Promoting international humanitarian law in higher education and universities in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (319) ◽  
pp. 447-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Hankins

Any attempt to spread knowledge of international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict) and its corresponding obligations among the military and political authorities of a country must be matched by an effort to introduce the subject into academic programmes, where the subject will be taught and studied in greater depth.Today, international humanitarian law is a minor component of the academic curriculum at universities in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), constituting only a small part of the public international law course offered at leading law faculties. Until very recently, although the relevant treaties and instruments of international humanitarian law existed in the Russian language, they were not readily available in libraries and were very seldom the subject of academic study and research.

2009 ◽  
pp. 309-318
Author(s):  
Gabriella Venturini

- The Israeli armed action in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009 has prompted vehement protests of the public, especially in the Arab Countries and in Europe. The reaction of international institutions has varied. While the UN Human Rights Council strongly censured Israel, placing light blame on the rocket attacks made from Gaza against Israeli towns, the UN Security Council was much more measured in itsresponde. Generally speaking, ius in bello (or International Humanitarian Law, IHL) was not extensively addressed by the international institutions, which instead focused their debates on the legitimacy of the use of force. For different reasons, neither Israel nor Hamas is bound by the most relevant IHL Conventions on the conduct of hostilities during armed conflict. The broad rules of customary international law prove barely adequate to restrain the use of means and methods of combat in asymmetrical conflicts. Although the victims may have recourse to domestic (Israeli) jurisdiction to redress their losses, the military action in Gaza will have long lasting negative consequences in the troubled area of Palestine.


Author(s):  
Amichai Cohen ◽  
Eyal Ben-Ari

This chapter describes how increased juridification and demands to apply international humanitarian law (IHL) have influenced the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The authors analyze the IDF’s compliance with IHL and other legal frameworks through a multilevel and multidimensional model of military compliance describing the law and external institutions involved in applying it. The past decades have seen the relatively autonomous sphere of the military increasingly come under judicial overview. Judicial and international pressures have also increased the role of the operational legal advisors. The chapter ends by discussing the ceremonies intended to promote compliance with IHL involving soldiers and junior officers. It is based on interviews (with Israeli academic experts, members of nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], and military commanders), off-the-record conversations with members of the IDF’s Military Advocate General, and newspaper articles, reports of NGOs, and secondary material.


Author(s):  
Karolina Dłuska

The author of the article tries to indicate the relationship between the perceived presence of the Catholic Church in public life and the election preferences of Poles. The subject of the research here is the parliamentary elections in Poland in 2011 in the context of the perception by the electorate of the individual parties of the public presence of the Catholic Church in the selected aspects. Among them, the author points to: the issue of crosses and other religious symbols in public space, including the issue of a cross in the Sejm meeting room. She also recalls such matters as: religion lessons in schools, the religious nature of the military oath, priests appearing on public television, the Church taking a stand on laws passed by the Sejm and priests telling people how to vote in elections. The presented analysis is based on the results of the Polish General Election Study 2011.


2015 ◽  
pp. 88-103
Author(s):  
Joanna Szymoniczek

Resting places of fallen soldiers – war cemeteries – are monuments to soldiers’ heroism, and thus are of special significance not only for those who have lost their loved ones, but also for entire nations, countries and communities. Therefore, such cemeteries are created under the provisions of relevant authorities, and then put under the special protection of the public. These issues are closely regulated by international law established throughout the twentieth century. Cemeteries are protected by the state on whose territory individual objects are placed. However, the problem of cemeteries is more and more often the responsibility of social organizations. According to the international humanitarian law of armed conflict, specific tasks in this respect are assigned to the tracing services of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, who deal with the registry of exhumation, inhumation and body transfer, hold deposits, establish the fate of victims of war and issue death certificates. Institutions that deal with exploration, keeping records, exhumation of remains and the construction or revaluation of the graves of fallen citizens buried outside the borders of their own countries include the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites, the German People’s Union for the Care of War Graves, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Austrian Red Cross (Österreichisches Schwarzes Kreuz), the American Battle Monuments Commission, the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad and the Italian Commissariat General for the Memory of Killed in War (Commissariato Generale per le Onoranze Caduti in Guerra). For political reasons, tasks related to war cemeteries are assigned to social organizations, because their actions are believed to be more effective and less bureaucratic than those of states.


Author(s):  
Ihor Tataryn ◽  
Yuliia Komissarchuk ◽  
Yurii Dmytryk ◽  
Mariia Maistrenko ◽  
Olha Rymarchuk

The scientific article is devoted to a comprehensive understanding of international legal, procedural, and organizational problems of investigation of war crimes committed during the military conflict in the south and east of Ukraine. It develops the author's concept of investigation of war crimes committed during the armed conflict, scientifically substantiated theoretical provisions and specific patterns that are manifested in the field of legal support, organization of investigation, collection of evidence, methods of investigation of crimes of this type. It is concluded that there is a need to specify the components of war crimes in national legislation. Recommendations for further improvement of criminal and criminal procedure legislation of Ukraine in order to fulfill the state's international obligations in the field of international humanitarian law are given.


1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (131) ◽  
pp. 96-103

The ICRC has on various occasions drawn the attention of National Red Cross Societies to the importance of an ever wider dissemination of the Geneva Conventions. In March 1971, it sent them a letter relating to the teaching of international humanitarian law in universities. Recently it reverted to the subject in a circular which we publish below, followed by the outline of a course on international humanitarian law which Mr. Jean Pictet, Vice-President of the ICRC, is giving at the University of Geneva, and which he has authorized us to reproduce.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Nyamutata

The impact of armed conflict on children has been recognized for some time as a major humanitarian problem. In 1999, the United Nations (UN) Security Council began taking up the abuse of children during armed conflict as a regular thematic issue. As part of the protective framework, the UN adopted a “strategy” of “naming and shaming” government forces and rebel groups recruiting, killing, maiming, raping or other sexual abusing of children during conflict. The philosophical justification of the public exposures is premised on the supposed stigmatic and deterrent effect on named and shamed offenders. However, little analysis has gone into the impact of this UN policy. This paper has the modest aim of assessing the UN’s naming and shaming practice since inception of the policy in 2002. The efficacy of shaming sanctions is contestable. The recent UN annual statistics on the exposed parties do not seem to evince a convincing causal link between of naming and shaming and adherence to international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly among armed non-State groups (ANSAs) so far. Naming and shaming represents an antagonistic modus operandi. This paper argues that humanitarian engagement with ANSAs offers a non-confrontational and corrective approach and thus greater promise for compliance and protection of children during armed conflict than naming and shaming.


2006 ◽  
Vol 88 (863) ◽  
pp. 459-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Cockayne

AbstractAlthough long hidden from the public gaze of international humanitarian law, military entrepreneurialism has played a key role in the global organization of legitimate violence. By examining historical changes in the role and legal treatment of military entrepreneurs, the author sheds light on the contemporary “resurfacing” of privately organized violence in the form of private military companies, and its broader implications for international humanitarian law.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document