VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW ----- 🕮 ----- SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH REPORT TOPIC: THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICTS – THEORY AND THE OPERATION IN PRACTICE Instructor: Dr. Dao Thi Thu Huong Hanoi, 2022 TABLE OF RESEARCH’s MEMBERS Name – Student Code Role Nguyen Tu Anh – 20064008 Researcher Vu Dieu My – 20064042 Researcher Tran Nguyen Bao Tram – 20064054 Researcher Nghiem Thanh Binh - 20064071 Researcher 1 TABLE OF ABBREVIATION Abbreviation Definition EEAS European External Action Service ICC International Criminal Court ICJ International Court of Justice ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia IHL International Humanitarian Law IMT International Military Tribunal Charter IRC International Rescue Committee Protocol I, II ICRC, Additional Protocol (I) and (II) to the Geneva Convention 1977 The III ICRC, Geneva Convention (III) on Prisoners of War, 1949 Convention The IV ICRC, Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Convention Civilians in Time of War, 1949 UN United Nations UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNSC United Nations Security Council WHO World Health Organization 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF RESEARCH’s MEMBERS. 1 TABLE OF ABBREVIATION. 7 PART II: GENERAL THEORY ON THE INSTITUTION OF CIVILIANS’ PROTECTION IN ARMED CONFLICT.
The general concepts of civilian and civilians’ protection. ‘Civilians’ protection’ definition. Sources of the international law governing the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The provisions of the civilians protection under the IHL.
The protection of civilians over the consequences of armed conflicts. The protection of the civilians in some of specific rights. The protection of some special subjects in the armed forces. The protection of women.
The protection of children. The protection of the elderly, the disabled, the infirm. End of protection of civilians. 21 PART III: ISSUES ON THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN IN ARMED CONFLICTS IN PRACTICE.
The world does take practical actions in protecting civilians in armed conflicts. The United Nations Security Council takes action in Civilians’ Protection. The UNSC in building its own regulation for to civilians’ protection. Some aspects of the protection of civilians recognized in UNSC Resolutions.
Protecting civilians in UN peacekeeping operations. ICRC in the protection of civilians in armed conflict. ICRC in humanitarian assistance activities. The ICRC in humanitarian protection activities.
The protection of civilians in armed conflict in the “new practice”, also known as the current topical issues all over the world. The protection of civilians in armed conflicts in the context of COVID – 19 pandemic. An even more difficult condition for the protection of civilians. 32 b, In Gaza Strip.
Another conflict – zones affected by the COVID – 19 pandemic. The world facing with COVID – 19 and seeking for solutions in the better protection of civilians in conflict – zones. About the international community. About the local authorities of the conflict – zones.
Issues concerning the current armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The dramatic situation of the conflict put an extremely strain onto civilians. The international community takes action in protecting civilians. 40 PART IV: PROPOSE SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING EFFICIENCY IN THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICTS .1 The shortcomings in exercising the mechanism of the civilians’ protection.
The clear violation of the IHL in attacking the civilian objects. The number of civilians killed, wounded remains unsatisfactory. Another human suffering resulted from the violation of IHL in armed conflicts. Propose solutions for improving efficiency in the protection of civilians in armed conflicts.
49 PART V: VIET NAM WITH THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN ARMED CONFLICTS. Vietnam shows a frank point of view in the protection of civilians. Vietnam in making several efforts for the protection of civilians in armed conflict as a neutral but standing for justice party. 54 PART VI: CONCLUSION.
57 4 ABSTRACT War and peace are two opposite sides of the life of international law. From the interests that these countries pursue, it is clear that the outbreak of a war will directly affect the civilians – the weakest and most vulnerable population. Therefore, the protection of these people during war has always been a concern of the international community. Moreover, the problem becomes more urgent when the Covid-19 pandemic breaks out in the world, bringing enormous challenges to even developed countries and leaving severe consequences for people.
This raises the question that when the most vulnerable people in wartime, civilians, their own lives have been severely affected by war and now, faced with the pandemic that has the potential to directly threaten their lives, what are the solutions to protect civilians’s legitimate rights and interests? Therefore, our team's scientific research will focus on clarifying everything from specific rules to the topical issues. KEYWORDS # International humanitarian law, # Protection of civilians in armed conflict; # Covid-19 5 PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Main issues Whatever the circumstances, a peaceful world is always the desire of all mankind. But it seems that the dream has not come true when conflicts still exist in many parts of the world.
Diversity in nature or scope occurs in many places, but it is easy to see that civilians always suffer the worst consequence in all armed conflicts: from falling into humanitarian disasters such as lack of stable shelter, insufficient food supply, no education, or no access to medical health care. to being victims of genocide, torture, rape, forced labor, etc. However, these difficulties are not the last challenges facing the vulnerable in wars. In addition, the end of 2019 was marked with the advent of the Coronavirus, which caused the COVID – 19 pandemic.
Only 100 days later this pandemic quickly affected the whole world deeply and at every aspect, which constituted a double challenge in exercising the mechanism of the civilians’ protection We realized the urgency of the current problem and wanted to conduct research in the field of international humanitarian law and open concrete guidelines for the protection of civilians in several hot spots around the world and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully, the research will be valuable, not only now, but in the future, creating a better global emergency response scenario. Research purpose The purpose of this research is to explain aspects of the institution of protection of civilians in war, as provided by international humanitarian law, from the theoretical basis to its practical application. In addition, the research article also explains specific legal concepts and characteristics, and notes the actual global situation it faces: the COVID – 19 pandemic.
Starting from the previous points, the article will carry out concrete solutions to direct a new perspective on the theme of the protection of civilians at war in the new context. Through it, the group of students also highlighted Vietnam's role in contributing to the implementation and value of international humanitarian law in general, and in particular the institution for the protection of civilians during the war in the context of the epidemic. Research methods To achieve the research objectives mentioned above, the student group research will use analytical methods to highlight aspects of the law, from the points of success and failure, through which they help explain the practical application of the laws. Along with this, we write articles on how to summarize and evaluate practice in order to clarify issues and ultimately suggest solutions to improve the law.
*** PART II: GENERAL THEORY ON THE INSTITUTION OF CIVILIANS’ PROTECTION IN ARMED CONFLICT 2. The general concepts of civilian and civilians’ protection Having a look into the reality of every war from the distant past up until present, It has always been the civilians – the most innocent people who suffered from the worst damages. In light of that, International humanitarian law (IHL) is a set of rules that seek for humanitarian reasons to limit the effects of armed conflict on every individual who are not from the armed forces or the warring factions. In the other words, Its mission is to protect the vulnerable who are not involved with the wars but always, in fact, bear the worst losses such as poverty, disease or every direct threat to their lives.
‘Civilian’ definition According to Art. 50 of the Protocol I, in supplementing the Geneva Convention, “A civilian is any person who does not belong to any of the categories of people considered prisoners of wars and arm forces". Likewise, in the case of 2000 Blaskic, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia pointed out that: "Civilians are people who are not, or no longer, members of the armed forces"1. The concept of the armed forces was first stipulated in the Geneva Convention III and then expanded in the Protocol I.
Therefore, in relation to such concept, a civilian is any individual who is not a member of any of the following groups (Art. 43(1), Protocol I and Art. 1 ICTY, Blaskic case, Judgement (p. 7 (i) Armed forces of a Party to a conflict consist of all organized armed forces, groups and units which are under a command responsible to that Party for the conduct of its subordinates, even if that Party is represented by a government or an authority not recognized by an adverse Party.
(ii) Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces. (iii) Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements. (iv) Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power. (v) Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
Besides, from the provision of the Geneva IV, civilian is directly defined as: (i) The foreigners in the territory of the parties to the armed conflict; (ii) Population in occupied territories; (iii) Internees put under internment; (iv) Medical and religious personnel who are not parts of the armed forces and civil defense units. ‘Civilians’ protection’ definition The protection of civilians is exercised both in international and non-international armed conflicts, even when a warring party does not recognize the state of war. In addition, the international humanitarian law concerning civilians in armed conflicts must be applied on the basis of the principle of non-discrimination on skin colour, ethnicity, religion or 8 political opinion,…and in order to limit the terrible effects of war on civilians, especially children. In any of international armed conflicts, It can be classified as two types of circumstances when the protection of civilians should be automatically performed: First, It is any danger or threat from the military activities that, in general saying, civilians should be protected over.
This principle rooted from the concept of civilians, who are defined as all non-combatants and must not be considered targets of attack. An exception to the rule is the leveé en masse, whereby the inhabitants of a country which has not yet been occupied, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having time to form themselves into an armed force. Such persons are considered combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.