Even War Has Rules

0:00 I'm a librarian here at Vancouver Community Library. We're really happy to be hosting American Red Cross for this important talk, Even War Has Rules. So we have Mark and Polly here with us today. And just so you know, we're recording this for CCTV, but they'll have time for questions, and I'll have a mic, and I'll be running around. So thanks for joining us. Thank you. Well, welcome, everybody. Just before we get started with the presentation, one of the reasons Polly and I come out to the community to do these talks is, in addition to what we're going to be presenting here, we really want you to ask all of your questions that you may have. The past seven or eight months, there have been...

0:57 The International Humanitarian Law and the Rules of War have been in the newspapers just about every week in one way or another. And so please ask your questions. You can ask any questions. One point about the American Red Cross is the American Red Cross is a strictly neutral organization, and the Red Cross in general. And so we can tell you all about what the rules are and what is or is not a violation of the rules, but we're not allowed to discuss whether a particular incident violates the Rules of War. But with that in mind, Polly is our other instructor today. My name's Mark, and we'll get started. We have narration on each slide, and then Polly and I will...

1:54 I'll talk a little bit more about it. But again, please ask your questions, and we will answer them all. Oops. Okay. Red Cross's presentation of "Even War Has Rules: An Introduction to International Humanitarian Law." Our presentation will last about one and a half hours. We hope you find it enlightening. "Humanitarian law, or IHL, is a central part of the Red Cross mission. Wars and conflicts are a reality in today's world. And while humanity has not yet found a way to end them altogether, we can reduce their destructiveness. That's what IHL seeks to do: set rules to limit suffering and protect people during war. Both the Geneva Conventions themselves and the statutes of the International Red Cross movement instruct the American Red Cross to act according to the rules of war and to protect people during war. Both the Geneva Conventions themselves and the statutes of the International Red Cross movement instruct the American Red Cross to act according to the rules of war and to protect people during war."

2:54 "Humanitarian law, or IHL, is a central part of the Red Cross mission. Wars and conflicts are a reality in today's world. Both the Geneva Conventions themselves and the statutes of the International Red Cross movement instruct the American Red Cross to act according to the rules of war and to protect people during war. Both the Geneva Conventions themselves and the statutes of the International Red Cross movement instruct the American Red Cross to act according to the rules of war and to protect people during war." So interestingly, in the United States, the Red Cross will present international humanitarian law to the American public at large, but it's an important fact that we don't teach international humanitarian law to the U.S. military. They do that themselves, and they have their own interpretation of the various laws. Sovereign States in the World The possibility of war between sovereign states always exists. Today we see ongoing wars between states, as well as many dozens of conflicts within states. In every war, people are killed and injured. Communities are destroyed. killed and injured. Communities are displaced. Buildings and infrastructure are destroyed,

3:52 and the environment is damaged. International humanitarian law steps in here. It doesn't stop the wars, but it tries to lessen their devastating effects. A current example of a war between states is the war between Russia and the Ukraine. IHL governs how prisoners of war should be treated and prohibits targeting civilian populations. Despite violations, the framework of IHL provides a language for accountability and a hope for justice after the guns fall silent. The ongoing and devastating civil war in the Sudan is an example of a war within states. International humanitarian law applies to such internal conflicts as well. Any questions so far? Interestingly, you may be wondering about the conflict between the United States and

4:46 Iran right now. There's been a debate in the media about whether it's a war or not a war. The International Committee of the Red Cross and all of the treaties are written to talk about what's called armed conflict instead of war. War is something states declare or don't declare, but armed conflict is just a fact on the ground. If two nations are shooting at each other, that's an armed conflict. It's a fact that international humanitarian law applies in all such cases. Even if one bullet is fired between nations, that's an armed conflict between nations and international humanitarian law steps in. Are hurt and killed. Buildings and farms are destroyed. Roads and factories are damaged. And the natural environment suffers. Populations are displaced, and many are impoverished. The United States is the only country in the world that has an armed conflict. The United States is the only country in the world that has an armed conflict. The United States is the only country in the world that has an armed conflict. The United States is the only country in the world that

5:46 These terrible things happen to people who find themselves in war zones every day. Sadly, nearly half of the deaths directly caused in armed conflict today are innocent civilians rather than those fighting in the conflict. So the last line of that slide I think is really important is, if you looked at war in the 17th century, 18th century, and the 19th century, a lot of those wars were fought between armies and the civilian population, particularly in the 18th century, was not as affected by war. But as that slide said, the important thing is in wars today, the United Nations recently came out with a figure that 75% of the casualties of war since World War II have been civilians.

6:46 75% of the casualties of war since World War II have been civilians.

13:16 Interestingly, the International Committee of the Red Cross tries to train even these factional armies, tribal armies in the rules of war and they have developed special training courses that they're willing to go in and train a group of people fighting in a civil war about the rules of warfare because the rules do apply to both sides in a civil war as much as they do between two nations fighting with one another. You're right, though, in a lot of cases, the situations in these failed states makes it very, very difficult to, number one, have the Red Cross come in and train the fighters in the rules of war and then anybody to sort of observe and police the rules of war. So, very difficult. Thank you.

14:14 That's a really good point, yes. What happens about the differentiation of these factions if they, because a lot of times they might be like criminal gangs that evolve into this, and how can the Red Cross actually, can they deal with any of that? Can they go in and talk to, I don't know if that's, it seems like that's the next natural step. Well, that raises two important points. One, if a, let's say an organized crime unit, if they ask the International Committee of the Red Cross to be, for training on the laws of armed conflict, which they have to follow, so perhaps a drug cartel somewhere in the world, the Red Cross would try to offer that training.

15:10 The other thing is that there is a level of conflict where international humanitarian law doesn't apply, and so international humanitarian law only applies when the two sides have enough organization to be under some sort of unified command and somebody giving orders about what to do and not to do. So if you just had protests in the street or random violence occurring or just general crime, international humanitarian law doesn't apply in those cases, and so if there's kind of a double standard in, for conflicts between states, any level of conflict is considered an armed conflict in international humanitarian law. Within states, you have to reach a certain level of conflict.

16:10 You have to reach a certain level of organized violence before international humanitarian law kicks in. That's a gray area. That is a gray area. Governed states make compliance with the rules of war legally binding. These agreements establish obligations, empower courts and tribunals to investigate violations, and sometimes allow for penalties. Even though international enforcement is limited, treaties provide a framework that shapes behavior. The Geneva Conventions are the most widely accepted treaties in history, ratified by nearly every country. This near universality means that when violations occur, states and humanitarian organizations can appeal to a shared legal and moral standard. Yeah. It's important to note that laws and customs.

17:09 Customs concerning how wars are fought have existed for thousands and thousands of years. In Greece, the Greek city states all agreed to not have wars during harvest season because all of the city states had to bring in their crops, and those were the soldiers, and so they just said, "We're not going to have wars during harvest season." When the Muslim caliphate was taking over, they were saying, "We're not going to have wars during harvest season." The caliph issued fairly strict rules about not killing women and children, not killing the elderly, not killing prisoners, and also, for instance, one of the rules was not destroying any palm trees or other fruit-bearing trees because that's just wrong in their eyes. When the caliph issued fairly strict rules about not killing women and children, not killing the elderly, not killing prisoners, and also, for instance, one of the rules was not destroying any palm trees or other fruit-bearing trees because that's just wrong in their eyes.

18:09 So treaties really became important for international humanitarian law starting in the mid-19th century with the first Geneva Convention, but custom and sort of a moral prerogative have existed for much longer. then a custom can become international law if states view that following this custom is obligatory. Much of international humanitarian law is both treaty law and customary law. As an example of a custom that became law, consider the practice of ships traveling with a red light on their port, left side, and a green light on their starboard, right side.

19:05 This started as merely a custom in the 1800s, but is now part of international maritime law, binding on all states in the world. States are less inclined to ratify binding treaties than they once were. New international humanitarian law will increasingly be built via customary rules becoming laws. So this slide we added to our presentation here because it's really important in the context of what the United States does. When we get into the treaties themselves in a little while, we're going to note that the United States hasn't signed this treaty, the United States hasn't ratified that treaty, and while we have ratified some of the basic ones, there are other ones we don't. But if you read the Department of Defense law of war manual, you will see words like this:

20:01 "Although the United States has not ratified--

Even War Has Rules

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