On The Application Of International Humanitarian Law In Non-international Armed Conflicts

With peace and development being the themes of today~s world, there are obvious less frequencies in use of force between states while non-international armed conflicts (or armed conflicts not of an international anned character) occur in succession. Over the years, the international humanitarian law, which aims to protect the victims in wars or armed conflicts, mainly plays role in international armed conflicts. Yet, the international humanitarian law is reduced to be fragile in the face of the victims in non-international armed conflicts who urgently need to be protected due to various reasons. Therefore, the application of international humanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts turns to be a pressing and realistic subject. The said subject is analyzed in five parts. The preface contributes to the background behind the thesis. In order to better elaborate on the subject, the first chapter defines relevant legal terms employed in the application of international humanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts, such as the war, the armed conflict, the laws of armed conflict and the international humanitarian law. At the same time, the applicability of international humanitarian law, as a branch of public international law, in non- international armed conflicts is discussed in detail. The second chapter explores the substantive rules of international humanitarian law applicable to non-international armed conflicts, and the writer argues that these rules should include the common article 3, the additional protocol II, the rules with the status of customary international law as well as the special agreements between the parties of armed conflicts. This chapter also makes investigation into non-intervention and the relationship between international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The third chapter dwells on the mechanisms of application of international humanitarian law into non-international armed conflicts. According to the applicability in non-international armed conflicts and in combination with the actual situations in China, the writer studies, case by case, the relevant mechanisms, and both international and domestic levels are taken into due consideration. Based on the proceeding discussion, the writer concludes the thesis with the viewpoints that: although there exist certain objective difficulties in the application of international humanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts, the international humanitarian law should and can be applied so long as the application is in proportion to the development of international law; the presently feasible mechanism of application should focus on the domestic level, namely, the national legislation by states involved in non-international armed conflicts and the enhancement of the red cross organization role; in the mean time, the state involved in non-international armed conflict should take flexible and practical attitude and actively cooperates with such external mechanism as International Committee of Red Cross and the UN, and endeavor to achieve the best balance of the interests between the protection of the victims in non-international armed conflicts and the safeguarding the sovereignty of the state.