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Law of war training within armed forces: Twenty years experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

Extract

The States which have accepted international treaties on the law of war are bound “to respect and to ensure respect for these treaties in all circumstances”.

This general principle, stated in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, has to be put into practice. For that reason, the States “undertake, in time of peace as in time of war, to disseminate the text of the treaties as widely as possible and, in particular, to include the study thereof in their programmes of military and, if possible, civil intruction, so that the principles thereof may become known to the entire population, in particular to the armed forces”.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1987

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References

1 Art. 1 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of war victims.

2 Geneva Convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field of 12 August 1949 (First Convention), Art. 47.

3 Ibid, Art. 45.

4 The distinction between these two types of law is essential for the understanding and the practical application of the modern law of war (see hereafter chapter 3).

5 Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Art. 57 and 58.

6 First Geneva Convention, 1949, Art. 45.

7 Ditto.

8 Experts' report published in Revue Internationale des Services de Santé des Armées de Terre, de Mer et de l'Air/International Review of the Army, Navy and Air Force Medical Services, Liège (Belgium), Nos. 9–10 (1977), pp. 737 ff.Google Scholar

9 See in particular Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of the International Society of Military Law and Law of War (Lausanne 1982) in Revue de droit pénal militaire et de droit de la guerre/The military law and law of war review, Brussels, Vol. XXI-1-2-3-4 (1982).Google Scholar

10 Complete course files published in Revue de droit pénal militaire et de droit de la guerre/The military law and law of war review, Brussels: 1st course (French) in Vol. XVI–1 (1977)Google Scholar and 5th course (English) in Vol. XVIII–3 (1979).

11 Ditto.

12 Report on 4th course published in Revue Internationale des Services de Santé des Armées de Terre, de Mer et de l'Air/International Review of the Army, Navy and Air Force Medical Services, Liège (Belgium), No. 4 (1985), pp. 245 ff.Google Scholar

13 The Handbook will be available in English in summer 1987, in French and in Spanish in winter 1987–88.