There has been a lot of talk about violations of international humanitarian law with the conflicts in Gaza and the Ukraine. International humanitarian law or the laws of war are a set of treaties meant to protect the human rights of civilians and other non-participants of the conflict in wartime. Non-participants can include injured soldiers, prisoners of war, and medical workers. The backbone of international humanitarian law is the four Geneva Conventions. Here are some of the key points:
- The humane treatment of all non-participants in the conflict. This means no torture or murder and the right to medical treatment.
- All parties in the conflict must distinguish between civilians and military forces.
- Medical personnel and equipment receive special protection. Which means that military forces should not harm medical personnel, equipment, or hospitals.
- No collective punishment
In my last post I talked about violations of the laws of war in the Ukraine, so in this post I will focus on the Gaza Crisis. Both Israel and Hamas have violated international humanitarian law during the fighting . Article 3 in the fourth Geneva Convention, states in reference to, “Persons taking no active part in the hostilities” that “the following acts are and shall be prohibited...violence to life and person…” Israel’s airstrikes on populated areas of Gaza are a violation of this. Israel uses airstrikes to destroy Hamas missile caches which are often hidden in populated areas. Be this as it may, article 33 specifically says that, “No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed.” When Israel bombs an area populated by civilians, although it gives preemptive warnings before the airstrike, they are still punishing those who did not place the missiles there. Hamas is also guilty of violating these two articles of the Convention. They have sent missiles into Israel that injured or killed civilians and damaged civilian property. In addition, they also violated article 28 of the Fourth Convention which states that, “The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune to military operations.” Hamas has done this on numerous occasions by storing missiles under apartments, U.N schools, and mosques, as well as telling its civilians to stay in their homes when Israel warns them to evacuate before an airstrike. By using Palestinians as human shields, Hamas has made it so that the Israeli army cannot reach its objectives without harming civilians.
Violations of international humanitarian law go unpunished more often than not as there is no reliable means of enforcing them. War crimes are tried by the International Criminal Court. The court can only try cases, however, if the state in question has signed the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the ICC), if the state submits to the authority of the ICC, or if the UN Security Council moves to have the ICC try the case. This system leaves too much room for error. This does not mean that we should ignore the Geneva Conventions. Even though they will never prevent wars from occurring, they still give us an ideal to strive for.
For more Information on the laws of war and the Gaza Crisis read this article by Human Rights
Watch: http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/03/qa-2014-hostilities-between-israel-and-hamas
For more information on the Geneva Conventions explore the International Committee for the Red Cross' website: http://www.icrc.org/eng/
For more Information on the laws of war and the Gaza Crisis read this article by Human Rights
Watch: http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/03/qa-2014-hostilities-between-israel-and-hamas
For more information on the Geneva Conventions explore the International Committee for the Red Cross' website: http://www.icrc.org/eng/
