a. In the territory of a High Contracting Party [State] between its armed forces and dissident armed forces or other organized armed groups which, under responsible command, exercise such control over a part of its territory as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations and to implement this Protocol. when the government is obliged to use military armed forces against dissident insurgents, instead of simply the police force; or (2) non-government dissident groups must possess organized armed forces sufficient to render them parties to the conflict, meaning that they are operating under some kind of command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations within the State. General (GEN) Tommy Franks, the U.S. Army former Commander of CENTCOM, has also defended Americas decision to go to war against the Saddam dictatorship in Iraq, stating that: The intelligence, while not precise, was overwhelming. Humane Treatment (GPW, Art. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks against New York and Washington D.C. in the United States in September 2001, America and its coalition of allies went to war against the Al Qaeda terrorist network that had planned and carried out those attacks, and also those States who either hosted and gave refuge to, or materially supported, the terrorist networks leaders and members. These disasters in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo, involving national military contingents engaging in both UN- and NATO-led multinational security operations over a period of ten years, are more than government, military and humanitarian failures however. On February 7, 2002 -- ten years ago to the day, tomorrow -- President George W. Bush signed a brief memorandum titled "Humane Treatment of Taliban and al Qaeda Detainees." The caption . It also specifies the rights of internees (POWs) and saboteurs. Geneva, 6 July 1906. International Committee of the Red Cross.Treaties, States, Parties, and Commentaries: Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977. International Committee of the Red Cross.Treaties, States Parties, and Commentaries: Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977. International Committee of the Red Cross. The extreme, Islamo-fascist terrorists and insurgents of today do indeed present a new and different brand of non-State and unlawful Enemy combatant in armed conflict in modern times, that was certainly not envisaged in the drafting of the Geneva Conventions in 1949 or the IAC and NIAC Additional Protocols in 1977. Other emblems were later recognized, and the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the main topic of this article, confirmed them all. The Lieber Code (General Orders No. States comply with the practice out of a sense of legal obligation to an international norm or custom, rather than solely due to their own legal LOAC obligations or national interests.[16]. Had I not authorized waterboarding on senior al Qaeda leaders, I would have had to accept a greater risk that the country would be attacked. No doubt the procedure was tough, but medical experts assured the CIA that it did no lasting harm. [2] Modified image taken from P. Gourevitch, After the Genocide, The New Yorker [Magazine], 18 December 1995, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/12/18/after-the-genocide, (accessed 14 September 2017). Indeed, the international order continues to be founded on the 1648 Westphalian principles of State sovereignty, sovereign jurisdiction over territorial integrity and the principle of non-intervention, that has survived intact over many centuries despite many crises and upheavals to the system, not least WWI, WWII, the Cold War Superpower confrontation, and even the post-9/11 world. It also grantsthe right to proper medical treatment and care. During the course of this three-day rampage, the vast majority of KFOR military forces stood aside and took very little action to protect the lives of targeted civilian locals from the rioters, nor to prevent entire villages and city apartment blocks of homes from being set on fire, nor to safeguard significant objects of Serbian cultural heritage and worship from destruction including ancient churches and even cemeteries from perverse desecration and destruction during the riots. Article 12 stipulated the wounded and sick must not be murdered, tortured, exterminated or exposed to biological experiments. Modern CIL goes further than this, however, and contends that it is illegal to torture any person for any purpose or in any circumstances, or to subject any person to cruel or inhumane treatment for any purpose or in any circumstances, during any armed conflict (see in particular the 1987 UN Convention against Torture and the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ratified by many, but not all, nations). Counter to expectation, it has in fact been Non-International, rather than International, armed conflict that has predominated in theatres of conflict around the world since the end of WWII, and which still continues to represent the majority of armed conflicts today. In particular, heated controversy surrounds knowledgeable terrorists or terror-using insurgents captured operating in warzones, who are by definition not only unlawful combatants under the laws of war but also war criminals guilty of committing indiscriminate acts of terror and mass-murder, and who possess extensive knowledge of terrorist members, organisation, and plots for future attacks that if obtained might save the lives of countless other human beings, including many innocent civilians. Still is to this day. b. [20] Derbyshire, NZDF LOAC Manual Chapter 15: Prisoners of War and other persons deprived of their liberty in the course of armed conflict in Section Nine: Prisoners of War and Other Persons Deprived of Their Liberty, pp. In short, as terrorists or terror-using insurgents in conflict theatres i.e. The circumstances of each will determine whether it legally and factually meets the qualifying conditions as an armed conflict (international or non-international). Another technique was waterboarding, a process of simulated drowning. There were two that I felt went too far, even if they were legal. Adding to this confusion is the fact that this definition of torture provided above does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to lawful sanctions (where the meaning of lawful sanctions remains vague and unclear) (Derbyshire, Section Ten: Internees, Detainees and Torture, 149.335 Law of Armed Conflict, op. In Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995, UNAMIR and UNPROFOR national contingent forces failed in their preeminent mandated duty to act in a robust military fashion to protect the lives of thousands of non-combatant civilians, sheltering in UN safe areas under their command, from the hostile intent and hostile lethal force actions of Enemy forces towards the local civilian population. Some of these LOAC obligations have been so universally ratified and accepted as customary norms worldwide over the last century, that they have become extremely powerful and are now internationally regarded as binding on all military and non-military combatant forces, in all places, and at all times, during all the stages of conflict that exist on the scale between peace and war. [12] Customary International Humanitarian Law, The Magazine of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement [Magazine], 2005, p. 2, http://www.redcross.int/EN/mag/magazine2005_2/24-25.htm (accessed 28 August 2008). regular wars. The principle of humane treatment requires that the wounded and sick, prisoners of war, civilians and other persons protected by IHL are treated humanely at all times. Last updated in June of 2017 by Stephanie Jurkowski. The intensive inspections program instituted after the [Gulf] war uncovered evidence that the Iraqis had, in fact, been considerably further along in developing nuclear weapons than U.S. intelligence had estimated before the warAs long as the inspections effort continued and the sanctions were strictly enforced, his opportunities to resume the programs for weapons of mass destruction would be very limited. 3 of 8) Protection against threats or acts of violence Protection against public curiosity This Convention protects wounded and infirm soldiers and medical personnel who are not taking active part in hostility against a Party. (1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, Adding to these legal rights, Article 75(3) of API states, moreover, that Detaining Powers are obligated to release detainees only when the circumstances justifying the arrest, detention or internment have ceased. This is a principle supported by CIL which also allows that detainees may be held in detention against their will if there is a good reason to do so, and as long as reason requires (API Art 75(3) and ICRC Customary IHL Rule 99, in NZDF LOAC Manual, ibid., pp. It renders the convicts or accused of such crimes to the jurisdiction of all signatory States, regardless of their nationality or territoriality of their crime. The requirement to accord humane treatment is recognized as a fundamental guarantee by both Additional Protocols I and II. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Namely: (1) The unimpeded killing of non-combatant civilians in all three international security operations; (2) The commission of genocide and crimes against humanity against thousands in Rwanda and Bosnia; and. [33] Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions it is prohibited to torture non-combatant civilians,hors de combatwounded, sick or PW military personnel,or other lawful combatants during an armed conflict. Subsequently a preventative pre-emptive war took place in Iraq against Saddam Husseins dictatorship during 2003, which: firstly, had been meeting with senior Al Qaeda leaders; secondly, was cooperating with and housing Al Qaeda members at a chemical and biological weapons-testing laboratory situated at an Iraqi base near the Iranian border (including the notorious Al Qaeda attack-planner, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi); and thirdly, was strongly suspected internationally of having stockpiles of illegal biological and chemical Weapons of Mass destruction (WMD),in addition to nuclear material from its nuclear development programme, that, given the regimes long and proven record of support for terrorism, it was feared Saddam might easily give or sell to Al Qaeda terrorists to enhance and further their attacks in America and around the world (see endnote).

Laurie Metcalf Zoe Perry Young Sheldon, Basis Independent Silicon Valley Sara Kolb, Who Can Be Buried At Jefferson Barracks, Articles T