It ensureshumane treatment without discriminationfounded on race, color, sex, religion or faith, birth or wealth, etc. LOAC continues to evolve as mankind struggles to advance the principles of humanity in warfare whilst maintaining the needs of international and national security.[25]. I took a look at the list of techniques. Common Article 3 the article common to all four of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which alone treats Non-International armed conflict requires that, in addition to, In essence this means that, according to CIL, States acting as Detaining Powers must provide persons under their power with the most humane (human) treatment that each State is capable of providing, including adequate food and medical care, and that they should. That view was reinforced by his boasting and his behavior, intended to persuade his own people and his neighbors of that success. Yet as even a cursory examination of the history of the nation's laws of war shows, presidents from Washington to Reagan and beyond have long championed the idea of humane treatment of prisoners . Still is to this day. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Protocol I increased protections for civilians, military workers and journalists during international armed conflicts. The Statemay hand the suspect over to another Stateor an international tribunal for trial. Indeed, according to the Administration, even the enhanced interrogation techniques including waterboarding were lawful under both the Constitution and U.S. law, did not constitute torture, and were not in themselves inhumane. Prior to 2006, the full list of some 17 enhanced interrogation techniques (lawful sanctions) to be used on the terrorist detainees at Guantanamo only in situations of military necessity had been studied under the light of the U.S. Constitution and American LOAC obligations, and then approved and legally authorized by the U.S. Congress, meaning that the interrogation procedures were in fact being used lawfully by interrogators at Guantanamo. 31, 32; Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window). In sum, International armed conflict (IAC) may be regarded as largely inter-State conflict, that is, conflict that takes place between States, which following World War II (WWII) in 1949 was considered the prevailing form of conflict in a State-centered international system. But years later, once the threat seemed less urgent and the political winds had shifted, many lawmakers became fierce critics. They charged that Americans had committed unlawful torture. During the early 2000s the Bush Administration sincerely believed and asserted,with full support and confirmation from the Pentagon, the Department of Justice and the CIA, that the U.S. government was in fact giving fundamentally humane treatment to the terrorist detainees at Guantanamo prison according to the laws of war, by making no adverse distinction based on race, colour, religion, gender, birth, wealth or other criteria, and by providing for all the detainees physical, spiritual and medical needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, freedom of worship, and medical treatment). [4], (1) To ensure minimum protections are given to the victims of war during armed conflict; and. What best describes the Law of War? (The Law of War, pg. 3 of 8 Torture is defined under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as an act by a government official that inflicts pain or suffering, physical or mental, for particular reasons, including obtaining information. reaffirming this belief, the 1949 geneva conventions specifically prohibited terrorism and required humane treatment of civilians. In Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995, UNAMIR and UNPROFOR national contingent forces failed in their preeminent mandated duty to act in a robust military fashion to protect the lives of thousands of non-combatant civilians, sheltering in UN safe areas under their command, from the hostile intent and hostile lethal force actions of Enemy forces towards the local civilian population. The Torture Memos, 10 Years Later - The Atlantic Humane treatment includes: (Military Persons Exempt From Attack, pg. In NIACs, the requirement of humane treatment for civilians and persons hors de combat is set out in common Article 3, which prohibits violence to life and person (including cruel treatment and torture), the taking of hostages, humiliating and degrading treatment, and execution without regular trial. Between 2001-2006, Al Qaeda terrorists and local/foreign extremist insurgents captured in the territories of Afghanistan or Iraq committing acts of terror or violence against either Allied coalition forces or the new national governments, their forces, or their civilian population, were classed by the United States (U.S.) as, Under this classification of the LOAC, Taliban and Al Qaeda militants were, This absence of legal entitlement to the LOAC protections afforded to lawful armed combatants was strengthened further by the fact that these Islamist terrorists and insurgents conducted their operations out of uniform, failed to distinguish themselves from the civilian population thereby exposing innocents to harm, deliberately targeted innocent civilians themselves in terrorist attacks, forcibly used civilians as human shields to protect themselves from legitimate military responses provoked by their attacks, and, In short, as terrorists or terror-using insurgents in conflict theatres i.e. In addition, children should be well cared for and educated, and the following is prohibited: In 2005, a Protocol was created to recognize the symbol of the red crystalin addition to the red cross, the red crescent and the red shield of Davidas universal emblems of identification and protection in armed conflicts. Seven new ratifications since 2000 have brought the total number of States Party to 194, making the Geneva Conventions universally applicable. Despite the U.S. Supreme Courts rulings in 2006 and 2008, however, strong arguments can and have still been made that the former inter-State, International armed conflict classification was, and is, the correct and rightful classification for these extremist and indiscriminately violent detainees captured during the GWOT.