Attachment 2: Our Right
As South Africa is a co-signer to the Treaties and Protocols of the Geneva Convention, we, the people of South Africa, therefore have the right to call upon the implementation of the agreements as set out therein to apply to us.
We are calling upon our rights:
* as specified in the Treaties and Protocols of the Geneva Convention with reference to the International Criminal Court, and discussed in Section A of this document;
* as specified by the Geneva Convention Agreement against Torture on February 4, 1985, which was open for signatories at United Nations Headquarters in New York, and discussed in Section B of this document; and
* as specified in the Constitution of South Africa dated 1994, as discussed in Section C of this document.
Although warfare has changed dramatically since the Geneva Conventions of 1949, they are still considered the cornerstone of contemporary International Humanitarian Law. They protect combatants who find themselves hors de combat, and they protect civilians caught up in the zone of war. These treaties came into play for all recent international armed conflicts, including the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion of Chechnya (1994–present), and the 2008 War in Georgia.
Modern warfare continues to evolve, and the lines between combatants and civilians have blurred (for instance, the Sri Lankan Civil War, the Sudanese Civil War, and the Colombian Armed Conflict). Common Article 3 deals with these situations, supplemented by Protocol II (1977). These set out minimum legal standards that must be followed for internal conflicts. International tribunals, particularly the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, have helped to clarify international law in this area. In the 1999 Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic judgement, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ruled that grave breaches apply not only to international conflicts, but also to internal armed conflict. Further, those provisions are considered customary international law, allowing war crimes prosecution by the United Nations and its International Court of Justice over groups that have signed and have not signed the Geneva Conventions.
We are calling upon our rights:
* as specified in the Treaties and Protocols of the Geneva Convention with reference to the International Criminal Court, and discussed in Section A of this document;
* as specified by the Geneva Convention Agreement against Torture on February 4, 1985, which was open for signatories at United Nations Headquarters in New York, and discussed in Section B of this document; and
* as specified in the Constitution of South Africa dated 1994, as discussed in Section C of this document.
Although warfare has changed dramatically since the Geneva Conventions of 1949, they are still considered the cornerstone of contemporary International Humanitarian Law. They protect combatants who find themselves hors de combat, and they protect civilians caught up in the zone of war. These treaties came into play for all recent international armed conflicts, including the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion of Chechnya (1994–present), and the 2008 War in Georgia.
Modern warfare continues to evolve, and the lines between combatants and civilians have blurred (for instance, the Sri Lankan Civil War, the Sudanese Civil War, and the Colombian Armed Conflict). Common Article 3 deals with these situations, supplemented by Protocol II (1977). These set out minimum legal standards that must be followed for internal conflicts. International tribunals, particularly the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, have helped to clarify international law in this area. In the 1999 Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic judgement, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ruled that grave breaches apply not only to international conflicts, but also to internal armed conflict. Further, those provisions are considered customary international law, allowing war crimes prosecution by the United Nations and its International Court of Justice over groups that have signed and have not signed the Geneva Conventions.
Attachment 2: Index extract from Bundle 1
Attachment 2: Document, extract from Bundle 1
attachment_2.__our_right.docx | |
File Size: | 62 kb |
File Type: | docx |