Humanitarian Law

February 22, 2007

UN Photos/Artwork by Octavio Roth

HUMANITARIAN LAW: principles and international treaties outlining the conduct of nations engaged in warfare that aim to protect combatants and civilians affected by armed conflicts. It is also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict.

Humanitarian Law seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict on combatants and civilians by defining their fundamental rights. The principles of humanitarian law are found in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Hague Conventions, in addition to several other agreements signed by most nations. These rights are expanded in the 1977 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions. International humanitarian law complements international law, which is a set of rules that govern relations between states.

• READ MORE
• ADDITIONAL TERMINOLOGY
• RESOURCES

READ MORE:

• What is International Humanitarian Law? International Committee of the Red Cross Fact Sheet
• Red Cross—International Humanitarian Law
• The Red Cross Movement and Prisoners of War: A short introduction to the Red Cross, three-time recipient of the Nobel Prize, and a Prisoners of War Game
• Who Is a Prisoner of War? BBC News Online
• The Geneva Conventions: The Core of International Humanitarian Law 

ADDITIONAL TERMINOLOGY:

• Principle of distinction
• Indiscriminate weapons
• Indiscriminate use of legal weapons
• Prisoners of War
  Principle of distinction
  The principle of distinction is established by Article 48 of Protocol I of the 1977 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions, which states that "Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives." In armed conflict, this principle prohibits the use of indiscriminate weapons and the use of legal weapons in indiscriminate ways.
  

  Indiscriminate weapons

  Indiscriminate weapons are difficult to aim or have difficult-to-control effects. Few weapons are inherently indiscriminate; this could easily change, however, as new war-fighting technologies are developed.
  

  Indiscriminate use of legal weapons

  Indiscriminate use of legal weapons refers to the use of legal weapons that are not properly targeted or target civilian and military objects and/or populations without distinction. There are three criteria for determining this: discrimination, proportionality, and duty of care. Articles 51 through 58 of Protocol I further defines these criteria and the issue of indiscriminate use of weapons against civilian targets.
  

  Prisoners of War

  Combatants "who have fallen into the power of the enemy" are considered prisoners of war (POWs). International law provides for the general rights, protection, and treatment of POW’s while they are in captivity or internment. According to The Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949), POWs also include members of the armed forces, volunteer corps, militias, those accompanying the armed forces, and civilians or inhabitants of an area who take up arms to resist invading forces. Protocol I (1977) provides additional information related to the definition and treatment of POWs.
  

RESOURCES:

Links