International Regime of the Civilian Protection in the War on Terror

Abstract

The Principle of Distinction between Civilians and Combatants is basis rather backbone of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) regime. This law puts limitations on right to use force of the parties to a conflict. There is a list of weapons which are restricted to be used while there are also a number of objects i.e. places which are considered as immune from attacks such as historic monuments, works of art and places of worship. Attacking the civilian population, civilian objects and the use of force restricted under the provisions of IHL is considered a gross breach of these rules, and the person responsible should be punished as a war criminal. There exists a collection of Islamic jus in bello under the title of Siyar in Islamic law. Like International Humanitarian Law, Islamic Law also insist for the protection of those who are not taking part in hostilities. During the Global War on Terror (GWT) some legal questions arise regarding the rules applied in time of war. The very first difficulty faced by the international legal regime was the definition of terrorism. To deal this war first we need a uniform definition of the term terrorism because the whole of the war is based on this term unfortunately which we don’t have. Second question is regarding the status of war that is it a conflict? The answer is yes. The third question is that is it an armed conflict? The answer is again yes. The fourth question is what kind of conflict it is? The answer is that this is a twofold war. Form one hand it is an International Armed Conflict (IAC) as Taliban Regime and NATO forces are involved on the other hand this is an internationalized non International Armed Conflict (INIAC). Captives of this war are entitled for the status of prisoners of war because they were regular forces of the Taliban Regime while Al-Qaida is not entitled for the same right. Occupation over the territory of a state will not be of a permanent nature nor does the occupant declare himself as the sovereign of the territory he will be a custodian till the conclusion of peace agreement IX between the parties. They have limited rights while more duties and responsibilities to perform over the occupied territory. War can be categories in to three main types i.e. International Armed Conflict (IAC), Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC) and internationalized non-International Armed Conflict (INIAC). Protection of Human Rights is necessary for the protection of Human dignity and honor. Global War on Terror puts a big number of civilians to torture, cruel and inhuman treatment as well as deprived form the fundamental right of safety of life and access to fair justice. The number of Civilian casualties in terms of direct and indirect deaths is in thousands in Afghanistan. This is done by the occupied force as a result of indiscriminate attacks and collateral Damage during the war since 2001.