Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DR. RAJU KD
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HISTORY
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HISTORY
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FIRST CONVENTION
The Swiss government, at the prompting of the five founding members of the ICRC,
convened the 1864 Diplomatic Conference, which was attended by 16 States who
adopted the Geneva Convention for the amelioration of the condition of the
wounded in armies in the field.
The 1864 Geneva Convention laid the foundations for contemporary humanitarian
law. It was chiefly characterized by:
standing written rules of universal scope to protect the victims of conflicts;
its multilateral nature, open to all States;
the obligation to extend care without discrimination to wounded and sick military
personnel;
respect for and marking of medical personnel, transports and equipment using an
emblem (red cross on a white background).
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HUMANITARIAN LAW
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ARMED CONFLICT
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GENEVA CONVENTIONS
FROM 1948
First Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded
and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field" (first adopted in 1864, last revision in
1949).
Second Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded,
Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea" (first adopted in 1906).
Third Geneva Convention "relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War" (
first adopted in 1929, last revision in 1949).
Fourth Geneva Convention "relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time
of War" (first adopted in 1949, based on parts of the 1907 Hague Convention IV
).
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PROTOCOLS
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GENEVA
CONVENTIONS
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CONVENTIONS
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BASIC RULES
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BASIC RULES
No one shall be subjected to torture, corporal punishment
or cruel or degrading treatment.
Parties to a conflict and members of their armed forces do
not have an unlimited choice of methods and means of
warfare.
Parties to a conflict shall at all times distinguish between the
civilian population and combatants.
Attacks shall be directed solely against military objectives
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REDCROSS
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FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLES
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IMPLEMENTATION
Only States may become party to international treaties, and thus to the Geneva
Conventions and their Additional Protocols.
However, all parties to an armed conflict whether States or non-State actors are
bound by international humanitarian law.
At the end of 2003, almost all the world's States - 191, - were party to the Geneva
Conventions.
The fact that the treaties are among those accepted by the greatest number of
countries testifies to their universality.
In the case of the Additional Protocols, 161 States were party to Protocol I and 156 to
Protocol II by the same date.
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GENEVA
CONVENTIONS
1949 – protection of war victims
Cover the wounded and sick in land warfare;
The wounded, sick and shipwrecked in warfare at sea;
Prisoners of war and civilians.
It applicable to all declared war or any other armed conflict.
Use of violence against person is strictly prohibited.
Torture or biological experimentation is prohibited.
Not to left without medical assistance.
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SECOND GENEVA
CONVENTION
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THIRD GENEVA
CONVENTION 1949
Prisoners of war.
Armed personnel of army
Other militias
Conditions:
1. to be commanded by a person who is responsible for his subordinates
2. to be a distinctive emblem recognizable from a distance.
3. Arms carried openly
4. operations in accordance with customs of war
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PRISONERS OF WAR
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TREATMENT OF PRISONERS
OF WAR
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4 TH GENEVA
CONVENTION
Protection of civilians in time of war.
A.50(1) of Protocol – I – 1977 – a civilian is defined as any person not a combatant.
Protection from torture, inhuman treatment, hostage taking and reprisals.
Applies to declared war or any other armed conflict.
A.49 – prohibits mass forcible transfers
A.52 – civil objects are not to be the object of attack or of reprisals.
A.70 – protected persons shall not be arrested.
All Geneva principles are ‘intransgressible principles of international law.’
Legality of the Threat or use of Nuclear Weapons case, ICJ, 1996.
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INTERNATIONAL
CONFLICTS
Humanitarian law is intended principally for the parties to the conflict and protects
every individual or category of individuals not or no longer actively involved in the
conflict, i.e.:
wounded or sick military personnel in land warfare, and members of the armed forces'
medical services;
wounded, sick or shipwrecked military personnel in naval warfare, and members of the
naval forces' medical services;
prisoners of war;
the civilian population, for example:
foreign civilians on the territory of parties to the conflict, including refugees;
civilians in occupied territories;
civilian detainees and internees;
medical and religious personnel or civil defence units.
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NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED
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Humanitarian law is intended for the armed forces, whether regular or not,
taking part in the conflict, and protects every individual or category of
individuals not or no longer actively involved in the hostilities, for example:
wounded or sick fighters;
people deprived of their freedom as a result of the conflict;
the civilian population;
medical and religious personnel.
International humanitarian law does not apply to situations of violence not
amounting in intensity to an armed conflict.
Cases of this type are governed by the provisions of human rights law and
such measures of domestic legislation as may be invoked.
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NON INTERNATIONAL
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USE OF WEAPONS
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NUCLEAR WEAPONS
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HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
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HUMANITARIAN LAW
HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
International humanitarian law and international human rights law (hereafter
referred to as human rights) are complementary.
Both strive to protect the lives, health and dignity of individuals, albeit from a
different angle.
Humanitarian law applies in situations of armed conflict whereas human rights, or
at least some of them, protect the individual at all times, in war and peace alike.
However, some human rights treaties permit governments to derogate from
certain rights in situations of public emergency.
No derogations are permitted under IHL because it was conceived for emergency
situations, namely armed conflict.
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HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMANITARIAN LAWS
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HUMAN RIGHTS
INSTRUMENTS
Universal instruments
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in
1948
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of
1981
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment of 1984
Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989
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HUMAN RIGHTS
INSTRUMENTS
Regional instruments
the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950
the American Convention on Human Rights of 1969
the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights of 1981
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UDHR, 1948
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PREAMBLE
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PREAMBLE
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ORIGIN
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PRINCIPLES
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PRINCIPLES
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CIVIL, POLITICAL AND OTHER RIGHTS
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EQUITY
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are
endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.
with entitlement to rights and freedoms
without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status
and without distinction on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or
international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs.
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EQUITY
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EQUITY
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SOCIAL SECURITY
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LIBERTY
The UDHR indicates that everyone has the right to "life, liberty
and security of person", with explicit prohibition of slavery. Article
5 indicates that no one shall "be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment",
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PRIVACY
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THOUGHT AND
EXPRESSION
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PARTICIPATION AND ASSOCIATION
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The UDHR indicates that all have a right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association; no one may be compelled to belong to an association.
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LIVELIHOOD
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LIVELIHOOD
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EDUCATION, CULTURE, CREATIVITY
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INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON
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CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, 1976
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CONVENTION
PROVISIONS
Five categories
Protection on individual's physical integrity (against things such as execution, torture, and arbitrary
arrest).
Procedural fairness in law (rule of law, rights upon arrest, trial, basic conditions must be met when
imprisoned, rights to a lawyer, impartial process in trial).
Protection based on gender, religious, racial or other forms of discrimination.
Individual freedom of belief, speech, association, freedom of press, right to hold assembly.
Right to political participation (organise a political party, vote, voice contempt for current political
authority).
Two optional protocols
Mechanism by which individuals can launch complaints against member states.
Abolition of the death penalty.
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TERRORISM
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TERRORISM
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TERRORISM
attacks on civilians and civilian objects (Arts. 51, para. 2, and 52, Protocol I; and
Art. 13, Protocol II);
indiscriminate attacks (Art. 51, para. 4, Protocol I);
attacks on places of worship (Art. 53, Protocol I; and Art. 16, Protocol II);
attacks on works and installations containing dangerous forces (Art. 56, Protocol
I; and Art. 15, Protocol II);
the taking of hostages (Art. 75, Protocol I; Art. 3 common to the four
Conventions; and Art. 4, para. 2b, Protocol II);
murder of persons not or no longer taking part in hostilities (Art. 75, Protocol I;
Art. 3 common to the four Conventions; and Art. 4, para. 2a, Protocol II).
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TERRORISM
Crimes Against Humanity It has been argued that the fact that the
typical terrorist attack is not generally a widespread or systematic
attack probably means that many acts of terrorism would not be
found to qualify as a crime against humanity, even though a
terrorist act often involves murder or other attack directed against
a civilian population.
Even if it does , there is some difficulty pinpointing at which stage
it becomes widespread enough to constitute such a crime.
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WAR ON TERROR
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GENOCIDE
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WAR CRIMES
War Crimes – War crimes can involve various different acts. However
there must an Armed Conflict of an International Character or non-
international Character –
“armed conflicts not of an international character” does not include
situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots,
isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar
nature.
“Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian
population/individual civilians/civilian objects/personnel installations
etc involved in humanitarian assistance. [See ICC statute Article 5].
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PROSECUTOR V. GALIC (CASE NO.
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IT-98-29-T) (DECEMBER 5, 2003)
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JURISDICTION
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INTERNATIONAL
CRIME
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INTERNATIONAL
CRIME
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NUCLEAR TERRORISM
CONVENTION, 2005
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NUCLEAR TERRORISM
CONVENTION, 2005
While its initial Russian draft was proposed in 1997, the Nuclear
Terrorism Convention is the first anti-terrorism convention
adopted since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The treaty opens for signature Sept. 14, 2005 and enters into
force thirty days after it is signed and ratified by at least 22 states.
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THANK YOU
KDR/IIT KGP/RGSOIPL/-2008