The Civilian in the Crossfire

Abstract

Unlike the publicized suffering of the civilian population, the law regulating armed conflict is not well known. The laws of war were first formulated within professional armies in order to regulate discipline, and thus although they also have a humanitarian purpose, they are a useful and practical body of law for the military The fundamental principle underlying the rules on hostilities is the distinction between military objectives and civilians. The latter are not to be purposely attacked, but damage to civilians which is inevitable when aiming at military objectives and which is not out of propotion to the value of the objective is tolerated. The advantage to the military in observing this distinction is economy of force (there is no tactical advantage in hitting civilians and it wastes ammunition and manpower) and for States it means less damage to rectify after the war. This traditional principle of distinction suffered greatly during the second world war but has been reaffirmed since by States and has now been codified in Protocol I of 1977 The benefits of observing the distinction between civilians and military objectives are not necessarily clear to short-sighted individuals during the heat of battle. The need, therefore, is to make the law of war a part of military training, i.e. instruction to commanders and incorporation in daily military exercises so as to make its application automatic. The basics of the law should also be known to the civilian population, who have a vested interest in its respect and from whom the military are drawn, especially if conscripted.