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International Humanitarian Law Commons™
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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in International Humanitarian Law
Human Rights Law On Trial In The Drc, William Paul Simmons
Human Rights Law On Trial In The Drc, William Paul Simmons
Human Rights & Human Welfare
The ongoing tragedy in Eastern Congo contains so many tragic lessons that it should shake to their very foundations all comfortable ideologies about human rights and politics. The atrocities in the DRC should implicate all but have so far resulted in almost limitless impunity. Here, I briefly put human rights law on trial for its role in perpetuating this tragedy.
Natural Resources And Wealth Of The Democratic Republic Of Congo (Drc): Of Benefit To Whom?, Nicola Colbran
Natural Resources And Wealth Of The Democratic Republic Of Congo (Drc): Of Benefit To Whom?, Nicola Colbran
Human Rights & Human Welfare
When asked to discuss the humanitarian tragedy in the DRC, the question really is where to start? The article by Adam Hochschild discusses some of the most horrific events and experiences imaginable: widespread killings of unarmed civilians, rape, torture and looting, the recruitment of child soldiers, and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The immediate human response is who is to blame, how did it happen and how can the world apparently do nothing?
If They Just Weren't So Rich!, Anja Mihr
If They Just Weren't So Rich!, Anja Mihr
Human Rights & Human Welfare
The deadliest war on earth-as it is called-in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will only end when the country's richness fades or is kept under surveillance. Human rights and peace might have a chance if Congo's lucrative diamond, gold or coltan mines were under shared control by non-profit agencies or international organizations with the intention to spread the mines' benefits and wealth among the Congolese people. Wishful thinking? Most likely it is, but what other alternative is there? The country's extraordinary wealth in natural resources is the main reason for the immense corruption, the extermination of entire villages, the …
The Limits Of International Humanitarian Law, Melissa Eli
The Limits Of International Humanitarian Law, Melissa Eli
Human Rights & Human Welfare
The goal of international humanitarian law is to humanize war in an effort to minimize human suffering and the long-term negative consequences of war. However, despite the adoption by most countries of the Geneva Conventions and other relevant agreements, crimes of war occur in every conflict around the world on a regular basis. Additionally, as the form of warfare changes, so does the implementation and consequences of various war crimes. Genocide, systematic rape, and the use of child soldiers are three of the most significant war crimes facing sub-Saharan Africa today. Each has consequences so severe that specific international laws …
Would Iraqi Refugees Please Disappear, Richard A. Falk
Would Iraqi Refugees Please Disappear, Richard A. Falk
Human Rights & Human Welfare
I am grateful to Joseph Huff-Hannon for drawing our attention vividly and movingly to the plight of Iraqi refugees, its magnitude and cruelty. There are more than two million Iraqi refugees, with an estimated 50,000 per month added to the total. Many are languishing in terrible conditions in such neighboring countries as Syria and Jordan. These states, neither of which are notable as places of refuge, lack the capabilities for humane treatment even if their governments were altruistically inclined. Many Iraqis cannot even find such refuge, and remain hapless nomads in search of a sanctuary country. The U.S. refusal to …
Wars Against Civilians Are Unjust Wars, Richard A. Falk
Wars Against Civilians Are Unjust Wars, Richard A. Falk
Human Rights & Human Welfare
For those of us old enough to recall the anti-war testimony of Vietnam vets during the early 1970s, reading the chilling report by Hedges and Al-Arian on the attitudes of Iraq war vets is shocking, and yet not surprising. It is shocking because of the eyewitness confirmation of cruelty and lethal brutality on a regular basis in the interactions between the coalition army of occupation and Iraqi civilian society. Sadly, it is not shocking because of the nature of the violent resistance to occupation being encountered by American forces in Iraq, giving rise to a Vietnam-style mentality of counterinsurgency in …
Armed Conflict, Health And Human Rights, Alex Deraney, Hafsteinn Hafsteinsson
Armed Conflict, Health And Human Rights, Alex Deraney, Hafsteinn Hafsteinsson
Human Rights & Human Welfare
This section highlights resources with information on health concerns that arise from armed conflict. It examines human rights violations as derived from health issues and the humanitarian efforts to alleviate them. The vast majority of available literature approaches conflict-related healthcare shortfalls in terms of intervention. Literature dealing with armed conflict and health as it applies to human rights is much harder to come by, which indicates the need for additional emphasis in this area.