INTERNATIONAL

HUMANITARIAN LAW

OBJECTIVE:
1. What is international humanitarian law (IHL)?
2. What is the difference between humanitarian law and
human rights law?
3. Where did international humanitarian law originate?
4. Where is international humanitarian law to be found?
5. When does international humanitarian law apply?
6. What does international humanitarian law cover?
7. Does international humanitarian law has a force and
effect in our domestic law?

1. What is international
humanitarian law?
International humanitarian law is the law that
regulates the conduct of armed conflict. It is that
branch of international law which seeks to limit the
effects of armed conflict by protecting persons who
are not participating in hostilities, and by restricting
and regulating the means and method of warfare
available
to
combatants.

Differences
Human rights law
applies in situations of
applies in times of war*
armed conflict
and peace alike
aims to protect people
principal goal is to
who do not or are no
protect individuals from
longer taking part in
arbitrary behaviour by
hostilities
their own governments
must be observed by the
must be observed by
States and all those
all persons at all times
forces who are taking
and the government
Humanitarian law

part in the hostilities.

Similarities
Both

laws strive to protect the lives, health and

dignity of individuals, albeit from a different angle.
Both laws recognize the sanctity and value of
human persons and the respect thereof.
The duty to implement IHL and human rights lies
first and foremost with States. Humanitarian law
obliges States to take practical and legal
measures, such as enacting penal legislation and
disseminating IHL. Similarly, States are bound by
human rights law to accord national law with
international obligations.

Where did international

humanitarian law originate?
International

humanitarian law is rooted

in the rules of ancient civilizations and
religions warfare has always been
subject to certain principles and customs.
Universal codification of international
humanitarian law began in the nineteenth
century. Since then, States have agreed
to a series of practical rules, based on the
bitter experience of modern warfare.

Where is international humanitarian

law to be found? Sources of IHL:
Geneva

Conventions of 1949.
Additional Protocols of 1977 relating to the protection of
victims of armed conflicts.
The 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property
in the Event of Armed Conflict
The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
The 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention and its five
protocols
The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention
The 1997 Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines
The 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

When does international

humanitarian law apply?
International

humanitarian law applies

only to armed conflict; it does not cover
internal tensions or disturbances such as
isolated acts of violence.
The law applies only once a conflict has
begun, and then equally to all sides
regardless of who started the fighting.

Two kinds of armed conflict:

International armed
conflicts
2. Non-international armed
conflicts
1.

International armed conflicts

International

armed conflicts are

those in which at least two States are
involved. They are subject to a wide range
of rules, including those set out in the four
Geneva Conventions and Additional
Protocols.

Common

Article 2 to the Geneva Conventions

of 1949 states that:

the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war

or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or
more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is
not recognized by one of them.

Jurisprudence: ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic

an armed conflict exists whenever there is a resort to armed

force between States

Non-international armed conflicts

Non-international

armed conflicts are

protracted armed confrontations occurring
between governmental armed forces and
the forces of one or more armed groups,
or between such groups arising on the
territory of a State.

Common

Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions

of 1949 applies to armed conflicts not of an
international character occurring in the
territory of one of the High Contracting
Parties.

Jurisprudence:

Dusko Tadic

ICTY, The Prosecutor v.

whenever there is xxx protracted armed

violence between governmental authorities and
organized armed groups or between such
groups within a State.

What does international

humanitarian law cover?
International humanitarian law covers two
areas:
the

protection of those who are not, or

no longer, taking part in fighting;

restrictions

on the means of warfare in

particular weapons and the methods of
warfare, such as military tactics.

Who are protected?

Those who do not take part in the fighting,
such as civilians and medical and
religious military personnel.
It also protects those who have ceased to
take part, such as wounded,
shipwrecked and sick combatants, and
prisoners of war.

Specifically, it is forbidden to kill or wound

an enemy who surrenders or is unable to
fight; the sick and wounded must be
collected and cared for by the party in
whose power they find themselves. Medical
personnel, supplies, hospitals and
ambulances must all be protected.

What restrictions are there on

weapons and tactics?
International humanitarian law prohibits all means
and methods of warfare which:
fail

to discriminate between those taking part in

the fighting and those, such as civilians, who are
not, the purpose being to protect the civilian
population, individual civilians and civilian
property;
cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering
cause severe or long-term damage to the
environment

Humanitarian law has therefore banned

the use of many weapons, including
exploding bullets, chemical and biological
weapons, blinding laser weapons and antipersonnel mines.

Does International humanitarian law has a

force and effect in our domestic law?

Yes. By the doctrine of incorporation and by our

own enactment of law which penalizes violation
against International Humanitarian Law.
1987 Philippines Constitution provides that
The Philippines renounces war as an
instrument of national policy, adopts the
generally accepted principles of
international law as part of the law of the
land

Salient Features of R.A. 9851

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9851

AN ACT DEFINING AND PENALIZING CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW, GENOCIDE AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY,
ORGANIZING JURISDICTION, DESIGNATING SPECIAL COURTS, AND FOR
RELATED PURPOSES

Sec. 3. (c) "Armed conflict" means any use of force or armed violence between States
or a protracted armed violence between governmental authorities and organized armed
groups or between such groups within that State: Provided, That such force or armed
violence gives rise, or may give rise, to a situation to which the Geneva Conventions of
12 August 1949, including their common Article 3, apply. Armed conflict may be
international, that is, between two (2) or more States, including belligerent occupation;
or non-international, that is, between governmental authorities and organized armed
groups or between such groups within a state. It does not cover internal disturbances or
tensions such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar
nature.

Section 4. War Crimes. - For the purpose of this Act, "war crimes" or "crimes against
Interntional Human Humanitarian Law" means:
(a)

In case of an international armed conflict , grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of

12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected
under provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:

(1) Willful killing;

(2) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
(3) Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
(4) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and
carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
(5) Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and
regular trial;
(6) Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of population or unlawful confinement;
(7) Taking of hostages;
(8) Compelling a prisoner a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of
a hostile power; and
(9) Unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war or other protected persons.

(b) In case of a non-international armed conflict, serious violations of

common Article 3 to the four (4) Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,
namely , any of the following acts committed against persons taking no
active part in the hostilities, including member of the armed forces who
have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness,
wounds, detention or any other cause;
(1) Violence to life and person, in particular, willful killings, mutilation,
cruel treatment and torture;
(2) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating
and degrading treatment;
(3) Taking of hostages; and
(4) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording
all judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable.