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Note on the Protection of Refugees in Armed Conflict Situations
In connection
with the subject of military attacks on refugee camps which is on the
agenda of the Thirty Third session of the Sub-Committee of the Whole on
International Protection, the Office is submitting for the information of
Member Governments of the Executive Committee a statement of principles of
international humanitarian law and legal provisions relevant to this
subject. This statement has been prepared by the Office and is annexed to
this Note. Relevant
principles of international humanitarian law and legal provisions A.
Introduction
The following is a brief outline of the humanitarian principles and legal
provisions relevant to the protection of refugees against armed attacks.
This protection relates to refugee-a who are civilians or who belong to
civilian population. As such, these refugees are protected by the
principles and provisions of International Humanitarian Law applying to
the protection of civilians or civilian population in armed conflict and
in peace time by the more stringent provisions of International Law
applicable generally to the protection of individual human rights. B.
Prohibition of Attacks against Civilians and Civilian Population in Armed
Conflict Situations
The twentieth International Conference of the Red Cross held at Vienna in
1965 laid down in a declaratory form (Resolution XXVIII), inter alia, the
following principles for observance by all governmental and other
authorities responsible for action in armed conflicts: (a)
That the right of the parties to a conflict to adopt means of injuring the
enemy is not unlimited; (b)
That it is prohibited to launch attacks against the civilian populations
as such; (c)
That distinction must be made at all times between persons taking part in
the hostilities and members of the civilian population to the effect that
the latter be spared as much as possible. These
principles reflected the laws of humanity and the dictates of public
conscience as expressed in such instruments as the 1907 Hague regulations
and 1949 Geneva Conventions. The UN
General Assembly in resolution 2444 (XXIII) of 19 December 1968 endorsed
these humanitarian principles. The U.N.
Conference on Human Rights, in resolution XXIII of 12 May 1968, observed
that armed conflicts continued to plague humanity; considered that the
widespread violence and brutality of the times, including massacres,
summary executions, tortures, inhuman treatment of prisoners, killing of
civilians in armed conflicts eroded human rights and engendered
counter-brutality, expressed the conviction that even during periods of
armed conflict, humanitarian principles must prevail; and decided to
recommend certain types of action (Final Act of' the International
Conference on Human Rights, United Nations publications, Sales No
E.68.XIV.2, p. 18). In resolution
2675 (XXV) of 9 December 1970, the UN General Assembly affirmed, inter
alia, the following basic principles for the protection of civilian
populations in armed conflicts: 1
Fundamental human rights, as accepted in international law and laid down
in international instruments, continue to apply fully in situations of
armed conflicts; 2
In the conduct of military operations during armed conflicts, a
distinction must be made at all times between persons actively taking part
in the hostilities and civilian populations; 3
Civilian populations as such should not be the object of military
operations; 4
Dwellings and other installations that are used only by civilians should
not be the object of military operations; 5
Places or areas designated for the sole protection of civilians, such as
hospital zones or similar refuges, should not be the object of military
operations; 6
Civilian populations, or individual members thereof, should not be the
object of reprisals, forcible transfers or other assaults on their
integrity. In 1974, the
United Nations General Assembly adopted a Declaration concerning the
Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict (UNGA
Resolution 338 (XXIX)) which stated explicitly inter alia that: i)
attacks and bombings on the civilian populations, inflicting incalculable
suffering, especially on women and children, who are the most vulnerable
members of the population, shall be prohibited, and such acts should be
condemned; and ii)
that all forms of repression and cruel and inhuman treatment of women and
children, including imprisonment, torture, shooting, mass arrests,
collective punishment, destruction of dwellings and forcible eviction,
committed by belligerents in the course of military operations or in
occupied territories shall be considered criminal. In resolution
32/44 of 8 December 1977, the UN General Assembly, welcomed the successful
conclusion of the Diplomatic Conference on the reaffirmation and
development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in armed
conflicts (adoption of two additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions
of 1949) and, inter alia, called upon all parties to armed conflicts to
acknowledge and to comply with their obligations under the existing
instruments of international humanitarian law and to observe the
international humanitarian rules which are applicable. It also called upon
all States to take effective steps for the dissemination of humanitarian
rules applicable in armed conflicts. In the two
Protocols additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, provisions are found
for the protection of the civilian population against armed attacks. Many
of these provisions reflect generally recognized principles and rules of
international humanitarian law applicable to armed conflict, in particular
the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection
of civilian persons. The basic
rule stated in Article 48 of Protocol I is 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 these operations only
against military objectives. It is further stated in Article 51 that the
civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general
protection against danger arising from military operations; the civilian
population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the
object of attacks; attacks or threats of violence the primary purpose of
which is to spread terror among the civilian populations are prohibited;
and attacks against the civilian populations or civilians by way of
reprisal are also prohibited. In Article 57, it is stated that in the
conduct of military operations, constant care shall be taken to spare the
civilian populations, civilians and civilian objects; and certain
precautionary measures governing the conduct of military operations are
prescribed by that article. The basic
rules of protection of the civilian population are found also in Protocol
II, where it is stated, in Article 13, that the civilian population and
individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against the dangers
arising from military operations; that the civilian populations as such,
as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attacks; and
that acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread
terror among the civilian populations are prohibited. Certain rules
governing the conduct of military operations have also been enunciated in
regard to attacks against groups or populations who may not be wholly
civilian in character. In Protocol I
additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, it is stated that the presence
within the civilian population of individuals who do not come within the
definition of civilian does not deprive the population of its civilian
character. (Article 50 (3)). Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited
(Article 51 (4)). According to this latter provision, indiscriminate
attacks are : (a)
those which are not directed at a specific military objective; (b)
those which employ a method or means of combat which cannot be directed at
a specific military objective; or (c)
those which employ a method as means of combat the effects of which cannot
be limited as required by the Protocol; and
consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military
objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction. Among
others, the following types of attacks are to be considered as
indiscriminate according to the rule of article 51: (a)
an attack by bombardment by any methods or moans which treats as a single
military objective a number of clearly separated and distinct military
objectives located in a city, town, village or other areas containing a
similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects; (b)
an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life,
injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof,
which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military
advantage anticipated. Article 85 of
Protocol I on repression of breaches-of this Protocol states, inter alia,
that making the civilian population or individual civilians the object of
attack shall be regarded as grave breach of Protocol I. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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