Violations Of Humanitarian Law Research Articles

Understanding Russia’s Actions in Ukraine as the Crime of Genocide

Abstract The new wave of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022, and the intensification of the armed conflict accompanied by grave breaches of international humanitarian law, has received significant scholarly attention. Many academic interventions have examined the developments in Ukraine through the frameworks of jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Some, however, have applied a genocide lens to make sense of reported numerous and widespread violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. This article contributes to the latter stream of scholarship by contextualizing the arguments for the existence of genocidal intent behind the seemingly unrelated crimes committed by the armed forces of the Russian Federation all over Ukraine. The authors pay particular attention to the language and pseudo-historical references used by Russia’s leaders as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine and argue that these statements and expressions indicate the existence of genocidal intent. This article also reflects on the issue of the systematic destruction of cultural heritage of Ukraine as further evidence of the intent to destroy the Ukrainian nation understood as a protected national group under the Genocide Convention, at least in part. Finally, the authors analyse the genocidal acts that have apparently been committed, including killings; the causing of serious bodily or mental harm; the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the deliberate infliction of conditions of life aimed at the physical destruction of the Ukrainian nation. It is stressed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the destruction of the Ukrainian nation by Russia has been pursued through commission of these prohibited acts. Their nature and large-scale character serve as further evidence of genocidal intent to destroy the Ukrainian nation.

Los Institutos de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses de España ante la nueva Ley de Memoria Democrática

Some of the opportunities that arise for specialists in Legal and Forensic Medicine and the Institutes of Legal Medicine are shown before the recent approval by the Congress of Deputies of the Law of Democratic Memory framed in the field of Restorative Law and in which the creation of a Prosecutor’s Office has been created for the investigation of violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law. This Prosecutor will also be assigned functions to promote the processes of searching for the victims of the facts under investigation, in coordination with different administrations with competences in this matter, to achieve the identification and location, a space for the participation of Institutes of Legal Medicine, as it happens in other countries of the world.

Accountability for Human Rights Crimes in North Korea: Jurisdictional Dilemmas in South Korea

Abstract: This article explores how claims alleging serious human rights violations or breaches of international criminal law that occurred in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) might unfold in the courts of the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) under various differing jurisdictional theories. South Korea has legislation allowing for the exercise of universal jurisdiction, an increasingly widespread judicial mechanism for a national court to hold alleged perpetrators of serious human rights and humanitarian law violations accountable for their actions regardless of where the crime was committed and regardless of the victim's or the perpetrator's nationality. In South Korea, domestic criminal and civil jurisdiction can conceivably be "stretched" to encompass crimes perpetrated on the northern half of the Korean peninsula due to a constitutional provision that denies the existence of a separate North Korean sovereign nation. This article introduces and compares the feasibility and challenges of various jurisdictional approaches in South Korea that could address human rights crimes in North Korea, specifically (a) universal jurisdiction prosecution based on domestic law, (b) domestic criminal prosecution, and (c) civil cases in tort.

International humanitarian law violations in northern Uganda: victims' health, policy, and programming implications

Experience of serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) results in complex physical disability and psychosocial trauma amplifying poverty and multi-generational trauma and impeding long-term recovery. We use data from a representative sample of victims in the case Prosecutor V. Dominic Ongwen brought before the International Criminal Court. Thirteen years after the 2004 massacre, the victims were significantly worse off than the general war-affected population that did not experience serious violations of IHL. The differences in health and wellbeing persisted for individuals and their households, including children born after the massacre. The victims have significantly lower availability of appropriate health services and medications, including significantly greater distance to travel to these services. These findings call attention to the needs of people having experienced IHL violations, for provision of physical and emotional trauma care to allow for recovery, and better understanding of the short- and long-term impacts of IHL violations.

Responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law

Turning to history, it can be stated that all the time, mankind has experienced wars from time to time, both in the Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the New Age, and even in the Modern Age. Note that the article examines the role of international humanitarian law and its influence on the world order, as well as the facts of the responsibility of some countries for crimes committed by them against other countries and their peoples. All international humanitarian law is built precisely on the fact that it is formally the "law of war", according to which the international community can at least somehow democratize and reduce the existing fact of war itself, for example, in the matter of prisoners of war, which appear in large numbers at the time of a country's military confrontation , and therefore it is necessary to regulate their rights in the captivity of the enemy and ensure their humane treatment towards them (Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War dated August 12, 1949). In our opinion, modern international armed conflicts are quite often started by the aggressor state without any announcement, as it happened in our case, and are carried out with the help of non-traditional forms of warfare. Note that in one case, wars cause the migration of entire peoples from one region to another, which causes economic and political instability, in the other - the almost complete destruction of a nation in the course of hostilities (The Thirty Years' War in Europe from 1618 to 1648, during which almost all of the hostilities were fought on the territory of modern Germany, as a result of which it lost 70% of its population, which was exterminated by the armies of other countries, and the economy of the German principalities was destroyed. With the consequences, the German people fought until the end of the 19th century). Therefore, the very fact of the emergence and continued improvement of international humanitarian law is one of the most important components that can ensure a decrease in the number of wars and related atrocities.

Formation of the principle of respect for human rights in Europe, its connection with international and national security

The article deals with the formation process, the current state and perspectives of the relationship between states that do not respect human rights and basic freedoms. Such states pose a danger to the stable development of international relations and fruitful cooperation between states, and ultimately to international peace and security.
 The modern world is characterized by the fact that the expansion of human and citizen rights occurs as a result of the development of norms of both national and international law. This bilateral process helps mutual enrichment of legislation and allows raising the bar of human rights to a new level.
 Speaking of security, the world still ignores the real protection of human rights, replacing it with a formal one.
 The principle of respect for human rights has a direct and inverse relationship with international and national security: states that systematically abuse human rights are recognized as initiators of aggression. And external aggression itself contradicts the interests of both the aggressor state itself and its population. Aggression entails the application of serious international sanctions, which will hit its citizens hard, in particular, and will also entail a serious restriction of civil rights.
 And vice versa: an improvement in the situation in the field of human rights protection reduces the probability of an aggressive war.
 The refusal of a separate state to fulfill the requirements of the corresponding principles of respect for human rights does not cancel their importance for international and national security, and does not eliminate the negative consequences that such a refusal would entail.
 The attack of the Russian Federation led to serious and massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, which had catastrophic consequences for the exercise of almost all human rights in Ukraine. But over the past two decades, the Russian authorities have systematically violated and restricted basic freedoms within their own state, closed down independent mass media, and banned peaceful protests in the country. And the war in Ukraine entails a further deterioration of the state of human rights in Russia: now a new iron curtain is being lowered there, behind which the authorities oppose the exercise of civil rights and a free and independent civil society.

The Application of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law to the Current Las'anod Conflict

In the last days of January 2023, an armed conflict has broken out between the Somaliland government and the local population in the city of Las’Anod, the administrative capital of Sool region of Somalia. Serious acts of violence jeopardizing well-being and lives of people living there have been widely reported by media. This Article focuses and explains how international law protects life, property and human dignity in such critical situations. It presents the applicable human right standards as well as rules of war that must be observed during an armed conflict. Finally, the Article addresses possibility of classifying the situation as violations of international humanitarian law.

Penetrating gunshot wounds to the penis: a case report of combat patient injured in the war in Ukraine

BackgroundThe current war in Ukraine is associated with frequent applications of multiple-launch rocket systems and cruise missiles as well as other various high-energy weapons to cause severe injuries in military personnel including abdomen wounds, vascular injury, and limb amputations as well as genitourinary trauma. The aim of this report is to demonstrate a case of successful penile salvage by restoring its function in a combat patient with gunshot genitourinary trauma in conditions of an interrupted supply of medical equipment.Case presentationWe describe a case of a 48-year-old male patient with a combined shrapnel gunshot wound to the penis with damage to the urethra and combined injury to the soft tissues of the left thigh. Several hours after the injury, the patient underwent primary surgical debridement of the left thigh, ligation of the great saphenous vein of the thigh, primary sutures on the penile urethra and navicular fossa, suturing of the rupture of the head and penis, drainage of the wound, catheterization of the bladder, and epicystostomy. An artificial erection was performed intraoperatively.The urethral catheter was removed 3 weeks after urethral suturing (May 4, 2022). The epicystostomy was removed 5 months after the injury (August 4, 2022) and 2 days after the restoration of spontaneous urination. At the follow-up of 7 months after the injury, the patient has normal urination with minor urinary dribbling, sufficient erection, and ejaculation.ConclusionsWe have shown that in a case of gunshot wounds to the penis and hanging part of the urethra, even in the presence of combined severe purulent lesions of non-urological localizations, it is possible to perform a primary reconstruction of urogenital injuries using a primary urethral suture and applying a negative pressure device. Findings from this case report shed new light on the management of penile gunshot injury in ongoing warfare as well as provide evidence of the possibility to perform adequate management for penile injury in conditions of limited medical resources, violation of international humanitarian law, and under frequent strikes of high-energy weapons.

The rule of law and armed conflict reconstruction implementation practices: A human right-based analysis of the Rwandan experience

This study provides a right-based analysis of the rule of law and armed conflict reconstruction implementation practices in Rwanda. It answers the mode of implementation of the ICTR and the Gacaca court system and assessed the consistency of these mechanisms with HRBA principles using a qualitative-content approach. The study revealed the consistency of ICTR operations with the HRBA principle on the rule of law; yet, the Gacaca court system appeared the opposite. Therefore, the need to identify and strengthen specific rule of law mechanisms to prosecute respective human rights and humanitarian law violations to reduce clashes. The study recommends sanctions be applied to all perpetrators of international crimes in accordance with their level of perpetration.

Prácticas forenses y violencia en masa: perspectivas contemporáneas y retos investigativos

We already have forty years of experience in Latin America in the application of anthropology and forensic archaeology to the search for missing persons and investigations of gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Despite this long trajectory of very important work, the most striking protagonists of meta-analysis in the forensic work literature and its impact in recent years have not been the forensic scientists themselves, but social scientists. This article introduces the dossier “Forensic Practices and Mass Violence: Contemporary Perspectives and Research Challenges,” a work that brings together practitioners —including relatives of the missing— with academic researchers, breaking down a structural, social and artificial divide. The joining of forces between academics and practitioners better reflects the work as a whole that includes and highlights the goals concerning search, recovery, analysis, and identification, but also those concerning restitution. This introduction emphasizes debates that are absent in many forensic science journals: the impact of politics on research and the political product of research, although we still have debates about questions of objectivity, neutrality, and the value of a family-driven or family-involved approach. In this dossier, we examine the adaptation and evolution of the discipline from its particular Latin American form, both in the different expressions it has taken in the region and in the way it has been expressed in the work of Latin American professionals in foreign cases such as that of the former Yugoslavia.

State and Personal Responsibility: War Crimes, Crimes of Aggression and Genocide in Ukraine

This article examines international crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Ukraine faces explicit acts of aggression, with a multitude of war crimes—including murder, sexual violence, and deliberate attacks on civilian property and infrastructure—being perpetrated within its borders. Additionally, there are indications of genocidal intent. Urgent attention is required to investigate the violations of international humanitarian law. Further, the article identifies the main causes of war crimes committed by the military: military errors or failures, the use of civilians as “human shields,” insufficient discipline, inadequate inculcation of legal norms related to international humanitarian law and Just War Theory within military ranks, and the use of targeted terror aimed at crushing the enemy’s will to resist. The author examines the interrelation of war crimes and information warfare in light of the importance of discerning truth amidst a sea of disinformation and cover-up. Finally, he explores national and international mechanisms for bringing perpetrators of crimes to justice, as well as seeking compensation for the damage they caused.

PRINCIPLE OF NEUTRALITY AND THE OBLIGATION TO PREVENT INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW VIOLATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF US MILITARY ASSISTANCE IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Although international law forbids states to use force against each other, every state has an obligation to stop the ongoing violation of international humanitarian law. Consequently, the relevance of the traditional law of neutrality is questionable and often considered obsolete in contemporary armed conflict. The United States of America introduced the doctrine of qualified neutrality. The doctrine allows other states to do something when there is a threat or ongoing violations of the peace and security of humankind. The United States has commonly justified its military assistance to one of the warring parties using the doctrine as in the current Russia-Ukraine War. The United States provides vast military assistance to Ukraine, consisting of weapons and specialized military training to stop Russian aggression. This study aims to assess the qualified neutrality doctrine from an international law perspective and whether the United States can still preserve its neutral status or become a co-belligerent of Ukraine. This study argues that qualified neutrality will not change the status of a neutral state into co-belligerent if it does not involve any use of force measures or, otherwise, these measures shall fall within the framework of the UN Charter and require authorization from the UN.

Accountability for atrocity crimes in Ukraine: Gendering transitional justice

Nine months into the 2022 war in Ukraine, United Nations' investigators have already presented evidence that Russia committed war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. Tens of thousands of atrocities are under investigation as possible war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide, including evidence of torture, summary executions, detentions, forced deportations, and sexual violence. Many more will surely be documented before the conflict is over. Women trapped in conflict zones, women IDBs, and women refugees with children are especially vulnerable to gender-based violence, including conflict related sexual violence (CRSV) and trafficking. Together with international institutions, national governments, and local and global NGOs, Ukraine is actively documenting a range of atrocities, including gender specific violence and CRSV. This article discusses known rights violations thus far, and employs a gendered lens to explore possible transitional justice measures to provide accountability, redress and support for crimes that disproportionately affect women and girls.

THE VIOLATION OF HUMANITARIAN LAW IN SYRIA AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT

This paper deals with the psychological impacts of the ongoing Syrian conflict which has almost indulged half of the world into it. Syrian war is considered one of that bloodiest civil war which has highest death toll up till yet. The violation of humanitarian law has been creating devastating and heart breaking psychological disorders among Syrian people and the combatants. These psychological impacts are long lasting and would need a huge amount of assistance. The aim of the study is to analyze the impact of war on people’s mind living in a war zone and to know types of challenges they face. The researcher has used qualitative approach in order to have content analyses in descriptive form. The researcher has analyzed the conflict from the viewpoint of Johan Galtung in understanding the roots and cycle of a conflict. In this paper, role of major powers like USA and Russia has been recommended for resolution of this issue

Pertanggungjawaban Penggunaan Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Dalam Konflik Bersenjata Ditinjau Dari Hukum Humaniter Internasional

Introduction: Today there is one type of aircraft that is often used in war, namely the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or in Indonesian called the Unmanned Aircraft (PTA) which is better known as the Drone.Purposes of the Research: To find out how the regulation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and how the accountability of parties using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in armed conflict from the use of unmanned aircraft in armed conflict. Methods of the Research: This research uses normative juridical law research, with primary and secondary legal materials as the source of the law. The problem approach used is the statute approach, the conceptual approach, and the case approach. Furthermore, it is analyzed qualitatively.Results of the Research: The result of this study is that the use of drones by the United States in Pakistan has resulted in hundreds or even thousands of civilian lives and caused unnecessary damage both materially and formally. In addition, the legality of the use of drones is also still in question because until now there has been no definite binding standard. In this study, the authors suggest that the making of rules regarding drones should be implemented immediately, this is in order to prevent violations of international humanitarian law and to protect the security of civilians so that they do not suffer or suffer losses caused by drones.

International courts and atrocities in the XXI century

Mass atrocities perpetrated in the last years of the last century and those committed in the XXI century have received major attention from a wide arrange of actors. Indeed, these serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, which are constitutive of international crimes, have led to cases before supranational courts. The law and/or practice of international courts within their respective specific mandates demonstrate that there is an increasing international judicial engagement with rendering justice in scenarios of mass atrocities. In this context, the main research question addressed in this article is to identify some of the main contributions of international courts in mass atrocity cases in the XXI century. In this context, three supranational courts are taken into account: the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Алгоритм дії лікаря при фіксації сексуального насильства під час збройних конфліктів та воєнного стану в Україні

The purpose of the study was to analyze and generalize recommendations regarding the actions of medical workers when documenting the facts of sexual violence and providing medical and psychological assistance to persons affected by sexual violence related to the armed conflict in Ukraine. Results and discussion. As a result of the international armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine, caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation, a large number of crimes against the civilian population were recorded. At the present time, one of the difficult challenges of society is sexual violence in the conditions of armed conflict. Sexual violence during an armed conflict is not only a criminal offense, but also a violation of international humanitarian law and human rights. According to the United Nations, the facts of sexual violence in wartime are difficult to detect and investigate. Responding to sexual violence in armed conflict requires coordination of international and national institutions and an interdisciplinary approach to providing legal and medical assistance, social and psychological support to victims of sexual violence during armed conflict. The modern tool for combating violence against women and preventing violence against women is the Istanbul Convention. An important aspect is that the right of victims of sexual violence during armed conflicts to appeal to state bodies, human rights organizations, medical workers, psychologists for help is a personal decision of each victim. A victim of sexual violence in the context of an armed conflict has the right to receive qualified free medical care. Medical assistance to persons affected by conflict-related sexual violence is provided in health care facilities as needed at all levels of medical care, both outpatient and inpatient. The purpose of providing medical assistance to the victim is to overcome the negative consequences and effects of conflict-related sexual violence on the physical and psychological health of the victim. The injured person has the right to freely choose a health care facility, a doctor, and a method of treatment in accordance with the doctor's recommendations. Medical assistance to persons affected (or likely to be affected) by conflict-related sexual violence is provided in accordance with the Protocols for the provision of medical assistance. When seeking medical help from victims or their legal representatives, medical workers must record their complaints (appeals), collect anamnesis, conduct a medical examination with an assessment of the condition of a victim of conflict-related sexual violence and, if necessary, additional instrumental and laboratory examination and measures to prevent the consequences of sexual violence. Conclusion. We recommend an algorithm of actions for medical professionals in cases of recording and documenting the fact of conflict-related sexual violence. In order to prevent psychological traumatization of the victim, it is recommended to use modern methods of recording (photographing, video recording) during the collection of anamnesis and subsequent examination of the victim in order to enable the parties to the criminal proceedings/court to use the obtained data. It is emphasized that the timely conduct of forensic medical examinations in order to detect the presence of injuries with the subsequent recording of the facts of the conflict-related sexual violence will help the side of the criminal proceedings/court to take effective measures of a criminal or other nature against the offender

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL STANDARDS FOR THE EQUITABLE PROVISION OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE

In a situation of transition from conflict or authoritarian rule, which has led to gross human rights violations or serious violations of international humanitarian law, the United Nations pays special attention to the measures taken by the relevant authorities to ensure truth, justice and reparation. International instruments define transitional justice as follows: «a set of processes and mechanisms related to society’s attempts to overcome the grave consequences of large-scale violations of the law in the past in order to ensure accountability, justice and reconciliation». The international community has a duty to take immediate steps to protect human rights and security in a situation where the internal system of law enforcement is destroyed or ceases to function as a result of the conflict. In the long run, no special, temporary or external measures can replace justice. Therefore, for decades, a number of United Nations agencies have been helping countries strengthen their national justice systems in line with international standards. Transitional justice is a set of measures related to systematic or mass human rights violations that compensates victims of violations, as well as enabling or facilitating the transformation of political systems, conflicts and other conditions that may be at the root of abuse. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is increasingly recognizing the need to intensify its support for the United Nations system’s efforts to take swift and effective action in post-conflict settlement missions to restore the rule of law and restore justice. Countries emerging from conflicts and crises are often characterized by insufficient or no rule of law, inadequate capacity to administer and administer justice, and an increase in human rights violations. This situation is often exacerbated by a lack of public confidence in public authorities and a lack of resources. Key words: human rights, rule of law, transitional justice, international standards, conflict and post-conflict periods.

Addressing the accountability void: War crimes against persons with disabilities

AbstractAcademics rarely raise the need to consider persons with disabilities when preventing, investigating and prosecuting international humanitarian law (IHL) violations. Worse still, no actual attempts have been made to include a disability perspective into practical guidance and monitoring mechanisms. This article addresses that void by laying out how existing yet unutilized IHL obligations can be leveraged to repress and suppress disability-based IHL violations. In doing so, the article will detail how fact-finding approaches, criminal investigative processes and reporting methods for IHL violations can be inclusive of persons with disabilities and thus more appropriately address the endemic under-representation of a disability perspective in the planning and execution of military operations during armed conflict and the specific crimes they thereby suffer. Additionally, this article will articulate concrete changes that should be made to international criminal law procedures for prosecuting war crimes to provide recognition and accountability for disability-based IHL violations, as has been done for violations against women and children. Finally, this article will diagnose the state of the law to address any legal challenges or hurdles that may hamper the inclusion of a disability perspective in fulfilling the IHL obligation to reduce and address violations of humanitarian law.

How does the obligation to investigate alleged serious violations of international humanitarian law apply in ad hoc military coalitions?

This article assesses how the obligation to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) – also referred to as the law of armed conflict – applies in situations where multiple states cooperate militarily in an ad hoc manner. Following an examination of the particular accountability issues raised by ad hoc military coalitions, the article applies doctrinal legal analysis to: (1) the grave breaches regime, (2) the customary obligation to investigate alleged war crimes, (3) the obligation to ensure respect for IHL, and (4) the notion of complicity under international law. It is concluded that the interplay of these different legal regimes and standards requires the investigation of the conduct of other states in a variety of different circumstances during ad hoc military cooperation. However, Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs) and the potential immunities of state officials from criminal jurisdiction complicate the implementation of these obligations in practice. As such, in addition to the legal conclusions reached regarding the obligation to investigate’s operation in ad hoc military coalitions, more fundamental issues are brought into focus, namely the tension between state sovereignty and current developments towards accountability for serious violations of IHL.