Basic Rules of IHL (International Humanitarian Law)
The basic rules of International Humanitarian Law are distinction, proportionality, precaution and the prohibition on the infliction of unnecessary suffering. These rules strike a balance between military necessity and respect for humanity in situations of armed conflict.
Understanding IHL requires appreciating its basic rules. IHL does not proscribe violence, attack or even destruction. These elements are inevitable results of armed conflict. IHL, however, makes sure that the dignity of persons as humans is preserved even in warfare or armed conflict.
Therefore, under IHL, attacks are restricted to persons directly participating in hostilities. Also, weapons that can be used are limited to forestall indiscriminate attacks and superfluous injury. This simple fact is well contained in the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868, which states that:
“the only legitimate object which States should endeavour to accomplish during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy;
That for this purpose it is sufficient to disable the greatest possible number of men;
That this object would be exceeded by the employment of arms which uselessly aggravate the sufferings of disabled men, or render their death inevitable;
That the employment of such arms would, therefore, be contrary to the laws of humanity;”1
Military necessity in armed conflict permits belligerents to engage in violence or harm. However, the aim of such attacks is to weaken the military of the enemy and achieve partial or total submission. This objective is obtainable through legitimate attacks directed at persons directly participating in the conflict. And when they cease to directly participate, the attack must cease.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Genevan philosopher and writer, puts it thus:
“War is in no way a relationship of man with man but a relationship between States, in which individuals are enemies only by accident. not as men, nor even as citizens, but as soldiers…
Since the object of war is to destroy the enemy State, it is legitimate to kill the latter’s defenders as long as they are carrying arms; but as soon as they lay them down and surrender, they cease to be enemies or agents of the enemy, and again become mere men, and it is no longer legitimate to take their lives.”
In all, the goal of IHL is very simple, it is: ensure respect for humanity, restrict the violence of warfare to specific persons (direct participants), and restrict weapons that can be used against these person to those that do not cause unnecessary suffering. For example, laser weapons that are designed to cause permanent blindness to unenhanced vision is prohibited under IHL.
War is usually despicable. Like General Dufour said to Henry Dunant, “We need to see, through examples as vivid as those you have reported, what the glory of the battlefield produces in terms of torture and tears.” However, wars can be fought within the boundaries of humanity. This is the sole goal of IHL. Like Martens Clause reads:
“Until a more complete code of the laws of war has been issued, the High Contracting Parties deem it expedient to declare that, in cases not included in the Regulations adopted by them, the inhabitants and the belligerents remain under the protection and the rule of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity and the dictates of public conscience.” (Emphasis mine).
From this understanding, the basic rules of international humanitarian law can be highlighted as follows:
Distinction
The rule of distinction is at the core of IHL. It ensures that attacks are directed only at persons directly participating in hostilities and military objectives. These persons include combatants, fighters of a non-State armed group, and civilians who directly participate in hostilities. Combatants who are hors de combat must not be attacked.2
According to the rule of distinction, legitimate attacks under IHL can only be directed at military objectives. Civilians and civilian objects must never be the object of attacks. In other words, there is a total prohibition of violence against civilians or civilian objects.
Article 48 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I (AP I) provides that; “In order to ensure respect for and protection of the civilian population and civilian objects, the 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.”
Similarly, Article 52 of AP I provides that Civilian objects shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals. And that Attacks shall be limited strictly to military objectives.
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