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

With peace and development being the themes of today’s world, there are obvious less frequencies inthe use of force between states, while the root causes of armed conflict is far from being eliminated,especially the frequent occurrence of non-international armed conflict, that has resulted in a large numberof civilian casualties or displacement, and brought grave suffering to the people of the world. Over theyears, the international humanitarian law, which aims to protect the victims in wars or armed conflicts,has played a significant role in protecting civilians in international armed conflicts. Yet, the internationalhumanitarian law is reduced to be fragile in the face of the victims in non-international armed conflictswho urgently need to be protected due to various reasons. Therefore, the application of internationalhumanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts turns to be a pressing and realistic subject.The said subject is analyzed in four chapters in this paper.The first chapter as an overview explains the meaning of a non-international armed conflict in acomparative way and distinguishes it from international armed conflicts and internal tensions; and alsointroduces the rules that are applicable to non-international armed conflict under the current system ofinternational humanitarian law, in order to provide a basis for further analysis below;The second chapter provides a detailed and comprehensive discussion of international humanitarianrules applicable to non-international armed conflict, including the common article3, the additionalprotocol II, as well as the rules with the status of customary international law, with focuses on how toestablish customary international humanitarian law in non-international armed conflict, several key issuesof international humanitarian law to protect civilians, such as the definition of civilians, the status ofcombatants, as well as direct participation in hostilities, etc.;The third chapter analyzes the current challenges faced by the international humanitarian lawapplicable in non-international armed conflicts, the universal challenges are not discussed here, the author only selects unique problems regarding the application of international humanitarian law innon-international armed conflict, including sovereign states’ resistance to the application of internationalhumanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts, the impact of international humanitarian lawapplicable to the system of international law, and the lack of the effective prosecution of internationalhumanitarian law mechanisms.The forth chapter points to promote the application and the observance of international humanitarianlaw in non-international armed conflicts, and explores the following ways, to strengthen the disseminationof international humanitarian law and create a good "comply atmosphere"; to promote compliancethrough legislation and related mechanisms of the sovereign states; to use the United Nations, theInternational Committee of the Red Cross and other international organizations; as well as to introduceinternational human rights protected mechanism into international humanitarian law.It has been said that currently the biggest challenge for internationalhumanitarian law is not lack ofrules,but lack of respect for such existing rules.The ultimate purpose of this paper is to call for ourcitizens to deepen their understanding and knowledge of rules of international humanitarian law,and thusexecute andcomply with the rules and spirits thereof to the maximum.