While humanitarian workers providing services to conflict-affected populations are covered by a set of laws that protect them, some warring parties violate these global agreements, through actions such as attacks on hospitals and schools, or by preventing humanitarian workers from reaching civilian populations with vital goods and services through sieges or the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
International humanitarian law is as old as war. From passages in the Bible and The Quran, to medieval European codes of chivalry, this growing body of rules of engagement aims to limit the effects of conflict on civilians or non-combatants.
But what exactly are the rules of war and what happens when they are broken?
Rules of war
To find out more about international humanitarian law, UN News spoke to Eric Mongelard of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The laws represent “the minimum standards for preserving humanity in some of the worst situations known to the human race,” Mongelard said, noting that the rules of war apply from the moment an armed conflict begins.
The laws in force today are based primarily on the Geneva Conventions, the first of which predates the UN by almost 200 years.
What are the Geneva Conventions?
Following Switzerland’s declaration of “perpetual” international neutrality in 1815, a war between Austria and France in 1859 prompted Henri Dunant, a Swiss citizen who cared for the wounded on the battlefield, to propose what was to become the International Committee for the Relief of the Wounded.
Soon after, this group became the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), followed by the First Geneva Convention, signed in 1864 by 16 European nations. Since then, there have been four conventions and two additional protocols, and an increasing number of nations have adopted them:
- More than 180 states have acceded to the 1949 conventions.
- Approximately 150 States are party to Protocol I and more than 145 are party to Protocol II.
- Protocol I extended the protection of the Geneva and Hague Conventions to persons involved in wars of “self-determination”, thereafter redefined as international conflicts, and allowed for the establishment of commissions of enquiry in cases of alleged violations of the Convention.
Protocol II extended human rights protection to persons involved in serious civil conflicts that were not covered by the 1949 agreements. (Incidentally, the United States is not a party to Protocol II).
New rules of war and protocols to the Geneva Conventions have developed as weaponry and armed conflicts have become more sophisticated and sinister.
International treaties have also emerged to ban a range of weapons unleashed by 20th century conflicts, from the use of mustard gas in the trenches of World War I to the airdropping of napalm in Vietnam. These binding conventions also oblige signatories to respect international humanitarian law.
Who is protected?
Hospitals, schools, civilians, humanitarian workers and emergency relief routes are among the people and places protected by international humanitarian law.
A protocol to the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1977 contains “most of the rules” on protection of civilians, according to Mongelard. In general, the fundamental principles are divided into two groups:
- The first focuses on respect for the dignity and life of the individual and humane treatment. This includes the prohibition of summary executions and torture.
- The second applies to the distinction, proportionality and precaution to which all warring parties are bound. Civilians may not be targeted, it must be ensured that operations and weapons chosen to be used minimise or avoid civilian casualties, and the civilian population must be warned of an imminent attack.
Nevertheless, they work
“Assessing the effectiveness of a body of legislation is always a difficult exercise,” he said. “Anecdotal evidence shows that international humanitarian law is more often respected than not.
However, even with these laws in place, 116 humanitarian workers died while carrying out their work in 2022 in some of the world’s most dangerous places.
Since the beginning of the year, 62 aid workers have already died, 84 have been injured and 34 have been kidnapped, according to the UN, which in August cited provisional data from the independent research organisation Humanitarian Outcomes. Since 7 October, a total of 17 UN workers have been killed in Gaza.
However, without international humanitarian law and related rules, the situation on battlefields around the world “would be much worse”, Mongelard said.
“When parties to conflict face accusations of, for example, attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure, they will always try to deny it or explain it away, reinforcing their recognition of the importance of these rules,” he said.
Ending impunity
“Serious violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes,” he continued. As such, all states have an obligation to criminalise such conduct, investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.
International humanitarian law can also be violated outside of a war as such. Meanwhile, crimes against humanity have never been covered by a specific international law treaty, although the Rome Statute provides the most recent consensus in the international community on what can be included and is also the treaty that provides the most comprehensive list of specific acts that can constitute a crime.
Where violations occur, mechanisms have been established, from the UN tribunals for Cambodia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia to national efforts as seen in 2020 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, when a military tribunal brought a war criminal to justice.
The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague and created by the Rome Statute in 2002, has also had jurisdiction over allegations of violations of international humanitarian law.
World Court
As the first permanent global criminal court established to help end impunity for perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, the Court is an independent international organisation and is not part of the United Nations system.
However, it has a direct link with the UN. The Prosecutor of the Court can open cases or investigations referred by the UN Security Council, by states that are party to the Rome Statute, or on the basis of information from reliable sources.
Although not all 193 UN member states recognise the Court, the court can initiate investigations and open cases related to allegations from anywhere in the world. Cases have been heard and sentences handed down on a range of violations, from the use of rape as a weapon of war to the recruitment of children as combatants.
The court is currently investigating 17 cases. Part of its work involves issuing arrest warrants for alleged perpetrators. This includes an outstanding warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with his country’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Everyone can contribute
While international humanitarian law governs the warring parties to a conflict, the general public has an important role to play, Mongelard said.
He warned that dehumanising a group of people can send a message to surrounding armed forces that “some violations would be OK”.
“One important thing is to avoid dehumanising the other or the enemy, to avoid inciting hatred and violence,” he said. “That’s where the general public can contribute.”
As for international organisations, shortly after the Israel-Gaza conflict erupted on 7 October, the tribunal opened an ongoing investigation, enabling a link to provide for the filing of complaints of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression, which violate international humanitarian law.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Khan reminded the UN Security Council of the obligations of belligerents in the Israel-Gaza crisis: “There are simple rules of war,” adding that “parties to an armed conflict must protect civilians”.
Similarly, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al-Mandhari, spoke to UN News following the shelling of a Gaza hospital.
“Health care is not a target, and it should not be,” he said. “WHO calls on all parties to the conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law” and “protect civilians” along with “health professionals on the ground and ambulances,” he said.
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