Contemporary Challenges to Humanitarian Law
| Published date | 01 September 1987 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338702400302 |
| Date | 01 September 1987 |
| Author | Jacques Moreillon |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Focus
On
Contemporary
Challenges
to
Humanitarian
Law*
JACQUES
MOREILLON
Director
General,
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross
ISSN
0022-3433
Journal
of
Peace
Research,
vol.
24,
no.
3,
1987
1.
Introduction
Apart
from
the
constant
challenges
faced
by
international
law
during
actual
conflicts,
it
is
also
subjected
to
some
adverse
opinions
against
the
new
directions
which
the
law
has
taken
and
which
are
contained
in
the
Additional
Protocols
of
8th
June
1977.
These
Protocols
are
additional
to
the
Geneva
Con-
ventions
of
1949:
they
develop
the
law
relat-
ing
to
the
protection
of
victims
and
codify
and
develop
the
law
governing
the
conduct
of
hostilities.
Opposition
to
the
Protocols
has
principally
been
directed
against
the
pro-
visions
regulating
guerrilla
warfare,
par-
ticularly
in
wars
of
’national
liberation’,
and
those
outlawing
the
use
of
reprisals
against
the
civilian
population.
These
two
treaties,
the
most
recent
written
development
of
the
general
rules
of
humani-
tarian
law,
are
the
fruit
of
almost
ten
years
of
negotiations
and
of
a
consensus
obtained
for
the
first
time
with
the
active
participation
of
the
Third
World
and
the
representatives
of
all
civilizations,
ideologies
and
cultures.
At
the
price
of
a
little
compromise,
the
uni-
versality
of
humanitarian
law
was
preserved.
These
days,
when
wars
are
frequently
fought
thousands
of
miles
away
from
home
base,
when
big
and
medium
powers
have
a
military
presence
all
over
the
planet,
a
common
and
universal
understanding
and
acceptance
of
humanitarian
law
is
of
increased
importance.
This
essential
universality
is
now
being
undermined
by
the
negative
attitude
towards
Additional
Protocol
I
of
a
very
small
but
crucial
number
of
States,
in
particular
the
United
States.
*The
views
expressed
in
this
article
are
personal
and
do
not
necessanly
reflect
those
of
the
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross.
2.
Nature
and
Purpose
of
International
Humanitarian
Law
International
humanitarian
law,
the
law
of
realism
and
of
the
lesser
evil
has,
and
always
has
had,
as
its
principal
objective
the
limiting
of
the
ill-effects
of
war
once
it
has
broken
out.
In
the
second
part
of
the
19th
century,
when
modern
humanitarian
law
was
born,
military
questions,
in
particular
those
relat-
ing
to
the
conduct
of
combatants,
were
poss-
ibly
approached
with
more
frankness
and
less
prudery
than
today.
Combatants
were
not
then
told
that
they
could
kill
other
com-
batants
in
the
context
of
an
ethic
and
inter-
national
rule
forbidding
the
use
of
force.
These
days,
citizens
in
general,
but
especially
those
incorporated
into
the
army,
constantly
live
this
moral
and
legal
paradox,
namely
that
they
are
taught
and
ordered
to
kill,
yet
war
is
forbidden
except
in
self-defence.
The
existing
level
of
individual
and
col-
lective
violence
in
the
world,
which,
unfor-
tunately,
will
probably
not
alter
for
some
time
to
come,
means
that
we
will
continue
to
be
confronted
with
this
paradox.
It
is
therefore
essential
to
approach
the
problem
of
violence
and
war
with
lucidity
and
frank-
ness
as
well
as
to
encourage
the
many
posi-
tive
endeavours
which
have
resulted
from
this
paradox
and
feeling
of
unease.
Three
lines
of
action
are
therefore
called
for:
(1)
To
foster
the
peaceful
solution
of
dis-
putes
and
to
prevent
recourse
to
force.
(2)
If
a
war
nonetheless
takes
place,
to
limit
its
ill-effects
by
concrete
action
and
the
putting
into
effect
of
humanitarian
law.
(3)
During
wartime
to
improve
the
chances
of
and
actively
prepare
for
the
return
to
peace.
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