The war against international terrorism and international humanitarian law in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 ; La "guerre contre le terrorisme international" et le droit international humanitaire au lendemain des attentats du 11 septembre 2001
Described as "acts of war", the attacks of 11 September 2001 enabled President George W. BUSH to justify his military interventions against the states he designated as the "Axis of Evil" "Empire of Evil" denounced by Ronald REAGAN. On September 18, 2001, the US Congress reinforced the militarization of the fight against terrorism by almost unanimously voting the "Authorization for Use of Military Force". The reaction of the United States can be summed up in four very specific words: "War on Terrorism" or "War on Terror". As early as 6 October 2001, this "war" took the form of an international armed conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq. The main objective of the United States was to eradicate terrorism by destroying the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, including its leader Oussama BEN LADEN, whom George W. BUSH wanted "dead or alive" Reference to the expeditious justice of the Far West. These armed conflicts have led to the capture of Taliban fighters and al-Qaeda members on different battlefields. It is on the basis of the US President's Military Order that most of them will be detained at the US naval base in Guantanamo bay, described as "illegal combatants", and then deprived of prisoner-of-war status. The daily practice of torture by American soldiers will make Guantanamo a true "no-law zone". The detainees found themselves in a "legal black hole" due to the uncertainty created around their legal status. Yet war is regulated by international humanitarian law through the rules of jus ad bellum, which determine the situations in which it is lawful to resort to force, and jus in bello regulating the conduct of a war. This corpus of law is today largely codified by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977. But the "war on terror" is undoubtedly a new form of "war" which was not envisaged The adoption of the Geneva Conventions. A careful reading of these conventions may suggest that these provisions do not apply to terrorists who engage in activities that are totally contradictory to ...