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Protecting civilians and peacekeepers
This year marks the 70th year of the adoption of the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, which today form the principal international humanitarian law (IHL) treaties
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span>This year marks the 70th year of the adoption of the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, which today form the principal international humanitarian law (IHL) treaties. IHL sets forth rules to limit the humanitarian impacts of wars and armed conflicts without judging how it started, who are the parties, who is right, and who is wrong.
In many traditions, religions, and customs around the world, such principles have always existed. It was this humanitarian spirit that led to the adoption of the very first Geneva Convention in 1864.
The four Geneva Conventions were agreed 70 years ago, in the aftermath of World War II when the memories of the enormous horrors remained fresh in the minds of many. The battlefields and the Holocaust brought untold suffering and destruction. The humanitarian impacts of the World War II in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, were just as cruel as it was in Europe and other parts of the world.
Witnessing World War II severely impacted humanity, a diplomatic conference was convened in Geneva from April 21 until Aug. 12, 1949, which resulted in the adoption of the Geneva Conventions. Representatives of countries from all corners of the world participated in the diplomatic conference. Asia was notably represented by Thailand, the Philippines, Burma, Afghanistan, China and India.
Today, the Geneva Conventions are one of the few treaties that enjoy a universal acceptance from all sovereign countries. ASEAN’s support for IHL is also notable, especially since all ASEAN member states are party to the Geneva Conventions, and have uniformly agreed through the ASEAN Charter that IHL must be upheld.
Indonesia ratified the Geneva Conventions in 1958 and last year adopted Law No. 1/2018 on Red Cross affairs, which focuses on the protection and use of the red cross emblem. This law is considered an implementing legislation for the Geneva Conventions.
The rules of the Geneva Conventions were completed by the two 1977 Additional Protocols. They were adopted after having experienced decolonization conflicts and wars of national liberation that erupted throughout Africa and Asia in the 1960s and 1970s. Even though not yet ratified by Indonesia, some important rules of these protocols as the principle of distinction are reflected; for instance, Indonesian Military manual provides: “The targets of every military operation should be distinguished at all times.”
Generally, IHL protects the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked soldiers, medical and religious personnel, as well as civilians. Individuals serving in peacekeeping missions are also protected from attacks. Intentional attacks against peacekeepers may amount to war crimes. The rationale of this protection is that peacekeepers are generally considered not participating directly in the hostilities, therefore they shall not be targeted. The protection of peacekeepers is essential to enhancing the protection of civilians in situations of conflict.
This protection was recently reaffirmed in an international conference on peacekeeping jointly held by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Foreign Ministry on June 26 and 27 in Jakarta.
The conference marked the 20th anniversary of cooperation between the ICRC and the TNI and it brought together representatives of 25 countries from Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and the Pacific.
Currently one of the largest troop-contributing countries, Indonesia aims to send 4,000 personnel in 2020. Around a third of all Indonesian peacekeepers are with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The rest are stationed in different countries from Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In recent years, attacks against peacekeepers are not uncommon. Security incidents from assault, kidnapping, to killing of peacekeepers have been condemned by the international community.
Those responsible for such attacks may be tried in a court of law for the war crime of attacking peacekeepers. Fortunately, to date there has not been an attack against Indonesian peacekeepers.
How then can states ensure peacekeepers are comprehensively protected?
The fundamental answer to this question is through implementation of IHL obligations into domestic frameworks. National implementation of IHL has been acknowledged by the UN Security Council (UNSC) as something that is imperative to improving civilian protection — a notion admirably echoed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi in her article in the May 31, 2019, edition of The Jakarta Post which she wrote to mark Indonesia’s UNSC presidency last May.
Ensuring legal protection of peacekeepers through provisions of repression of violations against them is one essential implementing element. If there was a killing against an Indonesian peacekeeper, such attack may well amount to a war crime. Indonesia, as the contributing country, has an interest to punish the perpetrator in accordance with Indonesian law.
Nevertheless, it is first needed to ensure that the legislation is adequately equipped to cover criminal acts against peacekeepers. Otherwise, killing an Indonesian peacekeeper could only be categorized as an ordinary murder. Incorporating clauses of war crimes against peacekeepers into national legislation is thus paramount.
With each ratification of an IHL treaty, Indonesia conveys a message that this treaty is of great importance in world affairs. In this regard, the ICRC would welcome Indonesia’s accession to the 1977 Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions and adopt all the necessary implementing legislation.
The ICRC in Indonesia has been working closely together with Indonesian authorities. It supports them to accede IHL treaties by sharing ratification kits and to implement them into Indonesian law on the basis of guiding tools such as model laws and that its rules must be respected, in particular in places in the world where its peacekeepers are present.
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The writer is head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional delegation to Indonesia and
Timor-Leste, based in Jakarta. He has worked with the ICRC for more than 20 years in various missions in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East as well as ICRC legal adviser.
