The CIA interrogation program saved lives. During the course of this three-day rampage, the vast majority of KFOR military forces stood aside and took very little action to protect the lives of targeted civilian locals from the rioters, nor to prevent entire villages and city apartment blocks of homes from being set on fire, nor to safeguard significant objects of Serbian cultural heritage and worship from destruction including ancient churches and even cemeteries from perverse desecration and destruction during the riots. Young, How May Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF] Campaigns Were There?, HIRE G.I., 14 July 2018, https://hiregi.com/2018/07/14/how-many-operation-iraqi-freedom-oif-campaigns-were-there/, (accessed 1 May 2019). 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. Counter to expectation, it has in fact been Non-International, rather than International, armed conflict that has predominated in theatres of conflict around the world since the end of WWII, and which still continues to represent the majority of armed conflicts today. It also made the repatriation of captured belligerents a recommendation instead of mandatory. Al Qaeda terrorists (unlawful combatants under the LOAC) captured in Afghanistan.[34]. While some civilizations showed compassion for the injured, helpless or innocent civilians, others tortured or slaughtered anyone in sight, no questions asked. By 2003, most governments and intelligence services had concluded that Saddam had been successful in resuming his weapons programs. Over 190 states follow the Geneva Conventions because of the belief that some battlefield behaviors are so heinous and damaging, they harm the entire international community. 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. Genocide in Rwanda: In April 1994, 2,000 Tutsi civilians seeking refuge at a UN school compound in Kigali, that was guarded by a unit of armed Belgian UNAMIR forces, were ultimately abandoned by these UN protectors and then butchered by hostile and genocidal Hutu militia armed with machetes, who had for days been watching and waiting outside the school gates.[2]. Despite playing an important role in the progression of what became the International Committee of the Red Cross, continuing his work as champion for the battle-wounded and prisoners of war and winning the first Nobel Peace Prize, Dunant lived and died in near poverty. (4) Civilian persons in time of war (Geneva Convention IV). Not surprisingly, the disconnect and outright contradiction between the KFOR mission mandate and its key security objectives on the one hand, and the restrictive ROE of contributed KFOR national contingents on the other, had direct and serious consequences during the Kosovo Riots of 2004. shelter and sanitation were present in almost all the 150 Civil War military prisons, though not on the same scale. The question of how to treat, detain and put on trial these dangerous unlawful combatants, for the war crimes that they are continuing to commit in warzones against both non-combatant civilians and lawful combatant national military and police forces in the territories of sovereign States around the world, is consequently presenting a difficult legal and political challenge to the international community at present time, and will continue to do so for some time to come especially as both the threat and commission of these terrorist acts of brutal, savage and indiscriminate mass-murder increase. when the government is obliged to use military armed forces against dissident insurgents, instead of simply the police force; or (2) non-government dissident groups must possess organized armed forces sufficient to render them parties to the conflict, meaning that they are operating under some kind of command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations within the State. That view was reinforced by his boasting and his behavior, intended to persuade his own people and his neighbors of that success. Fresh conventions are constantly under negotiation and in the absence of such agreements States are bound by customary international law which is always evolvingThese observations are as applicable today as they were then. To see a table listing the States that have ratified the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and its two 1977 Additional Protocols, click on the following link: Dr Regeena Kingsley PDF List of Ratifying States to Geneva Conventions & Additional Protocols (2019) v3 Compressed. [12] The Additional Protocols, dealing expressly with the two categories of International (Additional Protocol I) and Non-International (Additional Protocol II) armed conflict, were written in 1977 in order to reflect this reality, and to express international concern that the victims of Non-International armed conflict likewise be afforded basic protections under the LOAC, especially given the great danger posed by armed groups to the lives of ordinary civilians in these high-intensity and highly-violent internal conflicts. The principle of humane treatment requires that the wounded and sick, prisoners of war, civilians and other persons protected by IHL are treated humanely at all times. Indeed, some KFOR military contingents failed to take any action whatsoever during the security emergency among them two NATO Lead Nations, France and Italy, with significantly large KFOR national contingents in addition to lead command responsibilities over their respective KFOR sectors. States comply with the practice out of a sense of legal obligation to an international norm or custom, rather than solely due to their own legal LOAC obligations or national interests.[16]. (3) The laws of war apply but in modified form.' . The Geneva Conventions providefor universal jurisdiction, as opposed to a more traditional (and limited) territorial jurisdictionthat was designed torespect thesovereignty of States over their citizens. Nevertheless, the complexity of modern war has not signalled an end to the IAC and NIAC LOAC categorisation of armed conflicts. condition requires that each belligerent have the ability to retaliate when the other belligerent violates the laws of war. After all, the State government regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq were indeed both clearly and successfully removed through warfare by a coalition of other States, and while the conflict evolved over time in both theatres to include multiple, non-State, regional insurgencies of extremist fighters waging war against both allied coalition forces and the new government apparatus of these States, the original coalition of States remained heavily involved in the prosecution of these wars towards the original goals of eliminating hostile Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks in these States and preventing any reestablishment of the terrorist networks in these States that would again present a direct threat to America and other freedom-loving, democratic nations around the world. To better illustrate this point, the following comprises a list of the known various terrorist plots and attacks that were prevented or stopped by the U.S. as a result of the CIAs enhanced interrogation programme during the early 2000s (among many other terrorist plots that remain classified and are therefore unknown to the general public): (1) the 2002 U.S. West Coast Airliner Plot; (6) the 2004 United Kingdom (UK) Urban Targets Plot; Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, as a direct result of the enhanced interrogation program the CIA was also able to successfully: (Bush, Decision Points, ibid., p. 171; United States Department of Defense (U.S. DoD), Summary of the High Value Terrorist Detainee Program, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Washington DC 20511, Military Commission Proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, 2008, http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Detainee_Affairs/, (accessed 12 September 2008); U.S. DoD, JTF-GTMO Information on Detainees, Military Commission Proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, 4 March 2005, http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Detainee_Affairs/, (accessed 12 September 2008)). All persons subject to this issuance will comply with the law of war with respect to the treatment of all detainees. Former President George W. Bush explains the rationale of his decision to adopt the enhanced interrogation techniques in his presidential memoir of his term from 2000-2008, stating: At my direction, Department of Justice and CIA lawyers conducted a careful legal review. (2) Wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea (Geneva Convention II), (3) Military personnel who have become Prisoners of War (Geneva Convention III), and, (4) Civilian persons in time of war (Geneva Convention IV).[18]. As military professionals, [Tommy] Franks and I spent many hours examining the reasons for attacking Iraq, and asking ourselves if they were sound. [8] Additional Protocol II (APII) Art 1(1). No doubt the procedure was tough, but medical experts assured the CIA that it did no lasting harm. The Lieber Code (General Orders No. At present, 168 States are party to Additional Protocol I and 164 States to Additional Protocol II,this still places the 1977 Additional Protocols among the most widely accepted legal instruments in the world. Perhaps the most important and pressing evolution of CIL in recent decades concerns the treatment of captured Al Qaeda/Islamist terrorists, and terror-using insurgents (e.g. Required fields are marked *, You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

. 3 of 8) Protection against threats or acts of violence Protection against public curiosity Still is to this day. [28], 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 non-State and unlawful Enemy combatants of International armed conflicts between States under the LOAC (where unlawful Enemy combatant means persons not entitled to combatant immunity who have committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war during an armed conflict).[29]. In Hamdi,a U.S. citizen wasaccused of being a member of the Taliban forceson U.S. soil as an "enemy combatant," and was detained by unilateral Executive decision;The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the validity of his detention. Modern CIL goes further than this, however, and contends that it is illegal to torture any person for any purpose or in any circumstances, or to subject any person to cruel or inhumane treatment for any purpose or in any circumstances, during any armed conflict (see in particular the 1987 UN Convention against Torture and the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ratified by many, but not all, nations). Nobelprize.org.History of the Geneva Conventions. Humane Treatment of Prisoners. 4 of 8) It does not justify prohibited actions (correct) It justifies the use of overwhelming force, but not wanton destruction (correct) Humanity is a principle of the Law of War that addresses the immunity of peaceful populations and civilian objects from attack. Protocol I increased protections for civilians, military workers and journalists during international armed conflicts. The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols is a body of Public International Law, also known as the Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts, whose purpose is to provide minimum protections, standards of humane treatment, and fundamental guarantees of respect to individuals who become victims of armed conflicts. But. Since there was no set treaty or law specifically outlining the obligations due to such detainees under the Geneva Conventions when captured by an opposing force, it appeared the problems arising from this new conflict exigency would be best guided by the customs of modern CIL notably, humane treatment consistent with the Geneva Conventions, but subject to military necessity, that of preventing additional, unlawful terrorist attacks against American citizens or those of its allies. No one size fits all legal approach to terrorism, particularly as to the judicial nature of the situation and the classification of suspected terrorists, is, or has proved to be, feasible in practice., With regard to the highly controversial Iraq War, the U.S. Marine Corps former Deputy Commander of U.S. CENTCOM, Lieutenant General (LTGEN) Michael DeLong, stated in 2007 that: Although we wondered about the timing, we never wondered about the rightness of removing Saddam from power. This meeting and its resultant treaty signed by 12 nations became known as the First Geneva Convention. However, CIL also asserts simultaneously that persons held in custody who are either unable or unlikely to take part in hostilities upon their release from custody by reason of illness, or gravely diminished mental or physical health should be released and directly repatriated as soon as possible (ICRC Customary IHL Rule 99, in NZDF LOAC Manual Chapter 15, ibid., pp. I took a look at the list of techniques. The first Convention was initiated by what is now theInternational Committee for the Red Cross and Red Crescent(ICRC). Indeed, the international order continues to be founded on the 1648 Westphalian principles of State sovereignty, sovereign jurisdiction over territorial integrity and the principle of non-intervention, that has survived intact over many centuries despite many crises and upheavals to the system, not least WWI, WWII, the Cold War Superpower confrontation, and even the post-9/11 world. It requires that the wounded, sick and shipwrecked be collected and cared for. States comply with the practice out of a sense of legal obligation to an international norm or custom, rather than solely due to their own legal LOAC obligations or national interests. For much of mankinds history, the ground rules of warfare were hit or miss, if they existed at all. Where domestic law does not allow for the exercise of universal jurisdiction, a Statemust introduce the necessary domestic legislative provisions before it can do so, and must actually exercise the jurisdiction, unless it hands the suspect over to another country or international tribunal. The extreme, Islamo-fascist terrorists and insurgents of today do indeed present a new and different brand of non-State and unlawful Enemy combatant in armed conflict in modern times, that was certainly not envisaged in the drafting of the Geneva Conventions in 1949 or the IAC and NIAC Additional Protocols in 1977. *For an excellent documentary discussing the CIAs use of enhanced interrogation techniques on captured terrorists detained at Guantanamo prison, and presenting both sides of the argument from the perspectives of 12 living ex-CIA Directors, see: Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs (Amazon link here: https://www.amazon.com/Spymasters-CIA-Crosshairs-Mandy-Patinkin/dp/B018T4TNHY).