PROSPERITY P. SORONGON 1. Why it is important to include non-international armed conflict in international scene of IHL?

ANSWER: State reluctance to subject internal matters to international codification has been gradually eroded over the years because of the extreme violence and cruelty characterizing many internal armed conflicts. The States have come to accept that there are some situations which cannot be treated as purely internal; on the contrary, they are of concern to the international community as a whole. This change in attitude has allowed rules to be codified governing non-international armed conflicts. 2. In non-international armed conflicts, will IHL prevails over statutes of the states? ANSWER: All parties to non-international armed conflicts whether State actors or armed groups are bound by the relevant rules of IHL. States are explicitly bound by the treaties to which they are party and by applicable customary law. Article 1 common to the four Geneva Conventions requires that States Parties must, in all circumstances, not only respect, but also ensure respect for humanitarian law. Although only States may formally ratify or become party to the various international treaties, armed groups party to a non-international armed conflict also must comply with common Article 3, customary IHL, and, where applicable, Additional Protocol II. The extensive practice of international courts and tribunals and other international bodies affirms this obligation. 3. What is combatant? ANSWER: For the terms laid down under non-international armed conflict, Combatants are those engaged in armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination. Geneva Convention III, Article 4A, combatants and other protected persons are those who fall into the following categories members of the armed forces including militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces. The fundamental importance of combatant status lies in the fact that combatants who fulfill the necessary requirements are legitimately permitted to participate in armed hostilities. What this amounts to is a combatant immunity. At the cessation of hostilities, a legitimate combatant will not face prosecution for acts committed during the course of the armed conflict, unless such acts were in violation of the laws of armed conflict. 4. How about the use of atomic and nuclear bombs, are they prohibited?

ANSWER: The international law in force does not, however, contain any explicit prohibition of the use of such weapons. Nonetheless, nuclear weapons are not free of all legal limitation. The basic principles of the law of armed conflict certainly apply to them, as the International Court of Justice affirmed in its 1996 Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons. On the basis of the evidence submitted to the Court, the ICRC has stated that it is difficult to imagine how the use of nuclear weapons could be compatible with the principles and rules of the law of armed conflict. Some armed forces might consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons to be lawful in certain situations, such as against a military objective situated well away from civilian concentrations. 5. In non-international armed conflict, will IHL prevails over the municipal statutes of the states? ANSWER: States were reluctant, if not outright opposed, to having any international rules dictating permissible conduct in their internal affairs. In a non-international armed conflict, each party is bound to apply, as a minimum, the fundamental humanitarian provisions of international law contained in Article 3 common to all four Geneva Conventions and Articles of Protocols. International humanitarian law is part of international law, which is the body of rules governing relations between States. When States agreed to bind with treaties or conventions, in customary rules, which consist of State practice will be considered by them as legally binding, and in general principles. 6. In armed conflicts, what bodies or organization enforces the IHL? ANSWER: The process of enforcing IHL can be done in two ways: Judicial: A range of courts and tribunals involved in ensuring that IHL is enforced. They span from domestic courts through to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Non-judicial: Governments of countries involved in conflicts have also been known to offer non-judicial services in a bid to help victims and to bring about justice. Such mechanisms include truth commissions, apology and forgiveness, compensation in the form of monetary, psychological and medical services, memorials, community reconciliation and the return of property. 7. In cases of war, how does the Red Cross exercise their functions? In what way/deed they perform their functions? ANSWER: The International Committee of the Red Cross plays an important role in the observance and respect for IHL. In times of war, the ICRC serves as a neutral independent body working with all the parties to the conflict to help all the victims of armed conflict. Their works involves the numerous tasks such as visits to the persons in detention (both in international and non-international armed conflict). During the visits, interviews are conducted without witnesses and the detaining power is not permitted to discover that has been said by detainees. If the ICRC finds that detention facilities are not maintained to the standards required by the Conventions, the ICRC will approach the State in question, confidentially and without revealing information

regarding the sources, and work with the State to improve the detention facilities and condition of the detainees. Only rarely will the ICRC go public with their concerns regarding the acts of the States in armed conflict, preferring instead to rely on the confidential negotiations with the States. The ICRC also undertakes the provision of relief supplies and medical assistance to victims of armed conflicts. The ICRC also serves as a neutral and independent repository of information on persons affected by armed conflict specifically the missing, sick, wounded, shipwrecked, detained or imprisoned. The ICRC operates a tracing service for people to attempt to find their loved ones, and to keep track of persons caught up in conflict zones. The ICRCs humanitarian initiatives vary according to the type of armed conflict. In international armed conflicts, the ICRC has a guaranteed right to provide humanitarian assistance to States; under Article 81 of Protocol I, States are obliged to accept the assistance of the ICRC. However, in noninternational armed conflicts, the ICRC has no such guaranteed right; it may only offer such services, with States under no obligation to accept the offer.

8. In the application of International Humanitarian Law, what kind of conflict applies? ANSWER: International humanitarian law applies not only to armed conflict but also non-international armed conflict. Before international armed conflict is said to be applicable only, but because most of profound changes in the regulation of the armed conflict that have actually come in the field of customary international law and is now the case in nearly all areas of the law of armed conflict, the rules that apply to international conflicts are equally applicable to non-intentional armed conflicts. Also, the problems of International Human law arise from internal armed conflicts which a state cannot treat as purely internal 9. Are the member states obliged to participate in armed conflict? ANSWER: In time of war, the need to respect and ensure respect for IHL is obviously paramount. This principle is expressed in the Geneva Conventions in Common Article 1. Common Article 1 provides that parties to the Convention undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances. According to this principle, it is the responsibility of both the affected State, and all States parties to the Convention, to ensure that breaches of the Convention are halted. What this means in practice is less clear, but generally speaking, under Common Article 1, any State injured by a violation of IHL can take all measures permissible under international law generally, and IHL specifically, to ensure respect for IHL.

10. It was stated that armed conflicts are not free to employ means on war or conflicts, what are the means allowed? ANSWER: In non-international armed conflict, means of combat are the instruments used in the course of hostilities, specifically weapons. Article 35.2 of Additional Protocol I prohibits the employment of weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering. Means and methods of warfare must be chosen that avoid or at least minimize incidental loss of civilian life, injuries and damage to their property.