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The Russia-Ukraine ConflictThe Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Chapter 5

Principles of International Humanitarian Law

by Melisa Meydaneri

What rules apply in war?

Headline of Spiegel, a German weekly newspaper, from October 18, 2023:
https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/ukraine-meldet-getoetete-zivilisten-nach-russischem-angriff-auf-saporischschja-a-d1caf070-6baa-49c4-a5fe-e9b736f47a94
Headline of Spiegel, a German weekly newspaper, from October 18, 2023: "Ukraine reports civilians killed after Russian attack on Syporishya"
Can civilians be lawfully attacked?

War is forbidden, yet there is international humanitarian law?

Worldmap of states in conflicts, 2022
Map Kit 2022 des Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research
Illustration: Marlin Beringer
War is prohibited under international law: The Charter of the United Nations prohibits the use of force and war between states.

Nevertheless, in individual cases, states repeatedly assert their interests by means of military force.
International humanitarian law responds to this despite the ban on war: it recognizes war as a reality and protects people from the effects of war. This makes the law of war the "stop gap" of international law, with very rudimentary regulations.

War and protection of the civilian population?

Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine: 28,711 civilian casualties, including 10,058 killed and 18,653 injured
https://ukraine.un.org/en/download/149990/254943
Civilian casualties since 24.2.2022: 28,711 civilian casualties, including 10,058 killed and 18,653 injured
Illustration: Marlin Beringer
The fundamental guiding thought of the law of war, also known as international humanitarian law, is the balance between opposing military and humanitarian interests: Military necessity and the protection of the uninvolved civilian population from acts of war must be reconciled.

This is achieved through various principles and rules in the Geneva Conventions, which focus on the protection of the innocent civilian population.

Soldiers vs. civilian population

Illustration: Marlin Beringer
One of these principles is the principle of distinction.
It requires a distinction to be made between civilians and soldiers in the event of attacks. Soldiers have the right to fight, in return they may be lawfully killed in combat operations.

Unarmed civilians, on the other hand, must not be attacked and should be spared from the acts of war.

People as collateral damage?

Illustration: Marlin Beringer
Iryna Kalinina (32), eine verletzte schwangere Frau, wird aus einem Entbindungskrankenhaus getragen Krankenhaus getragen, das bei einem russischen Luftangriff in Mariupol, Ukraine, beschädigt wurde, am 9. März 2022 beschädigt wurde. Ihr Baby mit dem Namen Miron (nach dem Wort für
Mariupol Maternity Hospital Airstrike © Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated Press
World Press Photo of the Year 2023 by Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated Press
Even if attacks on civilians are generally prohibited, civilian casualties and so-called "collateral damage" occur repeatedly.

Collateral damage (including in the form of human lives) is legally permissible if it is proportionate to the military advantage and the latter outweighs the former. If the military advantage is of prevailing strategic importance (e.g. the killing of a military leader), higher numbers of civilian casualties may also be proportionate and permissible.
As a result, the law of war cannot completely prevent the suffering of war; as "humanitarian" international law, it merely limits human suffering.

Is only the lawbreaker limited by the law of war?

Retweets of an Amnesty International report on the endangerment of civilians by Ukrainian tactics by the Russian Embassy in the UK:
Ukraine and Russia are both obliged to uphold the laws of war. The fact that Ukraine was unlawfully attacked by Russia and is now merely defending itself does not release it from complying with these rules and principles.