LOAC continues to evolve as mankind struggles to advance the principles of humanity in warfare whilst maintaining the needs of international and national security.[25]. But. While it is true that the criminal behaviour of terrorist unlawful combatants, The two articles do notprovide any guidance on many substantive and procedural legal issues, nor on how to resolve practical questions, that arise in relation to captured unlawful combatants., Indeed, Pejic asserts that the GWOT is neither IAC nor NIAC in nature, arguing that it may in some situations be an international armed conflict, in other instances a non-international armed conflict, and in still other cases not an armed conflict in the legal sense at all., Every situation of organized armed violence arising from or in response to terrorism must be examined on a case-by-case basis. [16] Derbyshire, 149.335 Introduction to LOAC, in Section One: Introduction to LOAC and Historical Development, 149.335 Law of Armed Conflict, ibid., p. 13. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! [15] Derbyshire, Section Four: When and to Whom Does LOAC Apply, p. 2, Section One: Introduction to LOAC and Historical Development, p. 3, and 149.335 Introduction to LOAC in Section One: Introduction to LOAC and Historical Development, p. 7, 149.335 Law of Armed Conflict, ibid. (1) Wounded and sick military personnel on land (Geneva Convention I). Indeed, the sanctity and power of the LOAC holds true universally and applies equally to all military service men and women operating in conflict theatres around the globe in multinational military operations past, present and future. States comply with the practice out of a sense of legal obligation to an international norm or custom, rather than solely due to their own legal LOAC obligations or national interests. Source. Protocol II was the first-ever international treaty devoted exclusively to . The controversy especially concerned Americas use of CIA/Department of Justice government-approved enhanced interrogation techniques to extract information from approximately 33 uncooperative detainees on plans for future terrorist attacks and the members and organisational structure of the Al Qaeda terrorist network. No one size fits all legal approach to terrorism, particularly as to the judicial nature of the situation and the classification of suspected terrorists, is, or has proved to be, feasible in practice.[38], Two slides taken from the Google TimeLapse terrorism project, which has tracked and displayed terrorist attacks that occur worldwide each year over a twenty-year period from 1997-2017.[39]. Further, additional regulations regarding the treatment of civilians were introduced. to inflict lawful pain and suffering on a law-breaking person, who has planned, acted and desired to inflict unlawful pain, suffering and death on innocent multitudes, in order to prevent acts of terrorism and thereby save the lives and limbs of countless, law-abiding citizens? Indeed, Pejic asserts that the GWOT is neither IAC nor NIAC in nature, arguing that it may in some situations be an international armed conflict, in other instances a non-international armed conflict, and in still other cases not an armed conflict in the legal sense at all.[37] As Pejic concludes: Every situation of organized armed violence arising from or in response to terrorism must be examined on a case-by-case basis. The intensive inspections program instituted after the [Gulf] war uncovered evidence that the Iraqis had, in fact, been considerably further along in developing nuclear weapons than U.S. intelligence had estimated before the warAs long as the inspections effort continued and the sanctions were strictly enforced, his opportunities to resume the programs for weapons of mass destruction would be very limited. But years later, once the threat seemed less urgent and the political winds had shifted, many lawmakers became fierce critics. To summarize, the law of armed conflict: is a branch of international law; While it is true that the criminal behaviour of terrorist unlawful combatants never negates the obligations and duties of lawful combatant military personnel to act in an upright manner in their own decisions and actions (the law of Tu Quoque/You also being no defence for crimes committed against the LOAC), by respecting, adhering to, and upholding the LOAC themselves in their comportment at all times within an armed conflict, the basic lack of reciprocity in the ongoing criminal nature, behaviour and deliberate intent of terrorist and terror-using combatants does continue to challenge and frustrate contemporary thinking on the matter. In previous blogs I have presented case-studies of Multinational Operations (MNOs) in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo, in which participating national forces bound by government-imposed national caveat constraints failed to use lethal force at the critical and necessary moments in order to fully uphold or pursue the primary security objectives of their security mission mandates. For much of mankinds history, the ground rules of warfare were hit or miss, if they existed at all. [27] M. De Long (Lt. Gen.) & N. Lukeman, A General Speaks Out [originally published as Inside CentCom: the unvarnished truth about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq], Zenith Press, St. Paul (MN), 2007, p. 68. About a third of those were questioned using enhanced techniques. CIL refers to practices in warfare that are so consistently upheld and adhered to by a majority of States on the world stage that they have become generally regarded as law. International Committee of the Red Cross. Al Qaeda terrorists attack the United States of America: On 11 September 2001 four passenger commercial aircraft were hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists, in a plot designed and enacted by the central Al Qaeda cell led by Osama bin Laden in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. But the choice between security and values was real. Today evolutions in CIL are taking place in the field of restrictions and limitations imposed on weaponry, in the use of lethal force, and in the field of international criminal law as it relates to Islamist terrorists and jihadist insurgents in the global struggle to combat extremist, Islamo-fascist regional insurgencies and terrorist attacks around the globe. The Swiss Government agreed to hold the Conventions in Geneva, and a few years later, a similar agreement to protect shipwrecked soldiers was produced. 169-171). (4) Civilian persons in time of war (Geneva Convention IV). Your email address will not be published. The Statemay hand the suspect over to another Stateor an international tribunal for trial. There were two that I felt went too far, even if they were legal. So I supported Bush 43s decision to invade and bring Saddam down. Had I not authorized waterboarding on senior al Qaeda leaders, I would have had to accept a greater risk that the country would be attacked. [28] Modified images taken from: N. Shachtman, Afghan Air War Hits 3-Year Low, WIRED, 16 January 2012, https://www.wired.com/2012/01/afghan-air-war/, (accessed 1 May 2019); Operations and missions: past and present, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),25 April 2019, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52060.htm, (accessed 1 May 2019); L. Eptako, Then and Now: What Replaced the Toppled Saddam Statue?, PBS Newshour, 26 August 2010, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/saddam-statue, (accessed 1 May 2019); and B. Serious consequences were threatened for noncompliance. 'Common Article 3' - the article common to all four of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which alone treats 'Non-International' armed conflict - requires that, in addition to humane treatment for all military personnel 'hors de combat' or taken 'Prisoner of War' in International armed conflicts, all persons not taking an active . Between 2001-2006, Al Qaeda terrorists and local/foreign extremist insurgents captured in the territories of Afghanistan or Iraq committing acts of terror or violence against either Allied coalition forces or the new national governments, their forces, or their civilian population, were classed by the United States (U.S.) as, Under this classification of the LOAC, Taliban and Al Qaeda militants were, This absence of legal entitlement to the LOAC protections afforded to lawful armed combatants was strengthened further by the fact that these Islamist terrorists and insurgents conducted their operations out of uniform, failed to distinguish themselves from the civilian population thereby exposing innocents to harm, deliberately targeted innocent civilians themselves in terrorist attacks, forcibly used civilians as human shields to protect themselves from legitimate military responses provoked by their attacks, and, In short, as terrorists or terror-using insurgents in conflict theatres i.e. This means that in rare instances where a State has historically consistently objected to a particular practice or custom of conflict, the principle of customary law forbidding that practice is not considered legally binding for that particular State with regard to that specific practice.[17]. . To see a table listing the States that have ratified the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and its two 1977 Additional Protocols, click on the following link: Dr Regeena Kingsley PDF List of Ratifying States to Geneva Conventions & Additional Protocols (2019) v3 Compressed. I had asked the most senior legal officers in the U.S. government to review the interrogation methods, and they had assured me they did not constitute torture. The LOAC is comprised of international laws such as the Geneva Conventions, which, once ratified by individual Nation States, proscribe powerful and unequivocal obligations and duties on all individual members of the Nation States armed forces during any and every military conflict. Common Article 3 the article common to all four of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which alone treats Non-International armed conflict requires that, in addition to humane treatment for all military personnel hors de combat or taken Prisoner of War in International armed conflicts, all persons not taking an active part in hostilities within a Non-International armed conflict be likewise treated humanely in all circumstances, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, birth, wealth or any other similar criteria. This means that ratified laws of the LOAC must be applied and adhered to by the nations armed forces at all times during peacetime, during war, and during all the various stages of the war spectrum in-between these conflict poles, ranging from non-kinetic and non-traditional peacekeeping operations, at one end of the spectrum, to overtly kinetic, offensive warfare operations, on the other. During the early 2000s the Bush Administration sincerely believed and asserted,with full support and confirmation from the Pentagon, the Department of Justice and the CIA, that the U.S. government was in fact giving fundamentally humane treatment to the terrorist detainees at Guantanamo prison according to the laws of war, by making no adverse distinction based on race, colour, religion, gender, birth, wealth or other criteria, and by providing for all the detainees physical, spiritual and medical needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, freedom of worship, and medical treatment). While some civilizations showed compassion for the injured, helpless or innocent civilians, others tortured or slaughtered anyone in sight, no questions asked. [34] Modified image taken from M. Petrou, The decline of al-Qaeda, Macleans, 9 September 2011, https://www.macleans.ca/news/world/the-decline-of-al-qaeda/, (accessed 1 May 2019). Humane Treatment (GPW, Art. It also laid out rules for the daily lives of prisoners and established the International Red Cross as the main neutral organization responsible for collecting and transmitting data about prisoners of war and the wounded or killed. cit., p. 13. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. General (GEN) Tommy Franks, the U.S. Army former Commander of CENTCOM, has also defended Americas decision to go to war against the Saddam dictatorship in Iraq, stating that: The intelligence, while not precise, was overwhelming. The original Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864 to establish the red cross emblem signifying neutral status and protection of medical services and volunteers. In particular, heated controversy surrounds knowledgeable terrorists or terror-using insurgents captured operating in warzones, who are by definition not only unlawful combatants under the laws of war but also war criminals guilty of committing indiscriminate acts of terror and mass-murder, and who possess extensive knowledge of terrorist members, organisation, and plots for future attacks that if obtained might save the lives of countless other human beings, including many innocent civilians.