Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict: The Role of International Nongovernmental Organizations

DOI10.1177/002234338702400309
Date01 September 1987
AuthorDavid Weissbrodt
Published date01 September 1987
Subject MatterArticles
Humanitarian
Law
in
Armed
Conflict:
The
Role
of
International
Nongovernmental
Organizations*
DAVID
WEISSBRODT
School
of
Law,
University
of
Minnesota
The
article
identifies
five
principal
reasons
for
international
nongovernmental
organizations
to
use
humanitarian
law
in
seeking
to
protect
human
rights
during
periods
of
armed
conflict
and
also
notes
three
difficulties
in
using
humanitarian
law.
International
nongovernmental
organizations,
aside
from
the
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross,
possess
an
important
role
in
assessing
whether
govern-
ments
and
armed
opposition
groups
are
respecting
their
human
rights
and
humanitarian
law
obligations
Americas
Watch,
Amnesty
International,
the
International
Commission
of
Jurists,
and
other
organ-
izations
have
for
some
time
been
using
humanitarian
law
and
human
rights
law
in
armed
conflict
situations.
They
need
to
become
more
consistent
and
careful
in
using
humanitarian
law;
they
can
also
learn
from
the
experience
of
the
Red
Cross
in
how
to
be
more
effective
in
safeguarding
human
rights
during
periods
of
armed
conflict.
ISSN
0022-3433
Journal
of
Peace
Research,
vol.
24,
no.
3,
1987
1.
Introduction
Governments
are
principally
responsible
for
the
implementation
of
international
human
rights
and
humanitarian
law
during
periods
of
armed
conflict.
During
non-international
armed
conflicts,
governments
and
armed
opposition
groups
may
each
bear
responsi-
bility
for
their
obedience
to
these
norms.2
International
organizations
can
only
encourage
the
participants
in
armed
conflicts
to
respect
human
rights
and
humanitarian
law.
The
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross
(ICRC)
has
long
pursued
a
lead-
ing
role
in
working
for
the
application
of
humanitarian
law
during
periods
of
armed
conflict;
it
has
also
begun
recently
to
refer
to
human
rights
law
in
situations
of
internal
strife
or
tensions
not
covered
by
interna-
tional
humanitarian
law.3
The
United
Nations
General
Assembl~,4
the
UN
Com-
mission
on
Human
Rights,
the
International
Court
of
Justice,6
the
Inter-American
Com-
mission
on
Human
Rights,’
and
several
other
intergovernmental
organizations
have
occasionally
attempted
to
use
their
influence
to
seek
the
protection
of
human
rights
during
armed
conflicts
and
have
irregularly
referred
to
humanitarian
law
in
such
endeavours.
All
these
organizations
have
sought
partially
to
fill
the
vacuum
left
by
the
failure
of
the
*
The
author
wishes
to
thank
Kathy
Ellis
of
the
Uni-
versity
of
Minnesota
Law
School
Class
of
1987,
for
her
assistance
m
the
preparation
of
this
article.
UN
Security
Council
and
other
international
mechanisms
to
deal
successfully
with
armed
conflict
situations.
International
nongovernmental
organiz-
ations,9
such
as
Americas
Watch,
Amnesty
International,
the
International
Commission
of
Jurists,
and
the
International
League
for
Human
Rights,
have
recognized
that
human
rights
violations
within
their
respective
areas
of
concern
may
occur
during
periods
of
armed
conflict.
Indeed,
serious
human
rights
violations,
including
arbitrary
killings,
deten-
tion,
and
ill-treatment,
are
likely
to
increase
in
times
of
armed
conflict.
For
example,
in
its
Annual
Report
of
1986,
Amnesty
Interna-
tional
identified
21
countries
where
armed
conflicts
were
occurring
or
had
occurred,
such
that
human
rights
issues
were
noted:
Afghanistan,
Angola,
Botswana
(South
African
attacks),
Burma,
Chad,
Colombia,
El
Salvador,
Ethiopia,
Guatemala,
Hon-
duras
(Nicaraguan
armed
opposition
groups),
Israeli
Occupied
Territories,
Kam-
puchea,
Lebanon,
Lesotho
(South
African
attacks),
Mozambique,
Namibia,
Philippines,
Somalia,
Sudan,
Uganda,
and
Vietnam.l°
The
1986
Annual
Report
also
notes
Amnesty
International’s
concern
about
prisoners
held
by
the
Polisario
Front
and
thus
tangentially
mentions
the
conflict
in
Morocco
and
the
Western
Sahara.
The
report,
however,
fails
to
mention
the
war
between
Iran
and
Iraq.
In
dealing
with
human
rights
violations,

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