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Towards effective military training in international humanitarian law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2015

Elizabeth Stubbins Bates
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Abstract

The obligation to train troops in international humanitarian law (IHL) is simply stated and its implementation delegated to State discretion. This reflects a past assumption that mere dissemination of IHL would be an effective contribution to the prevention of violations. Academic literature has evolved so that dissemination alone is now known to be insufficient for compliance, while the ICRC's integration model emphasizes the relevance of IHL to all aspects of military decision-making. A separate process, the ICRC/Government of Switzerland Initiative on Strengthening Compliance with IHL, is still in its consultative stages at the time of writing, but may result in voluntary State reporting and/or thematic discussions at meetings of States. This article synthesizes academic and practitioner insights on effective IHL training, and suggests a collaborative rubric for informative, standardized reporting on IHL training. Such a rubric could enable States and researchers to share best practice and future innovations on IHL training, using a streamlined, cost-effective tool.

Keywords

compliancedisseminationICRCintegrationIHLlaw of armed conflictmilitary trainingsocial psychology
Type
Triggering behavioural and structural change – analysis of assumptions
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 96 , Issue 895-896: Generating respect for the law , December 2014 , pp. 795 - 816
Copyright
Copyright © icrc 2015 

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References

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20 Common Article 1; J. Pictet (ed.), above note 4, Vol. 1, p. 384; Vol. 2, p. 257; Vol. 3, pp. 613–614; Vol. 4, p. 580.

21 AP I, Art. 87(2).

22 AP I, Art. 83(2).

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27 Official Records of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1974–1977, Vol. 10, Second Session, Committee I, paras 133–135.

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29 Official Records of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1974–1977, 53rd Plenary Meeting, Fourth Session, 6 June 1977, p. 151, para. 62: “The President drew attention to the proposals by the delegation of Pakistan (CDDH/427 AND Corr.1) to delete Article 37, and replace it by the sentence ‘This Protocol shall be disseminated as widely as possible’ (CDDH/434). The numbering and positioning of the new simplified article would be dealt with at a later stage.” The simplified draft was adopted by consensus: Y. Sandoz, C. Swinarski and B. Zimmermann (eds), above note 2, p. 1488 and fn. 4.

30 Ibid., p. 1488, para. 4906.

31 Ibid., p. 1489, para. 4912.

32 CCW, above note 1, Amended Protocol II, Art. 14(3); Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954, above note 2, Art. 30.

33 ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 2, Rule 142, pp. 501, 505.

34 David Turns, “Implementation and Compliance”, in Elizabeth Wilmshurst and Susan Breau (eds), Perspectives on the ICRC Study on Customary International Humanitarian Law, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007, p. 362.

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40 D. Muñoz-Rojas and J.-J. Frésard, above note 10.

41 ICRC, above note 11.

42 William R. Peers, The My Lai Inquiry, Norton, New York, 1979; J. Bourke, above note 12, p. 194, cited in Paolo Tripodi, “Understanding Atrocities: What Commanders Can Do to Prevent Them”, in David Whetham (ed.), Ethics, Law and Military Operations, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2011, pp. 173–188; Report of the Baha Mousa Inquiry, Vol. 3, September 2011, Summary, Part XVIII, p. 1330, para. 294, but contrast p. 1333, para. 310.

43 R. Holmes, above note 12; B. Shalit, above note 12; J. Bourke, above note 12.

44 Yorkshire Television, Four Hours in My Lai, 23 May 1989, interview transcripts including interview with ex-sergeant, 2nd Platoon, 1988.

45 F. Hampson, above note 6; M. Sassòli, above note 6.

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48 ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 2, Rule 142, p. 503, fn. 45 (citing the military manual of the Republic of South Africa).

49 David Lloyd Roberts, “Teaching the Law of Armed Conflict to Armed Forces: Personal Reflections”, in Anthony M. Helm (ed.), International Law Studies, Vol. 82, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, 2006, pp. 121–134; J. Kuper, above note 7.

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56 Ibid., p. 174.

57 Ibid., pp. 173–174.

58 F. Hampson, above note 6, p. 116.

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75 M. L. Cook and H. Syse, above note 9, pp. 120, 121.

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78 D. Lovell, above note 9, p. 142.

79 Ibid., p. 146.

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83 Ibid.

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85 D. Muñoz-Rojas and J.-J. Frésard, above note 10.

86 Ibid., p. 197.

87 Ibid., p. 194.

88 Ibid., p. 190.

89 Ibid., p. 200.

90 Ibid., p. 201.

91 ICRC, above note 13.

92 Ibid.; ICRC, “Violence and the Use of Force”, above note 13, p. 58. An earlier hint of “integration” appears in Klenner, Dietmar, “Training in International Humanitarian Law”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 82, No. 839, 2000, pp. 653–662CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 656, 659, 660–661.

93 ICRC, above note 14.

94 ICRC, “Violence and the Use of Force”, above note 13, p. 58.

95 Ibid.

96 Ibid.

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99 Convention IV respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague Convention IV), 18 October 1907 (entered into force 16 January 1910), Art. 1.

100 ICRC, above note 14, pp. 22, 24.

101 Ibid., p. 22.

102 Ibid., p. 43.

103 Ibid., p. 18.

104 Ibid., p. 31.

105 Jutta Brunée and Stephen J. Toope, Legitimacy and Legality in International Law: An Interactional Account, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010, pp. 16, 62.

106 ICRC, ICRC Prevention Policy, Geneva, Publication Ref. 4019, 11 June 2010, pp. 5–6, available at: www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p4019.htm.

107 Ibid., p. 9.

108 Resolution 1, 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, 2011, available at: www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/resolution/31-international-conference-resolution-1-2011.htm (emphasis in original).

109 ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Background Document: Working Group Meeting on Strengthening Compliance with IHL, 8–9 November 2012, Geneva, October 2012. See also ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Background Document: Fourth Meeting of States on Strengthening Compliance with IHL, Geneva, March 2015. All documents on the Initiative are available at: www.icrc.org/eng/what-we-do/other-activities/development-ihl/strengthening-legal-protection-compliance.htm.

110 ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Third Meeting of States on Strengthening Compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), 30 June–1 July 2014, Chairs' Conclusions. See also ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Preparatory Discussion in View of the Fourth Meeting of States (2015), December 2014.

111 ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Background Document: Fourth Meeting of States, above note 109, pp. 17–18.

112 ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Third Meeting of States, above note 110, pp. 2, 5.

113 Ibid., pp. 8, 10, 13.

114 Ibid., p. 3.

115 Ibid., p. 4.

116 ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Background Document: Fourth Meeting of States, above note 109, p. 6.

117 ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Third Meeting of States, above note 110, p. 13.

118 United Nations Office at Geneva, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, Compliance Annual Reports Database, available at: www.onug.ch/80256EE600585943/(httpPages)/E0339F1FE92C35FBC12573E900351CD5?OpenDocument.

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120 Shaffer, Gregory and Ginsburg, Tom, “The Empirical Turn in International Legal Scholarship”, American Journal of International Law, Vol. 106, No. 1, 2012, p. 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

121 R. Holmes, above note 12; B. Shalit, above note 12; J. Bourke, above note 12.

122 D. Muñoz-Rojas and J.-J. Frésard, above note 10.

123 ICRC, “Integrating the Law”, above note 13.

124 ICRC, above note 14.

125 ICRC and Government of Switzerland, Third Meeting of States, above note 110.