventions and protocols
established under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
which primarily focus on protecting war victims have helped preserve human rights
without discrimination based on race, religion, color, gender, wealth, or any other
criterion.
 

▪ The Hague Conventions also contributed to this, as they addressed in a meeting held in the
capital of Netherlands the outcomes of peace conferences , primarily focusing on permissible
methods and means of warfare. Furthermore, The United Nations has contributed to limiting the
use of certain weapons to uphold human dignity.

▪ The term "international humanitarian law" is an alternative to the term "law of war," which was
widely used until the adoption of the United Nations Charter in 1945.

▪ Given the Charter’s explicit prohibition of war, legal scholars replaced the term "law of war" with
"law of armed conflicts." The human rights movement actively influenced this legal branch
following the declaration issued by the International Conference on Human Rights in Tehran in
1968

▪ The declaration’s content was linked to human rights, leading international jurisprudence to
adopt the term "international humanitarian law" for this branch of international law, describing it
as the second branch of the international legal system concerned with protecting and ensuring
human rights.
 
▪ The provisions of international humanitarian law are based on several treaties, most notably
the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, as well as a series of other
conventions and protocols covering specific aspects of the law of armed conflict. There is also
a large body of customary rules binding on all states and parties involved in conflicts.

▪ The Geneva Conventions have gone through several stages, forming the core of international
humanitarian law. The first convention was established in 1864, republished in 1906, then in
1929, and the current version was adopted on August 12, 1949, after World War II, hence
named the Four Geneva Conventions, which have received universal ratification which means
they were approved by legislative authorities.

▪ The Geneva Convention of 1864 which was applied during the Austro-Russian War of 1866
was signed and contains ten articles stipulating the neutrality of medical services, medical
transport, and medical service personnel, respect for civilian volunteers contributing to relief
efforts, and providing medical assistance without discrimination, while bearing a distinctive
identity, the red cross on a white background.
 

▪ This convention was limited to wounded military personnel on the battlefield only. Therefore, in
1899, at the Hague Conference of 1899, a convention was concluded to adapt maritime
warfare to the principles of the Geneva Convention.

▪ Geneva Convention of 1906

▪ The 1906 Convention was signed as a complement and development of the first convention. It
remained a land-based convention, as victims of maritime warfare were protected under the
Third Hague Convention of 1899

▪ The 1906 Convention expanded the scope of its predecessor to include the sick as well, with its
articles numbering thirty-three, indicating the significance of the new additions

▪ The convention also included a condition with important legal implications, namely the condition
of reciprocity or collective participation, where the convention applies only between contracting
parties if war breaks out between two or more parties.
 

▪ A diplomatic conference was held in Geneva in 1929 at the invitation of the Swiss
government, resulting in two conventions:

▪ 1. The Geneva Convention on the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in
Armed Forces in the Field, dated July 27, 1929, comprising 39 articles. This was a new
version of the 1906 Convention, addressing medical aviation and ambulances and approving
the use of two additional emblems alongside the red cross: the red crescent and the red lion
and sun.

▪ 2. The Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, dated August 27, 1929,
addressed the most critical aspects of a prisoner’s life within 37 articles, ensuring their access
to services of the protecting state through its specialized agents, as well as services of the
International Committee of the Red Cross. It also provided for the establishment of a research
agency to collect available information about prisoners and exchange news with their families
and relatives. This convention played a significant role in addressing prisoners of World War
II.
 

▪ Geneva Conventions of 1949

▪ The Swiss government invited the international community to a conference in Geneva in
1949, after World War II, to conclude four conventions currently in force in armed conflicts,
aimed at:

▪ 1. Reviewing and developing the two Geneva Conventions of 1929 and the Hague
Conventions, and adopting a second convention to protect victims of maritime warfare,
including the shipwrecked, wounded, and sick.

▪ 2. Expanding the scope of humanitarian law to victims of internal conflicts and strife within
states to ensure a minimum level of humane treatment among parties to internal armed
conflicts.

▪ 3. Protecting civilians under occupation and during wartime, as it was the first time civilians
under occupation were addressed. States could not agree on formulations until 1977.
 

▪ Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1977

▪ The diplomatic conference held in Geneva between 1974 and 1977 established two
protocols:

▪ 1. Protocol I:
This pertains to victims of international armed conflicts and complements the four 1949
Conventions. It considered national liberation wars as international armed conflicts, expanded
the scope of legal protection for civilian medical units and personnel similar to military medical
units, and provided details on medical transport means, including vehicles, ships, boats, and
aircraft. The protocol recognized guerrilla fighters as combatants and prisoners of war, focused
on protecting civilian populations and sparing them the consequences of armed conflict during
military operations to reduce risks to civilians during wartime. It also provided for the
establishment of a mechanism to investigate serious violations of international humanitarian
law.
 

▪ 2. Protocol II for the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts:

▪ The protocol defined a non-international armed conflict as one occurring within the territory of
a contracting party between its armed forces and dissident armed forces or other organized
armed groups. It affirmed the principle of non-interference in a state’s internal affairs to
prevent humanitarian law from being used as a pretext for intervention in a state’s internal
affairs. It reinforced fundamental guarantees for non-combatants, provided necessary
assistance to prisoners, and ensured their judicial rights during prosecution.

▪ In addition to these international covenants, certain international instruments related to the

Geneva Conventions should be mentioned, such as:
 

▪ The St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, concerning the prohibition of certain explosive
projectiles.

▪ The Hague Declaration of 1899, banning dum-dum bullets and asphyxiating gases, along
with other Hague Conventions.

▪ The Geneva Protocol of 1925, prohibiting the use of poisonous gases and bacteriological
weapons.

▪ The United Nations Convention of 1980, prohibiting the use of certain conventional
weapons.
 
PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW
▪ Principles of the Hague Conventions;
▪ The St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 stated that the progress of civilization should lead to
alleviating the calamities of war as much as possible by adopting the principles of military
necessity and humane treatment.

▪ a. Principle of Distinction Between Civilians and Military Targets:

This principle stipulates that civilians must not be subject to attack, and attacks must be limited
to military targets, i.e., military forces, including combatants and facilities contributing to a
military objective. Thus, civilian property cannot be attacked, though incidental civilian losses
or damage are not considered violations of the law of war.
b. Prohibition of Certain Types of Poisonous, Biological, and Chemical Weapons, Certain
Explosives, and Restriction of the Use of Indiscriminate Conventional Weapons, including
mines, booby traps, and incendiary weapons.
 

▪ c. Prohibition of Perfidy During Combat, which differs from legitimate war stratagems.

▪ d. Respect for the Safety of an Adversary Who Surrenders or Is No Longer Capable of Fighting.

▪ e. Occupation is a factual situation that does not grant the occupier ownership of the occupied
land, though they may confiscate certain properties and work to maintain security.

▪ Martens Clause:

▪ According to this clause, civilians and combatants in situations not covered by written texts
remain under the protection of humanitarian principles and the dictates of public conscience.
The Nuremberg Tribunal adopted this principle when adjudicating cases of major war criminals
of World War II.
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE

GENEVA CONVENTION

▪ The demand of war must not conflict with respect for human dignity:

▪ Immunity of the Human Person: War is not a justification for attacking the lives of those not
participating in combat or those no longer able to do so.

▪ - Prohibition of All Forms of Torture: The detaining party must only request identity information
from enemy nationals without coercion.

▪ - Respect for Legal Personality: Living war victims in enemy custody retain their legal
personality and the associated legitimate legal acts.

▪ - Respect for Honor, Family Rights, Beliefs, and Traditions: Family news holds particular
importance in humanitarian law, with a dedicated agency in Geneva, the Research Agency,
responsible for collecting and transmitting such news to those entitled.
 

▪ - Protection and Guarantee of Individual Property.

▪ - Non-Discrimination: Assistance, treatment, and services in general are provided to all without
distinction, except as dictated by health conditions or age.

▪ - Ensuring Safety and Reassurance, and Prohibiting Reprisals, Collective Punishments, and
Hostage-Taking: If a person protected by humanitarian law commits a crime, they are punished
in accordance with applicable laws, with judicial guarantees observed during pre-investigation,
trial, and execution of the sentence.

▪ - Prohibition of Exploiting or Using Civilians to Shield Military Targets.

▪ - Prohibition of Pillage, Indiscriminate Attacks, and Reprisals.

▪ - Prohibition of Deception and Perfidy

  Scope of International Humanitarian Law

▪ International humanitarian law regulates the following areas:

▪ International Armed Conflicts

▪ The Hague Conventions stipulate that war must not commence without a prior declaration with
justifications or a warning with conditions for war.

▪ Geneva Conventions of 1949

▪ Article 2, common to the four conventions, states that they apply in cases of declared war or
any other armed conflict arising between two or more high contracting parties, even if one
does not recognize a state of war. The conventions also apply in all cases of partial or total
occupation of a high contracting party’s territory, even if such occupation meets no armed
resistance.
 

▪ Protocol I of 1977

▪ This includes armed conflicts in which peoples fight against colonial domination, foreign occupation, and
racist regimes in the exercise of their right to self-determination, as enshrined in the United Nations Charter
and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations among States in
accordance with the UN Charter. Thus, liberation wars have been elevated to the level of interstate
conflicts.

▪ Non-International Armed Conflicts

▪ Traditional international law adopted the principle of non-interference in civil wars, as reflected in the 1900
Institute of International Law regulations on the rights and duties of foreign states and their nationals in
cases of rebellion against recognized governments in conflict with the rebellion. It obligated foreign states
to respect the legitimate government as the sole representative of the state.

▪ A state in conflict with rebels may recognize them as aggressive, but it cannot compel a third state to
recognize them as such, as recognition by the "parent state" does not bind other parties to recognize
belligerent status. Granting a rebel group belligerent status entails applying the rules and customs of war,
with its members bound by them. At the level of international responsibility, a state recognizing rebels as
belligerents will not be internationally responsible for their actions.
 
▪ Humanitarian Law and Internal Conflicts
▪ Article 3 of Protocol II, in its first sentence, refers to armed conflicts not of an international
character occurring in the territory of a high contracting party and obligates each party to the
conflict to apply its provisions. This article does not define non-international armed conflict but
proceeds from it as an objective phenomenon. The article stipulates the following conditions for
an internal armed conflict to qualify:
▪ The party opposing the central government must have a military organization with a
responsible command accountable for the conduct of its subordinates, operate in a
specific territory, and ensure compliance with the conventions.
▪ The legitimate government resorts to military forces to combat the rebels.
▪ The government recognizes the rebels as belligerents.
▪ The government acknowledges it is in a state of war.
▪ The government recognizes the rebels as belligerents for the purpose of implementing the
conventions.

▪ The conflict is listed on the agenda of the UN Security Council or General Assembly as a
threat to international peace, a breach of it, or an act of aggression.
 

▪ The rebels have a system with state-like characteristics.

▪ The rebels’ civilian authorities exercise effective control over a specific part of the national
territory.

▪ The armed forces are subject to the orders of an organized authority and express readiness to
respect the laws and customs of war.

▪ The rebels’ civilian authorities are committed to oberving the provisions of the conventions.
 

▪ Protocol II of 1977
▪ Its provisions apply to armed conflicts occurring in the territory of a high contracting
party between its armed forces and dissident armed forces or other organized armed
groups under responsible command exercising such control over part of its territory
as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations and
implement this protocol. The number of states party to the four conventions reached
170, while 102 states ratified Protocol II.
 

▪ Cases Not Covered by Humanitarian Law

▪ Internal tensions and disturbances fall outside the scope of the law of armed conflicts,
as this type of armed violence is not considered an armed conflict under the
standards of international humanitarian law. Thus, this protocol does not apply to
cases of disturbances and tensions, such as riots, demonstrations, isolated acts of
violence, and other similar acts not deemed armed conflicts.

▪ People Protected by Humanitarian Law:

 

▪ According to the subject matter of the 1949 Conventions, international law has identified four
categories and guaranteed them rights that conflicting parties must respect during armed
conflicts:

▪ The wounded and sick of the armed forces in the field.

▪ The shipwrecked, wounded, and sick of the armed forces at sea.

▪ Prisoners of war.

▪ Civilians

▪ The first three categories belong to combatants before they are compelled or choose to cease
fighting, while the fourth category, by its nature, does not participate in combat at all.
  Distinctive Emblem

▪ Red Cross and Red Crescent Emblem

▪ The humanitarian bodies forming the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
play a significant role in assisting victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters

▪ It should be noted that the Geneva Convention of 1864 established the red cross on a white
background as a distinctive emblem. Since 1876, Turkey, engaged in the Crimean Wars at the
time, decided to use the red crescent emblem instead of the cross out of consideration for the
sentiments of Muslim soldiers.

▪ The 1906 Convention retained the red cross emblem, noting that it represents the inverted
colors of the Swiss flag in recognition of its role. Turkey and Iran reserved the use of the cross
emblem, with the former opting for the red crescent and the latter for the red lion and sun. The
Swiss government accepted this, and later, the Islamic Republic of Iran announced its
decision to abandon the red lion and sun emblem and adopt the red crescent.
 

▪ Use of the Emblem for Protection

▪ The emblem provides indispensable immunity for both people and objects, serving purely
humanitarian purposes, not military objectives, for example:

▪ Military health services.

▪ Voluntary relief societies.

▪ Civilian hospitals.

▪ All civilian health units.

 

▪ Use of the Emblem for Identification in Peacetime

▪ These cases indicate the performance of relief work and the presence of specific centres.

▪ Use of the Emblem for Identification in Wartime

▪ National Red Cross and Red Crescent societies may use the emblem for identification, with a
smaller size than that used for protection to distinguish between the two cases. It is not placed
on armbands or above buildings

▪ The International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies, due to their roles in the movement and humanitarian work, have
the right to use the emblem in all cases under the First Convention

▪ It can be said that their use of the emblem in peacetime is for identification, while in wartime, it
serves both identification and protection
 

▪ Misuse of the Emblem

▪ Misuse or abuse of the emblem is considered any use not stipulated in the conventions.
Accordingly, it is prohibited in all cases:

▪ Its use contrary to the conventions by the people entitled to use it.

▪ Its use by those not entitled to do so.

▪ The use of an emblem imitating it.

 
▪ Suppression of Emblem Misuse
▪ National laws, orders, and decisions include provisions to protect this distinctive emblem of
significant importance.
▪ Fundamental Rules of the Law of Armed Conflicts
▪ Custom and state practice have greatly influenced the development of systems governing the
methods and means of war, leading to the formulation of international provisions through state
conventions concerning combat methods. These include:
▪ The St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, prohibiting explosive projectiles.
▪ The Hague Declaration of 1899, concerning dum-dum bullets, asphyxiating gases, and other Hague
Conventions.
▪ The Hague Conventions of 1907.
▪ The Geneva Protocol of 1925, concerning poisonous gases and bacteriological weapons.
▪ The Geneva Protocols of 1977.
▪ The United Nations Convention of 1980, concerning the prohibition or restriction of certain
conventional weapons.
 

▪ The law of armed conflicts is based on the principles of military necessity, inherent in any
conflict, and humanity, which must not be absent from the minds of belligerents.

▪ Based on the first principle, parties to a conflict must use the necessary force to achieve the
combat objective, which is to defeat the enemy and neutralize their forces. Once achieved,
further actions lack justification under military necessity

▪ Several rules govern the conduct of hostilities, the most important being the obligation to
distinguish between civilians and combatants, specifying defense and attack methods directed
at military targets, not civilian objects.

▪ Humanitarian law prohibits the use of weapons, projectiles, materials, and combat methods
likely to cause unjustified injuries or suffering, as well as perfidy in combat, unlike legitimate
war stratagems.
 
▪ Regarding rules for targeting military objectives, Arab law defines a military objective as an
object that effectively contributes to military action by its nature, location, purpose, or use, and
whose total or partial destruction, capture, or neutralization under prevailing circumstances
provides a definite military advantage.

▪ Prohibition of Certain Weapons

▪ Prohibited weapons under treaty or customary rule include:

▪ - Poisonous weapons (custom and Hague regulations).

▪ - Explosive or incendiary projectiles weighing less than 400 grams.

▪ -Explosive projectiles capable of spreading or expanding in the body, or dum-dum bullets.

▪ -Chemical and biological weapons.

▪ -Weapons whose fragments cannot be detected in the body by X-rays.

▪ - Weapons regulated by specific international treaties, such as mines, booby traps, and
incendiary weapons.
 

▪ Protection of the Natural Environment in Armed Conflicts

▪ The environment must be protected during conflicts, and methods or means causing damage
that harms populations are prohibited. Reprisals against the environment are also banned.
Within the United Nations, the General Assembly approved on December 10, 1976, a
convention prohibiting the use of environmental modification techniques for military or other
hostile purposes.

▪ Prohibition and Restriction of Other Weapons

▪ Article 36 of Protocol I obligates contracting parties to ensure that new weapons or methods
comply with international law, including the protocol. In all cases, the use of new weapons,
such as those guided by specific energy or rays, must adhere to generally accepted provisions.
Nuclear weapons remain a subject of significant international debate.
 

▪ Means of Implementing Humanitarian Law

▪ States must respect humanitarian law and ensure its respect by others. This is a general
obligation included in Article 1 common to the four conventions and Article 1 of Protocol I,
binding all contracting parties throughout their adherence to all humanitarian law provisions.
Respect is self-initiated, and the Geneva Conventions, in a common article, mandate the
widespread dissemination of their provisions in peacetime and wartime, with all parties
contributing to spreading the culture of humanitarian law within the framework of human rights
culture.

▪ Protecting Powers System

▪ A protecting power is generally a state that undertakes to safeguard the interests of another
state and its nationals in a third state with the consent of both states. The four conventions
stipulate that their provisions are applied with the assistance of protecting powers tasked with
safeguarding the interests of the conflicting parties under their supervision.
 

▪ Role of the International Committee of the Red Cross

▪ The Committee has a special role during the performance of assistance and legal protection
tasks, as it is in contact with victims and parties to the conflict. Through its delegates, it draws
the attention of relevant authorities to any violations and undertakes the necessary preventive
role to prevent their recurrence. Since its statutes and those of the International Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement allow it to receive complaints about any humanitarian law violations, it
takes the necessary actions with the concerned authorities, initially through confidential efforts,
though it may go public under specified conditions.

▪ Investigation
 

▪ The conventions provide for an investigation at the request of a party to the conflict due to any
violation. Specialized experts conduct the investigation. These individuals must be prepared in
peacetime, with the assistance of national societies, to be ready to advise authorities and
inform them about aspects of implementing the law of armed conflicts. If a state trains such
individuals, it must send a list of their names to the International Committee to be available to
other contracting parties when needed. Legal advisors in the armed forces provide guidance to
military commanders at the appropriate level on the application of the conventions, protocols,
and appropriate training for the armed forces.

▪ International Fact-Finding Commission

▪ To address shortcomings in the means mentioned in the four conventions, particularly after
experiences in relations between conflicting parties, the diplomatic conference sought to
establish an investigation mechanism under a legal provision. Article 90 of Protocol I,
concerning the International Fact-Finding Commission, assigns it the following tasks:
 

▪ [Link] any act described as a breach or serious violation under the protocol and
conventions.

▪ [Link] a return to compliance with the provisions of the conventions and protocol
through the efforts of the fact-finding commission.

▪ This commission is open to states only, is not a judicial body, but a permanent, neutral, and
non-political entity. It consists of fifteen members based on equitable geographical
representation, elected for five-year terms.

▪ Responsibility for Breaching International Law

Excluded Solutions
 

▪ Reprisals are coercive measures that violate ordinary international law rules, taken by
a state in response to unlawful acts committed against it by another state, aiming to
compel the offending state to respect the law through harm. This principle was
recognized by the Institute of International Law in 1934, reflecting international
practice in this regard, following the famous "Naulilaa" case between Germany and
Portugal, which led to an arbitration decision in 1928 specifying the conditions for
resorting to reprisals:
▪ - A prior unlawful act.
▪ - The impossibility of the harmed state achieving its objectives by other means.
▪ - A warning that yielded no results.
▪ - Proportionality to the unlawful act it responds to.
 

▪ Prohibition of Reprisals Under Humanitarian Law Provisions

▪ Reprisals against civilians, civilian property, and all categories protected by humanitarian law
are not permissible under the conventions.

▪ Penalties and Punishment for Breaching Humanitarian Law

▪ The Nuremberg and Tokyo precedents influenced the trials of major war criminals following
World War II, conducted in Nuremberg and Tokyo, regarding war crimes rulings, apart from the
"national" French, American, and British trials organized in areas they occupied in Germany
under Allied administration
 Violations and Grave Breaches


▪ "Violations" are all acts contrary to the conventions and protocols, which may lead to
administrative, disciplinary, or criminal measures by contracting states. Grave breaches are
specifically listed, distinguished by the measures states take to impose punishment, either by
punishing or extraditing the perpetrator or accomplice, and are also considered "war crimes

▪ Means of Stopping and Prosecuting Perpetrators of Violations

▪ - Role of Commanders: Prevent their subordinates from committing acts contrary to

humanitarian law, punish them, or refer the matter to the authority as necessary

▪ - Cooperation in Judicial Cooperation and Extradition of Criminals: This is an obligation borne

by contracting parties, not just conflict parties, with consideration of other international law
provisions, particularly regarding extradition.

▪ - Cooperation with the United Nations: Contracting states are obligated to cooperate with the
United Nations to ensure respect for humanitarian law and prevent violations.

▪ - Principle of Compensation for Damages Resulting from Violations of War Laws and
Customs, as stated in the Hague Conventions.
 International Humanitarian Law and the United

Nations

▪ Since the primary and most important mandate of the United Nations is to maintain
international peace and security, the executive bodies of the United Nations have a significant
role in applying international humanitarian law

▪ These main organs, as per Article 7/1 of the Charter, are: the General Assembly, the Security
Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the International
Court of Justice.

▪ Paragraph 2 of the aforementioned article allows for the establishment of other necessary
organs as required. Based on this, by the end of the twentieth century, the international
community reached an acceptable framework for the statute of the International Criminal Court
to contribute, alongside other international and domestic measures and mechanisms, to
meeting the requirements of collective international security, combating international crime,
and maintaining international security stability
 

▪ Despite the abundance of international covenants and treaties concerning

international humanitarian law rules, it must be clarified that the United Nations has
not yet succeeded in establishing effective and active mechanisms to compel all
states to full-fill their commitments under international treaties with the same
effectiveness as national laws imposing penalties on citizens who violate the law
▪ As Political considerations have often hindered or obstructed the work of United
Nations bodies and international courts.