Suchergebnisse

International humanitarian law is increasingly perceived as part of human rights law applicable in armed conflict. This trend can be traced back to the United Nations Human Rights Conference held in Tehran in 1968 which not only encouraged the development of humanitarian law itself, but also marked the beginning of a growing use by the United Nations of humanitarian law during its examination of the human rights situation in certain countries or during its thematic studies. The greater awareness of the relevance of humanitarian law to the protection of people in armed conflict, coupled with the increasing use of human rights law in international affairs, means that both these areas of law now have a much greater international profile and are regularly being used together in the work of both international and non-governmental organizations.

Explores the relevance of customary rules of international humanitarian law & the mechanisms through which they are created. International humanitarian law adopted in Geneva in 1864 was based on customary rules generated by practices adopted in previous wars. In spite of extensive codification of humanitarian law by numerous treaties, treaty law does not adequately cover today's armed conflicts, especially those that are not international in scope. Customary international law is said to have the potential to fill existing holes in treaty law resulting from a lack of substantive coverage or ratification. Situations in which customary international law could be useful, & the methodology used to institute rules of customary international law, are described. Research on customary rules of international humanitarian law conducted by the International Conference of the Red Cross & Red Crescent identifies 200 basic rules found to be customary in today's noninternational armed conflicts. These rules will be included in a code of customary international law that will be binding upon parties in international & noninternational armed conflicts. J. Lindroth