The laws of war: protecting civilians in armed conflict

Sub-saharan African countries face threats from armed groups and terrorist organizations. Groups such as Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram have no respect for human rights. They carry out massacres, conduct ethnic cleansing and target civilians. Governments aim to protect people against the threat of such groups. However, they can inflict significant civilian casualties when doing so.

The universality of the right to life comes into question in times of war. When defending its citizens governments are authorized to use lethal force. The use of force is not allowed in all situations. It can be limited under the laws of war, generally known as International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

PROTECTING THE LIVES AND RIGHTS OF CIVILIANS

Sometimes government forces attack civilian targets and kill hundreds of civilians. This can happen due to reckless action, or even intentionally. This is a failure by the government to protect its citizens and a violation of the right to life. Civilians in areas of armed conflict often are disadvantaged or belong to a persecuted minority group, meaning that governments could be discriminating against minorities.

For instance, when carrying out counter-terrorist operations against Boko Haram, the Nigerian military has committed numerous IHL violations. In 2017 an airstrike targeted at Boko Haram fighters hit a refugee camp, killing 234 civilians. The government blamed the deaths on faulty intelligence, but their actions were a violation of IHL. When governments do not follow the restrictions set by IHL their use of force violates their citizens’ right to protection and their fundamental right to life.

PRINCIPLES FOR PROTECTING CIVILIANS

Many actions are prohibited under IHL, ranging from mass killings, to attacks on medical personnel, to sexual violence as a weapon of war. The airstrike carried out by the Nigerian military violates many rules specifically designed to protect civilian populations. The rules for preventing loss of civilian life rest on three key principles.

DISTINCTION: Distinction requires armed forces to differentiate between civilian and combat objectives. If this principle is not followed, as in the case mentioned, it can lead to significant civilian casualties.

NECESSITY AND PROPORTIONALITY: The laws of war recognize that some civilians are inevitable casualties in armed conflict. In the case of civilian death, the action taken has to be necessary to defeat the enemy. Moreover, attacks on military objects should be done in ways that don’t cause excessive civilian casualties. For instance, using artillery strikes in densely populated areas is regarded as unnecessary and disproportionate.

HUMANE TREATMENT: All fighting must try to treat civilians humanely at all times. This means ensuring access to food, water and medical supplies. Additionally, taking hostages, using sexual violence as a weapon of war or execution without trial are violations of this principle.

It’s crucial that all parties to a conflict recognise these principles. When facing an enemy that commits widespread human rights violations governments often forget that they have to follow IHL. To violate the laws of war, however, is to implicitly support the actions of such groups.

DANIIL UKHORSKIY

VIEW ALL POSTS

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function create_function() in /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/framework/inc/sd-theme-functions/sd-functions.php:188 Stack trace: #0 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(326): sd_style_tag_cloud() #1 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php(205): WP_Hook->apply_filters() #2 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/category-template.php(778): apply_filters() #3 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-tag-cloud.php(60): wp_tag_cloud() #4 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-widget.php(394): WP_Widget_Tag_Cloud->widget() #5 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/widgets.php(837): WP_Widget->display_callback() #6 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/sidebar.php(26): dynamic_sidebar() #7 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template.php(790): require_once('/home/213602.cl...') #8 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template.php(725): load_template() #9 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/general-template.php(136): locate_template() #10 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/single.php(114): get_sidebar() #11 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template-loader.php(106): include('/home/213602.cl...') #12 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-blog-header.php(19): require_once('/home/213602.cl...') #13 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/index.php(17): require('/home/213602.cl...') #14 {main} thrown in /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/framework/inc/sd-theme-functions/sd-functions.php on line 188
WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.