Legal protection of civilians and prisoners in non-interstate armed conflict: a study in international humanitarian law

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the controversial problem of the legal protection of civilians and prisoners in non—interstate armed conflicts, i.e., civil wars and wars of national liberation. It examines the lengthy discussions which took place at the Diplomatic Conferences of Ceneva in 1949 and 1974 to 1977, and evaluates the outcome.
Chapters One and Two examine the problem with regard to civil wars, while Chapter Three examines the problem with regard to wars of national liberation. Chapter Four examines the fundamental principle of distinction between combatants and non—combatants, including the problem of prisoner—of—war status in wars of national liberation, as well as the distinction between civilian objects and military objectives. Chapter Five examines the more ctai1ed rules affording protection to the civilian population and civilian objects against effects of hostilities, while Chapter Six examines the field of application of these rules with special reference to their application by a Party to the conflict to its own territory which is under the control of' the adverse Party. The last, Chapter Seven, is a general assessment of the major solutions within the framework of the processes of law—making, law—determination, and law enforcement.