IHL, Little Known Humanitarian Laws Governing Conflict

By Ismail Amsyar Mohd Said & Azzah Mohamad KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- Promoting International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is one of the crucial mandates of the Geneva based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In facilitating the teaching, dissemination, and building of expertise in IHL the Southeast and East Asian Teaching Session (SEATS) on IHL was introduced said ICRC's legal adviser for East and Southeast Asia, Richard Desgagne. IHL, also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict, is a set of rules that seeks, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the ill-effects of armed conflicts on all parties concerned. The law, with its major part contained in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, only applies to armed conflicts and does not cover internal tensions or disturbances such as isolated acts of violence. IHL applies once a conflict begins, equally to all sides regardless of who started the conflict. It also protects those not a party to the conflict and the restrictions on the means of warfare. SEATS IN MALAYSIA At the recent seventh SEATS held at National University of Malaysia (UKM), over 30 participants had the chance to learn more about the key tenets of IHL and humanitarian action. And judging from the response of some of the participants, the SEATS on IHL has indeed succeeded in enhancing their knowledge and made it possible for them to impart what they have learned back in their own countries. But then one may ask how far is IHL important to Southeast Asia especially when the region has been relatively free from major cross border conflicts or domestic upheavals in its modern history. Speaking to Bernama, the participants agreed that although IHL is not really applicable in Southeast Asia as the region is not in a war or conflict, the IHL is still important. In Indonesia, for example, IHL is important to the Indonesian armed forces as they are also assigned for peace keeping missions to countries like Lebanon and Africa, said Jakarta State Islamic University lecturer Zezen Zainal Mutaqin, who is also a consultant with ICRC. As IHL is part of the syllabus in the International Law studies, Zezen makes use of the ICRC case studies in teaching his students. He said that SEATS had given him the best exposure to IHL. IHL IMPORTANT IN MAINTAINING HUMAN RIGHTS Another participant, Captain Eduardo D. Esquivias Jags, Chief of the Monitoring, Inquiry, and Legal Branch of the Philippines Armed Forces noted that IHL is important to the Philippine security forces that also undertakes foreign peacekeeping missions. ICRC’s engagement through IHL proves its seriousness in protecting the civilians and preventing humanitarian tragedies in time of conflicts, the captain added. Participants also commented on the challenges in enforcing the IHL with Zezen saying that the biggest obstacle is whether or not the forces involved in the conflicts will be able to apply humanitarian laws during their missions, while Jags pointed out the main concern was ignorance on the IHL. Zezen noted that it was important to educate the armed forces and the people so that they would know on the effect or consequences of their actions during a conflict. Moreover, he pointed out that with a good understanding of the IHL, people would be aware of the regulations and possibly in the first place this might preempt the conflict. Jags said IHL also encompasses civilians and governments as a whole, and as such everyone should understand the IHL, the law of war and the law of armed conflict. "If people are ignorant, there’s a high possibility that violations of the IHL will continue. Hence, education in IHL is vital," Jags added. IHL PROMISES A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR KOREA For South Korea’s Pyoungkeun Kang, a professor of International Law at Korea University in Seoul, SEATS had taught him about the principles and practices of IHL. He is determined to teach his students what he learned here. He pointed out that students were the future leaders of Korea and, therefore, if the students had the chance of knowing more about IHL, the future of the two Koreas (North and South Korea) would be much brighter. "After taking part in this workshop, I am going to introduce almost the same methods in my teaching when I return to Korea", Prof Kang said. Commenting on how countries involved in armed conflicts could avoid human tragedies in the future, he said that IHL would be very helpful to them, since the main point of IHL is to promote humanitarian causes. COUNTRIES IN CONFLICT STILL HAVE OBLIGATIONS Another participant Dr Nu Nu Yi, a Professor from the Law Department at Myanmar’s Mandalay University, suggested that countries involved in armed conflicts should also be reminded of their obligations under the IHL. The six-day teaching session from July 15-20 was prepared for those teaching or working in the field of international law and policy, including people dealing with human rights or humanitarian issues, such as government officials, police or armed forces, media and Red Cross-Red Crescent societies. -- BERNAMA