Police and the International Regulation of Civil War
| Date | 01 April 1992 |
| Published date | 01 April 1992 |
| Author | Ralph Crawshaw |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9206500206 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
RALPH
eRA
WSHAW, BA., L.L.M.,
former ChiefSuperintendent, Essex Police
POLICE AND THE
INTERNATIONAL REGULATION
OF CIVIL WAR
"Yesterday, Kostajnica was a ghost town. All but a handful of
townspeople hadfled,andthebrainsofa Croatianpolicemanwerestill
spread over the steps of a school from an attack by the supposedly
neutral federalair force on Tuesday."!
This quotation refers, vividly, to a policeman as victim of non-
international armed conflict. (In passing, it also raises some interesting
legal questionsabout the conduct of armedhostilities in civil war). The
basic functions of police are such that the potential for them to become
victims of civil war is high, as is their potentialto violate international
humanitarian norms and standardsin that typeof conflict.
The primary purposesof this paperare to set out the arguments for a
policyof compliance withinternational legal standardson the conductof
internalor civil war, and the implications of such a policyfor police. In
this way, I hope to contribute to debates within the police service on
professional ethics and on the ends to which training and education of
policeshouldbedirected. Withthesepurposesinmind,thefirst partof this
paper, following the introduction, will be devoted to an account of the
principlesandprovisionsofinternational humanitarian law relatingto the
protectionof
victims
ofnon-internationalarmedconflicts. Theapplicability
ofinternational humanrightslawtosuchsituations will thenbeconsidered,
as will the relevant provisions of some internationally devised ethical
codes and basic principles.
Armed conflict between states has long been regulated by rules of
customaryinternational law which is binding on all states. During the
secondhalf of the 19thcenturythe processbegan of codifyingtheserules
ininternational agreements, bindingon partiestothoseagreements. This
processdid notdisplacecustomarylawand now thelawof armedconflict
consists of a set of customary principles and a series of international
treaties.'Armedconflictlaw,designedtoregulatetheconductofhostilities
and protect the victimsof war,did not generallyapply to internal armed
conflicts. Thedoctrine ofnationalsovereigntyprevailedoverhumanitarian
considerations and governments remainedrelatively unimpeded in their
1. From a report in ''The Independent" of August I, 1991 giving an account of the civiI war
in Yugoslavia.
2. See, for example, the various Hague Conventions of 1907; the 1948 United Nations
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; andthe four
Geneva Conventions of 1949 shown at note 3 hereunder.
136 The Police Journal
April
1992
attempts to suppress rebel groups or insurgents. Under traditional
international law,customary laws of warcould be appliedonly
if
rebels
wereaccordedbelligerency statusand,untiltheGenevaConventions were
adoptedin
1949,
notreatylawapplied. Thuscivilwar,
however
ferocious
or atrocious, remained largelybeyond the scopeof international law.
Thecentralconcern of the fourGenevaConventions' is the protection
of
victims
of war- that is to sayvictimsof inter-state war.
Between
them
theConventions comprise 429detailedarticlesandonlyoneof
these,
art.3
common
toalloftheConventions, isdesignedfortheprotection ofvictims
ofarmedconflicts"notofaninternationalcharacter".
It
establishescertain
minimal humanrightsfor peopletaking noactive partin hostilities or for
members
of armed
forces
horsde
combat.
In
1977,
the provisions of
Common
Article 3 were supplemented by a Protocol additional to the
GenevaConventions (Protocol
11)4.
The lawof armedconflict isbased on thecustomary principle that the
rightofbelligerents toadoptmeansof injuring the
enemy
isnot unlimited.
Other customary principles (proportionality and discrimination) flow
from this and, indeed, armedconflict law canbe seen as a compromise
betweenmilitary necessity andhumanitarian considerations. TheGeneva
Conventions andAdditional Protocols arecomponents of that partof the
law of armedconflictcharacterized as international humanitarian law.
Inspiteoftheprovisions now tobeexamined, humanitarian principles
continue tobebreachedbystatesandarmedopposition
groups,
andhuman
rightsviolated, duringcivil war and civil strife. For reasons to be made
clearlater,initialreluctance toagreetotheapplicability ofarmedconflict
law to non-international armed conflict, and to have treaty provisions
introduced tocoverit,continues as reluctance to havemore thana limited
set of rulesapplicable in such conflicts and reluctance to apply
them.
International Humanitarian Law
Article 3
common
to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 extends basic
humanitarianprotection tothecategoriesofpersons itprotectsby
applying
principles onwhichtheGenevaConventions are basedto armedconflicts
"not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the
High Contracting Parties". In such cases, each party to the conflict is
boundto applyitsprovisions "as a minimum". It is sometimes described
as a convention
within
theConventions.
The fundamental principle of
humane
treatment is set out in para.l
whichalso defines thoseprotectedunderthe Article:
"Personstakingno active partin the hostilities, including members of
armed
forces
whohavelaid downtheirarms andthoseplacedhorsde
combat
bysickness,
wounds,
detention, oranyothercause,shallinall
3.1949
GenevaConvention 1 for the Ameliorationof the Condition of the Woundedand Sick
in Armed Forces in the Field; 1949 Geneva Convention II for the Amelioration of the
Conditionof Wounded, Sick andShipwrecked Members of Armed Forces atSea; 1949
Geneva Convention III Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War; 1949 Geneva
Convention IV Relative to the Treatment of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
4.1977
Geneva Protocol II Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, and
Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts.
April
1992 ThePolice
Journal
137
To continue reading
Request your trial