jus in bello rules during war

1. jus in bello rules during war • right conduct in the midst of battle • responsibility for jus in bello falls to the military commanders, officers, and soldiers who create and execute the war policy • monitored by International Criminal Court (created by the 1998 Treaty of Rome) • 2 types  External jus in bello concerns the rules a state should observe regarding the enemy and its armed forces n.b. the United States is not a part of the I.C.C.

2. jus in bello, cont. • Internal jus in bello concerns the rules a state must follow in connection with its own people during war • must respect the human rights of its own citizens as best it can during the crisis • issues include conscription, press censorship, civil liberties v. state security, elections postponement/cancelation, conscientious objectors

3. jus in bello, cont. six rules of external jus in bello • Obey all international laws on weapons prohibition • chemical and biological weapons are banned by treaties • nuclear weapons are not prohibited but a huge taboo is attached to its use

4. jus in bello, cont. • 2. Discrimination and Non-Combatant Immunity • soldiers must discriminate between the civilian population and military, political, and industrial targets • some collateraldamage is excusable • wrong to take deliberate aim at civilian targets • since 1900, most wars have featured larger civilian, than military, casualties Dresden, February, 1945 Est. civilian death – 24,000 to 40,000 • reason why this rule is the most frequently and stridently codified rule in all the laws of armed conflict

5. jus in bello, cont. “We saw terrible things: cremated adults shrunk to the size of small children, pieces of arms and legs, dead people, whole families burnt to death, burning people ran to and fro, burnt coaches filled with civilian refugees, dead rescuers and soldiers, many were calling and looking for their children and families, and fire everywhere, everywhere fire, and all the time the hot wind of the firestorm threw people back into the burning houses they were trying to escape from. I cannot forget these terrible details. I can never forget them.” - Lothar Metzger, survivor of Dresden “The Nazi Holocaust was among the most evil genocides in history. But the Allies’ firebombing of Dresden and nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were also war crimes... We are all capable of evil and must be restrained by law from committing it.” - Dr. Gregory Stanton, president of Genocide Watch Were the bombings of Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki war crimes?

6. jus in bello, cont. • 3. Proportionality • must use restraint in using force • weapons of mass destruction are usually out of proportion to achieve appropriate end 4. Benevolent quarantine for prisoners of war (POWs) - once soldier surrenders, he is no longer engaged in harm - wrong to target them with death, starvation, rape, torture, medical experimentation, etc. - treatment governed by Geneva Conventions Should suspected terrorists be given same rights as traditional POWs?

7. jus in bello, cont. • 5. No Mala in Se (Evil in itself) • may not use weapons or methods which are “evil in themselves” • include: mass rape campaigns; genocide or ethnic cleansing; treachery (like disguising soldiers to look like the Red Cross); forcing captured soldiers to fight against their own side; and biological or chemical weapons 6. No reprisals - no retaliation of violations of rules of war if they do something evil does not mean we can do something evil Stacked skulls during Cambodian Genocide

8. jus post bellum rules regarding the termination of war Your Turn! You will be divided into groups Discuss what issues should be addressed at conclusion of war Develop 5-7 rules governing the termination of war Issues may include prisoners, war criminals, compensation, etc.

9. jus post bellum regulation of the end of war proposed principles for jus post bellum no set rules yet • Proportionality and Publicity • - peace settlement should be measured and reasonable, as well as publicly proclaimed 2. Rights Vindication - secure the basic rights whose violation triggered the justified war - rights include human rights to life and liberty and community entitlements to territory and sovereignty

10. jus post bellum, cont. • 3. Discrimination • distinguish between the leaders, the soldiers, and the civilians in the defeated country • civilians are entitled to reasonable immunity from punitive post-war measures Hermann Goering at Nuremberg 4. Punishment of war criminals of defeated - leaders of the regime, in particular, should face fair and public international trials for war crimes Saddam Hussein at trial in Baghdad

11. jus post bellum, cont. • 5. Punishment of war criminals of the victor • soldiers, from all sides to the conflict, must be held accountable to investigation and possible trial 6. Compensation - financial restitution may be mandated, subject to both proportionality and discrimination - post-war tax on civilians is not impermissible - enough resources left so that the defeated country can begin its own reconstruction Lt. William Calley – only American soldier convicted for war crimes at My Lai massacre

12. jus post bellum, cont. • 7. Rehabilitation • reform institutions in an aggressor regime • may involve: demilitarization and disarmament; police and judicial re-training; human rights education; deep structural transformation towards a just society governed by a legitimate regime • most controversial aspect of jus post bellum Iraqi Parliament Does the victor have the right to impose its system of governing onto the vanquished?

13. jus post bellum, cont. Should the victor help the vanquished with reconstruction? Dresden, 1945 Dresden today Hiroshima, 1945 Hiroshima today

14. The End