Chapter

Recueil

La protección de las víctimas de los conflictos armados : La población civil

Oji Umozurike

Las dimensiones internacionales del derecho humanitario

[Paris] : UNESCO : UNESCO;Dordrecht [etc.] : M. Nijhoff, 1990

p. 190-202

Spanish

The author provides an extensive overview of the development of IHL relating to the protection of civilians. He discusses developments from the pre-1949 safeguards for civilians to Additional Protocols I and II of 1977. The author outlines how the genesis of new laws can be traced to issues that arise in new conflicts. Beginning with the definition of what constitutes a civilian, the author canvasses the protections accorded to civilians as protected persons during armed conflicts, highlighting, inter alia, the provisions concerning relief efforts. The author reflects on how recent developments in the technology of armed conflict, such as the invention of weapons of mass destruction, make it far more difficult to prevent causing harm to civilians or civilian objects. Generally, the author finds that IHL offers important legal safeguards for humanitarian protection of civilians caught in armed conflicts. However, on a policy level he remarks on the lack of concern by states for non-international conflicts in which they have no economic interests or concerning populations with which they possess no cultural affinity. He believes that continued protection will not be possible without the concerted involvement of States, liberation movements, and humanitarian organizations. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]

• Las dimensiones internacionales del derecho humanitario / INSTITUT HENRY-DUNANT, UNESCO ; [pref. por Alexandre Hay]