Basic Rules of International Humanitarian Law

By basic rules of international humanitarian law, we make reference to those things that must be borne in mind by the parties at war. These include the following amongst others.

(i)          Parties to a conflict must at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants in order to spare civilian population and property, no civilian population as such as being related to a civilian person be subjected to any form of military attacks.

(ii)        Parties to a conflict and members of their armed forces do not have an unlimited choice of methods and means of warfare. It is prohibited to employ weapons or methods of warfare of a nature to cause unnecessary losses or excessive suffering.

(iii)      No punishment without trial and no one must be subjected to physical or mental torture, corporal punishment or cruel or degrading treatment.

(iv)       Non national civilians are entitled to respect for their lives, dignity, personal rights and convictions.

(v)         Captured combatants are entitled to respect for their lives, dignity, personal rights and conviction. They must be protected and have the right to receive relief.

(vi)       The wounded and sick must be cared for by the controlling force and the emblem of the red cross, red crescent or red crystal must be respected.

(vii)     Soldiers who surrender are entitled to respect for their lives and integrity; they should not be killed or injured.

The above are the basic rules which were enshrined in the Geneva Convention. In 1949, the existing Geneva Conventions were re-written and a fourth was added which was to expand the protection to include also the civilians. The Geneva conventions have since been adopted by every country in the world and therefore are universally applicable.

The Geneva conventions adopted in 1949 are composed of 159 articles and deals with the status and treatment of protected persons with a distinction drawn between the situation of foreigners on the territory of one of the conflicting parties and that of civilians in occupied territory. Furthermore, it details the obligations of the occupying authority with regards to the civilian population and contains detailed provisions on humanitarian relief for populations in occupied territories.

The first Geneva Convention protects the wounded and sick soldiers on land during war, but also for medical and religious personnel, medical units and medical transport. The second Geneva Convention protects the wounded, sick and ship wrecked military personnel at sea during war. This convention replaced the Hague convention of 1907 for the adaptation to maritime warfare of the principles of the Geneva Convention. The third Geneva Convention applies to prisoners of war. This convention replaced the prisoners of war convention of 1929. It established the principle that prisoners of war shall be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities. The fourth Geneva Convention provides protection to civilians included in occupied territories.

In 1977 government adopted protocol I and II to the Geneva Conventions. The first protocol covers international conflicts, whereas the second deals with non-international conflicts, for example but not limited to civil wars. In 2005, protocol III to the convention was added. This was created to allow for an additional distinguished emblem, the red crystal to be used as the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems can be perceived as having cultural, religious or political connotations.