Another war?!
Unfortunately, last month we didn’t escape the onset of another war which is ‘consuming all the oxygen’ in the media.
I thought last year was bad enough with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a war which is still on-going. Now we have another war, the Israel – Hamas, which is also still on-going. It just seems like an endless stream of wars. This is not good.
I decided to give myself a break, by not watching any news channels because I could not handle the images of death and destruction. At least that decision has helped a bit.
Last year, at the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was mentioned in the news that the use of cluster munitions was prohibited. Now, this had me wondering if war was/is permissible to the extent that, the types of ammunition which can be used are also specified.
As usual, I decided to find out a bit more about war, weapons of war etc. and whether war is permissible.
Let me start with the definition of war (Wikipedia).
‘War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction and mortality, using regular or irregular military forces.’
Solely on the basis of its definition, war should not be permissible. The loss of innocent civilian lives, destruction of buildings, displacement of human beings, injuries sustained by people etc. should be enough grounds to say that war should not be allowed.
The United Nations charter 1945, Article 2(4) states that war is unlawful.
Since the inception of the United Nations (UN), war has not been accepted as the choice of conflict resolution. The UN’s purpose was to maintain peace and security in the world and 50 countries were signatories to the charter.
The UN was established after World War II to ensure that there is international peace and security.
It’s predecessor, the League of Nations had been established in 1919, after World War I, under the ‘Treaty of Versailles’ with the same purpose. However, because it had failed to prevent World War II from occurring, that organization was dissolved and we now have the UN, which is taking up the mantle of ensuring world peace.
And yet we still have a string of wars occurring?!
I will save any analysis on why this might be happening for another blog post, so that I don’t digress.
The main bodies of the United Nations are the General Assembly made up of all member nations and the Security Council.
The U.N. Security Council consists of the 5 successful countries of World War II, who are also known as “The Big Five.” These are United States of America, United Kingdom, France, China and USSR (now Russia). In addition to these countries, there are 10 other countries elected by the General Assembly that serve a 2-year term.
In spite of this, wars still occur, and some are still on-going?!
Could it be a case of who ‘polices the policeman?’
I mentioned earlier that I will try not to digress, so let me stick to the subject of this blog, which is whether ‘war is permissible.’
There is another dimension to the issue of war, and this relates to the fact that there are laws which govern the activities of a war, when unfortunately, a war does begin.
The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) which is also referred to as the laws of armed conflict regulates the conduct of a war. It aims to limit the effects of an armed conflict, including those on innocent civilians.
It was interesting to find out that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the guardian of the IHL.
The link is as follows:
"War & Law | International Committee of the Red Cross" https://www.icrc.org/en/war-and-law%E2%80%8B
The types of weapons which are allowed and those which are not allowed to be used in a war are also stated in the IHL. This therefore explains why it was stated in the media that, cluster ammunitions were not allowed to be used, in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The link is as follows:
"Use of weapons | International Committee of the Red Cross" https://www.icrc.org/en/war-and-law/weapons
In conclusion, war is not permissible, since the United Nations charter of 1945, Article 2 (4) states this succinctly.
However, in the event that a war ensues, possibly as a result of self-defense (per Article 51, UN charter), or for any other reason, then the IHL sets out the laws to be followed.
It would therefore appear that, it is the enforcement of the non-permissibility of war, which remains a challenge in sustaining world peace.
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