|
HRW: The War in Iraq and International Humanitarian Law - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), April 2003 (3747 words) |
 | IHL consists of the rules during armed conflict that seek to protect civilians and captured or incapacitated combatants, and restrict the methods and means of warfare. |
| Customary IHL is drawn from state practice, decisions of international tribunals, scholarly works, and international treaties to which the United States and Iraq are not party (particularly Protocols I and II of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions), many provisions of which are accepted as reflecting customary international law. |
| IHL allows the targeting of commanders-even top commanders-in the course of armed conflict, provided that such attacks otherwise comply with the laws that protect civilians (for example, the attacks cannot be indiscriminate or cause disproportionate civilian casualties). |
| American Red Cross (2740 words) |
| IHL requires that children under 15 not be recruited into the armed forces, and that "all feasible measures" be taken to ensure that they do not take a direct part in the fighting. |
| IHL does not outlaw armed conflict, but instead attempts to balance a nation's acknowledged legal right to attack legitimate military targets during war with the right of the civilian population to be protected from the effects of the hostilities. |
| IHL and the Red Cross have been linked since 1863 when Henry Dunant, a Swiss citizen, proposed that civilian volunteers be permitted to provide medical relief to wounded and sick soldiers. |
Feeds |
Contact