Article

The unforeseen humanitarian law implications of the NATO intervention in Libya

Kesolofetse Lefenya and Ilyayambwa Mwanawina

• African yearbook on international humanitarian law, 2015, p. 59-78

English

Gaddhafi's forty-two-year rule in Libya ended after uprisings against his government led to a civil war and eventually intervention by the international community. On 31 March 2011, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reported to the international community that it had overall command of international military operations over Libya and that the aim of NATO actions was to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas from attack or the threat of attack. This article seeks to highlight the miscarriages of international humanitarian law (IHL), in particular the Third Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war. The article canvasses the capture and murder of Gaddhafi, in that way highlighting the breaches of another body of law, namely international human rights law. It is assumed that, because of the involvement of international parties, the nature of the conflict which started as a civil war turned into a conflict with enough international elements to bring it under the purview of the Geneva Conventions.

• African yearbook on international humanitarian law
• African yearbook on international humanitarian law [2015]