International humanitarian law
[1][2] It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by protecting persons who are not participating in hostilities and by restricting and regulating the means and methods of warfare available to combatants.It is designed to balance humanitarian concerns and military necessity, and subjects warfare to the rule of law by limiting its destructive effect and alleviating human suffering.[13] Fritz Munch sums up historical military practice before 1800: "The essential points seem to be these: In battle and in towns taken by force, combatants and non-combatants were killed and property was destroyed or looted."[14] In the 17th century, the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius, widely regarded as the founder or father of public international law, wrote that "wars, for the attainment of their objects, it cannot be denied, must employ force and terror as their most proper agents".[15] Even in the midst of the carnage of history, however, there have been frequent expressions and invocation of humanitarian norms for the protection of the victims of armed conflicts: the wounded, the sick and the shipwrecked.[16] In the Old Testament, the King of Israel prevents the slaying of the captured, following the prophet Elisha's admonition to spare enemy prisoners."[19] Islamic law states that "non-combatants who did not take part in fighting such as women, children, monks and hermits, the aged, blind, and insane" were not to be molested.[23] The most important antecedent of IHL is the current Armistice Agreement and Regularization of War, signed and ratified in 1820 between the authorities of the then Government of Great Colombia and the Chief of the Expeditionary Forces of the Spanish Crown, in the Venezuelan city of Santa Ana de Trujillo.[30] The Additional Protocols, however, have yet to achieve near-universal acceptance, since the United States and several other significant military powers (like Iran, Israel, India and Pakistan) are currently not parties to them.For these reasons, the following conventions have been adopted: The ICRC is the only institution explicitly named under international humanitarian law as a controlling authority.[36] Suspected terrorists who are captured during an armed conflict, without having participated in the hostilities, may be detained only in accordance with the GC IV, and are entitled to a regular trial.Reparation for victims of serious violations of International Humanitarian Law acknowledges the suffering endured by individuals and communities and seeks to provide a form of redress for the harms inflicted upon them.These reparations can take various forms, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition, aimed at addressing the physical, psychological, and material damage suffered by victims.Civilians are entitled to respect for their physical and mental integrity, their honour, family rights, religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs.Adverse distinction based on race, sex, nationality, religious belief or political opinion is prohibited in the treatment of prisoners of war,[49] civilians,[50] and persons hors de combat.[53] The European Union has made significant changes to its sanctions policy to better safeguard humanitarian efforts, in response to the United Nations Security Council resolution 2664 (2022).[54] This includes incorporating humanitarian exemptions into EU sanctions regimes, ensuring that aid can reach those in need without legal barriers.Feminist critics have challenged IHL's focus on male combatants and its relegation of women to the status of victims, and its granting them legitimacy almost exclusively as child-rearers.Indeed, non-Western participants played important roles in the development of this area of law at the global level as early as the 1907 Second Hague Conference, and have continued to do so since.[62] ICRC studies on the Middle East, Somalia, Latin America, and the Pacific, for example have found that there are traditional and long-standing practices in various cultures that preceded, but are generally consistent with, modern IHL.[citation needed] Durham cautions that, although traditional practices and IHL legal norms are largely compatible, it is important not to assume perfect alignment.
International human rights lawNuremberg trialsInternational Military Tribunal for the Far EastInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaInternational Criminal Tribunal for RwandaInternational Court of JusticeInternational Criminal CourtWar crimesHague ConventionsGeneva ConventionsThird Geneva ConventionFourth Geneva ConventionProtocol IProtocol IIProtocol IIIRome StatuteLaw of warjus ad bellumInternational criminal lawinternational lawcombatantscustomary international lawcase lawbelligerentneutral nationsprotected personsnon-combatantsmilitary necessitycrime of aggressionlaws of warinternal armed conflictThe HagueGenevajus in belloHugo GrotiusElishaLaws of ManuAbu BakrFrancis LieberLieber CodeUnion ArmyAmerican Civil WarCrimean WarFlorence NightingaleHenry DunantBattle of SolferinoA Memory of SolferinoInternational Committee of the Red CrossGeneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Fieldprotectionhumanitarian assistanceFirst Geneva Convention1929 versionSecond Geneva ConventionGeneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War was adopted in 1929hors de combatneutralco-belligerenttorturecruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishmentwarfarelegitimate military targetsdoctorsambulancesred crossdeclarations of warweaponsuniformperfidyhostagesland minescluster bombsConvention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effectsbooby-trapsincendiary weaponsblinding laser weaponsOttawa Treatyanti-personnelOptional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed ConflictConvention on Cluster Munitionspunishmentreprisalprisoners of warunlawful combatantsrights of fair and regular trialterroristsUN Convention Against Torturedistinctionproportionalityforced prostitutionEuropean Unionviolence against womenUN Security Council Resolutions 18881889 (2009)Resolution 1325Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against WomenInternational Criminal Tribunals for the former YugoslaviaRwandaSpecial Court for Sierra Leonecultural relativisminternational human rightspromote awarenessUN CharterKellogg–Briand PactNurembergTokyo TrialsWayback MachineRoutledgeMédecins Sans FrontièresGC IIITheGuardian.comUnited Nations Security CouncilPictet, JeanCambridge University PressRule of Law in Armed Conflicts ProjectGeneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human RightsPeace Palace LibrarySourcesPeremptory normNuremberg CharterNuremberg principlesUnited Nations CharterGenocide ConventionConvention against CorruptionConvention Against Transnational Organized CrimeConvention Against Torture