Law of war
It is the Code of Hammurabi,[3] king of Babylon, which in 1750 B.C., explains its laws imposing a code of conduct in the event of war: I prescribe these laws so that the strong do not oppress the weak.An example from the Book of Deuteronomy 20:19–20 limits the amount of environmental damage, allowing only the cutting down of non-fruitful trees for use in the siege operation, while fruitful trees should be preserved for use as a food source.
[6] Apart from chivalry in medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church also began promulgating teachings on just war, reflected to some extent in movements such as the Peace and Truce of God.
The impulse to restrict the extent of warfare, and especially protect the lives and property of non-combatants continued with Hugo Grotius and his attempts to write laws of war.
The Treaty of Armistice and Regularization of War signed on November 25 and 26, 1820 between the president of the Republic of Colombia, Simón Bolívar and the Chief of the Military Forces of the Spanish Kingdom, Pablo Morillo, is the precursor of the International Humanitarian Law.
[8] The Lieber Code, promulgated by the Union during the American Civil War, was critical in the development of the laws of land warfare.
"[10] The defining aspect of this period was the establishment, by states, of a positive legal or legislative foundation (i.e., written) superseding a regime based primarily on religion, chivalry, and customs.
[11] It is during this "modern" era that the international conference became the forum for debate and agreement between states and the "multilateral treaty" served as the positive mechanism for codification.
[18] Distinction is a principle under international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict, whereby belligerents must distinguish between combatants and protected civilians.
[a][19] Proportionality is a principle under international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict, whereby belligerents must make sure that the harm caused to protected civilians or civilian property is not excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage expected by an attack on a legitimate military objective.
[18] However, as Robbie Sabel, Professor of international law at the Hebrew University, who has written on this topic, notes: “Anyone with experience in armed conflict knows that you want to hit the enemy’s forces harder than they hit you… if you are attacked with a rifle, there is no rule that stipulates that you can only shoot back with a rifle, but using a machine gun would not be fair, or that if you are attacked with only one tank you cannot shoot back with two.”[20] Humanity is a principle based on the 1907 Hague Convention IV - The Laws and Customs of War on Land restrictions against using arms, projectiles, or materials calculated to cause suffering or injury manifestly disproportionate to the military advantage realized by the use of the weapon for legitimate military purposes.
In some countries, weapons are reviewed prior to their use in combat to determine if they comply with the law of war and are not designed to cause unnecessary suffering when used in their intended manner.
[24] These have led to fewer modern armed conflicts being preceded by formal declarations of war, undermining the objectives of the Hague Convention.
[citation needed] Modern laws of war, specifically within Protocol I additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, prohibits attacking people parachuting from an aircraft in distress regardless of what territory they are over.
Once they land in territory controlled by the enemy, they must be given an opportunity to surrender before being attacked unless it is apparent that they are engaging in a hostile act or attempting to escape.
This prohibition does not apply to the dropping of airborne troops, special forces, commandos, spies, saboteurs, liaison officers, and intelligence agents.
[27] In either case, people protected by the Red Cross/Crescent/Star or white flag are expected to maintain neutrality, and may not engage in warlike acts.
Also, nations that signed the Geneva Conventions are required to search for, try and punish, anyone who had committed or ordered certain "grave breaches" of the laws of war.
