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Guerrilla Warfare and Humanitarian Law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
Extract
The Henry Dunant Institute is currently publishing a book in French only under the title Guérilla et droit humanitaire in its “Collection scientifique.” The author is Mr. Michel Veuthey, an ICRC collaborator, who, since 1967, has taken part in the work of reaffirmation and development of humanitarian law. Mr. J. Pictet, Vice-President of the ICRC, associate professor at the University of Geneva and director of the Institut Henry Dunant, introduces the book with the following preface:
At last we have a complete work on guerrilla warfare, thus fulfilling a real need. Anyone who wishes to study the subject in detail should have a copy of this book.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- International Review of the Red Cross (1961 - 1997) , Volume 16 , Issue 183 , June 1976 , pp. 277 - 294
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1976
References
page 277 note 1 Excerpts given here have been translated by the ICRC.
page 277 note 2 This book, costing Sw. Frs. 54.—, may be obtained at any bookshop or from the Henry Dunant Institute, 114, rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
page 280 note 1 This does not mean, however, that respect fot humanitarian norms and principles may be subordinated to questions of political expediency: indeed, this would be a very bad policy, a short-term view rather than the long-term outlook implicit in legal obligations, especially those of a humanitarian character.
page 280 note 2 See below, IX. Instruments and factors of application, and, in particular, 3. Military effectiveness.
page 281 note 1 Pictet, , Principles of International Humanitarian Law, pp. 25–26.Google Scholar
page 281 note 2 Baxter, R. R., “Humanitarian Law or Humanitarian Politics? The 1974 Diplomatic Conference on Humanitarian Law”, The Harvard International Law Journal, Vol. 16, No 1, Winter 1975, p. 25.Google Scholar
page 281 note 3 Vellas, P., Droit international et science politique, Paris, 1967, p. 9.Google Scholar
page 281 note 4 See Falk, R. A., in his introduction to the book, The International Law of Civil War, Baltimore, 1971, p. 79 Google Scholar “There is little evidence that governments shape their response to civil-war adversaries by reference to legal rules and procedures but rather shape policy mainly on the basis of calculation of prudence and military necessity.”
page 282 note 1 Taylor, Telford, Nuremberg and Vietnam, New York, 1970, p. 173 Google Scholar reiterates the opinion of Colonel William C. Corson ( The Changing Nature of War, 1970 Google Scholar) who writes: “There are no agreed ‘rules of land warfare’ between antagonists (…) when one (..) is a regular force (..) the other includes old men, women and children as well as guerilla troops (…) And it is doubtful such rules can even be written.”
See also Hoffmann, Stanley, “International Law and the Control of Force”, in The Relevance of International Law, Essays in Honor of Leo Gross, Cambridge, Mass., 1968, p. 43 Google Scholar: “Conventional wars are to a large extent symmetrical; unconventional war is not. It is an absolute war in the sense of ends—a fact that always condemns regulation to fragility.”
page 282 note 2 Draper, G. I. A. D., “International Law and Armed Conflicts”, International Affairs, 01 1972 (Vol. 48, No. 1), pp. 46ff CrossRefGoogle Scholar, reviews the system of the Protecting Power (pp. 46–49), reprisals (pp. 49–51) penal procedures (pp. 51–54), training and instruction (pp. 54–58) to conclude (pp. 58–59): “No one mechanism of ensuring the regular observance of international humanitarian law is likely to succeed unaided.”
page 282 note 3 For a good summary of the implementation procedures provided for by the Geneva Conventions, see in particular Volume II (“Measures intended to reinforce the implementation of the existing law”) presented by the ICRC at the first session of the Conference of Government Experts (Geneva, 1971), and also Siordet, F., The Geneva Conventions of 1949. The Question of Scrutiny, Geneva 1952, 82 ppGoogle Scholar. For a more general treatment, see Berber, F., Lehrbuch des Völkerrechts. Volume II, Kriegsrecht, Munich 1969, pp. 228 ff, Chapter 10Google Scholar, “Die Garantien des Kriegsrechts”.
page 282 note 4 The Geneva Conventions do not deal with reciprocity, except in the third paragraph of article 2 (common to each Convention), by providing for the non-renunciation of rights (art. 7 of the First, Second and Third Conventions; art. 8 of the Fourth Convention) and by prohibiting reprisals (art. 46 of the First Convention, 47 of the Second Convention, 13 of the Third Convention, 33 of the Fourth Convention). See in particular on this subject: Pictet, , Commentary I, p. 25 Google Scholar, Pictet, , Red Cross Principles, p. 88 Google Scholar. Pinto, R. “Les règies du droit international concernant la guerre civile”, Recueil des Cours, vol. I, 1965, p. 530 Google Scholar. Scholsem, J. C. “L'application des Conventions de Genève”, Annales de droit international médical, 12 1968, No. 18, p. 31 Google Scholar. Schwarzenberger, G., The Frontiers of International Law, London, 1962, p. 267 Google Scholar. See also the appeals made by the ICRC in October 1973 to the parties to the Middle East conflict (published in press releases 1180 dated 28 October and 1182 dated 6 November 1973).
page 282 note 5 Art. 60, par. 5. See Reuter, P., La Convention de Vienne sur le droit des traités, Paris 1970, p. 47.Google Scholar
page 283 note 1 See also in particular: Berber, , op. cit., pp. 66 and 230 Google Scholar. Frei, , loc. cit., pp. 17–21 Google Scholar; Giraud, , loc. cit., p. 619 Google Scholar; Kunz, , loc. cit., p. 879 Google Scholar; Lauterpacht, H. “The Limits of the Operation of the Law of War”, BYIL, 1953, p. 212 Google Scholar; Pictet, J., Red Cross Principles, Geneva, 1955, p. 89 Google Scholar; Proudhon, P. J., La guerre et la paix, Paris, 1927, p. 265 Google Scholar; Pufendorf, S. de, Le droit de la nature et des gens, Amsterdam 1706, p. 426 Google Scholar (Book III, chap. VI, par. VII); Schelling, T. C., Arms and Influence, New Haven, 1968, pp. 24 and 139 Google Scholar; Stone, J., Legal Controls of International Conflict, London, 1959, p. 353 Google Scholar; Werth, , op. cit., p. 712 Google Scholar; Zorgbibe, C., “La guerre civile”, Annales de la Faculté de droit et des sciences économiques de Clermont, 1969, Vol. 6, pp. 76–77, 162, 169.Google Scholar
page 283 note 2 See above, 5.5 “Reprisals”.
page 283 note 3 See above, 7.2.3 “Interferences (Prisoners).
page 283 note 4 See above 8.2.4. “Interferences” (Civilians).
page 283 note 5 On this problem, see Duff, P., “Prisoners of War in North Vietnam”, Vietnam International, Vol. V, Nos. 1/2, pp. 23–24 Google Scholar; Pinto, R., “Hanoi et la Convention de Geneve”, Le Monde, 28–29 12 1969, p. 5 Google Scholar. In this second article, entitled “Un problème de réciprocité”, Pinto suggests in conclusion: “Les unsne peuvent-ils envisager d'arrêter leurs raids de bombardiers géants sur la totalité du territoire vietnamien; les autres, de renoncer au terrorisme urbain et d'accorder le statut de prisionners de guerre aux pilotes — poursuivis ou non”?
page 283 note 6 ICRC, Reaffirmation, p. 96.Google Scholar
page 283 note 7 ICRC, Conference of Government Experts. Report on the work of the Conference, Geneva, 1971, par. 343, p. 64 Google Scholar (remark made about “freedom fighters”).
page 284 note 1 Ibid., par. 365, p. 76.
page 284 note 2 Huber, M., Principles Tasks, and Problems of the Red Cross In International Law, Geneva 1944, p. 31.Google Scholar
page 284 note 3 See also Harding, I., The Origins and Effectiveness of the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims, Geneva 1969, p. B–2, 19 Google Scholar; Machiavelli, , Le Prince, Paris, 1963, pp. 85–93 Google Scholar, chapter XII (“Combien il y a d'espèces de gens de guerre, et des soldats mercenaires”); Schwarzenberger, G., “From the Laws of War to the Law of Armed Conflict”, Journal of Public Law, 1968, vol. 17, p. 63.Google Scholar
page 284 note 4 See also: Baldwin, , loc. cit., p. 30 Google Scholar (on the “Kommandobefehl”); Buchheim, H. (et al.) Anatomie des SS-Staates, Munich, 1967, vol. II, p. 148 Google Scholar (concerning the “Kommissarbefehl” felt by certain senior German officers in Russia to be an attack on this mutual respect, as was the “Kommandobefehl” by Rommel in Africa); Chaliand, G., Lutte armée en Afrique, Paris, 1967, p. 105 Google Scholar, on the fight between the PAIGC and Portuguese troops in Guinea-Bissau; Fontaine, A., Le Monde of 18 10, 1973, p. 5 Google Scholar (concerning the Middle East conflict); Giraud, E., “Le droit international public et la politique”, Recueil des cours, vol. 110, 1963, p. 788 Google Scholar (“Les relations concernant la guerre”); Montgomery, op. cit., p. 547.
page 284 note 5 Meyrowitz, H., Le principe de l'égalité des belligerants, Paris, 1970 Google Scholar, puts it very well, p. 251:
“Indépendamment de son fondement de justice, la réciprocité constitue le résultat et l'expression permanente d'une vèritè d'expérience: les normes du droit de la guerre n'ont de chance d'être observées que si les sujets des normes ont le même intérêt à s'y soumettre.”
page 285 note 1 CDDH/I/SR.17, p. 14. Commission I, Friday morning, 7 February 1975.
page 285 note 2 See above 2.3. Characteristics of guerrilla warfare; also Millis, W. War and Revolution Today, Santa Barbara, 1965, p. 2:Google Scholar
“The course of military operations is less important than the reactions of public opinion—not only in the local area concerned but in the great, stable areas of the world.”
Hooker, W. S., and Savasten, D. H., “The Geneva Convention of 1949: Application in the Vietnamese conflict”, Virginia Journal of International Law, 1965, Vol. 5, No. 2, p. 264 Google Scholar:
“The power of informed public opinion could be a serious deterrent to the mobilization of popular support for the use of inhumane methods of warfare by national leaders bent on destroying any threat to their power.”
page 285 note 3 Guggenheim, P., “L'organisation de l'opinion publique dans la communauté Internationale”, Annales d'études Internationales, Geneva, 1970, p. 155.Google Scholar
page 285 note 4 See 5.3 (Raids): 5.5 (Reprisals): 5.6 (Terrorism): 5.7 (Torture)
page 285 note 5 Tseu, Lao, Tao Te King, Paris 1973, p. 80, No. 56, first paragraph.Google Scholar
page 285 note 6 Orwell, G., Homage to Catalonia, Harmondsworth, 1966, pp. 228–229.Google Scholar
page 286 note 1 Duverger, M., “L'indifference”, Le Monde, 8 07 1972, pp. 1 and 8.Google Scholar
page 286 note 2 See also Ago, R., La phase finale de l'œuvre de codification du droit international, Geneva, 1968, p. 17 Google Scholar; Berber, , op. cit., p. 230 Google Scholar; Bierzanek, R., “Towards More Respect for Human Rights in Armed Conflicts”, Studies on International Relations, 1973, No. 1, p. 84 Google Scholar; Greenspan, M., The Modern Law of Land Warfare, Berkeley, 1959, p. 11 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Spaight, J. M., War Rights on Land, London, 1911, p. 6.Google Scholar
page 286 note 3 See also Fanon, , op. cit., pp. 38–39 Google Scholar; Hastings, A., in The Times, London, 10 07 1973, p. 1.Google Scholar
page 286 note 4 Fraleigh, , “The Algerian Revolution” in Falk, R. A. (Ed.), The International Law of Civil War, Baltimore, 1971, p. 194.Google Scholar
page 286 note 5 On home-front public opinion, see also Berber, , op. cit., p. 66 Google Scholar; Escarpit, R., “Le regard”, Le Monde, 26 11 1969, p. 1 Google Scholar; Lebjaoui, M., Vérité sur la révolution algérienne, Paris, 1970, p. 82 Google Scholar; Oliveira, H. de A., A Batalha de Certeza, Lisbon, 1966, p. 57 Google Scholar; Sulzberger, C. L., “A New Kind of War”, IHT, 14, 16, 19 05 1969 Google Scholar. On international public opinion, see in particular: Berber, , op. cit., p. 65 Google Scholar; Buchheim, , op. cit., p. 193 Google Scholar; Grosser, A., “Nuremberg en notre temps”, Le Monde, 3–4 10 1971, p. 3 Google Scholar; Harding, , op. cit., p. B 2–18 Google Scholar; Sulzberger, C. L., “The African Vietnam”, IHT, 28 04 1971.Google Scholar
page 286 note 6 See particularly: Baldwin, G. B., “A New Look at the Law of War: Limited War and Field Manual 27–10”, in Military Law Review, 03 1959, p. 10 Google Scholar; Boissier, P., Histoire du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge, Paris, 1963, p. 478 Google Scholar; Giraud, E., “Le respect des Droits de l'homme dans la guerre internationale et dans la guerre civile”, in Revue du droit public et de la science politique en France et à l'étranger, 07–08 1958, p. 635 Google Scholar; Kunz, J. L., “The Laws of War”, in The Changing Law of Nations, pp. 873–874 Google Scholar; Pictet, J., “La restauration nécessaire des lois et coutumes applicables en cas de conflit”, in Revue de la Commission Internationale des juristes. No. 1, 03 1969, p. 41 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Royse, W., in ICRC, La protection des civils centre les bombardements. Consultations juridiques, Geneva, 1930, p. 114 Google Scholar. For guerrilla warfare in particular, see: Loverdo, C. de, Les maquis rouges des Balkans, Paris, 1967, p. 194 Google Scholar; Majumdar, B. N., The Little War, New Delhi, 1967, pp. 167 and 170.Google Scholar
page 286 note 7 See above 8.2 “Treatment of civilians (persons and property) in guerrilla warfare”.
page 286 note 8 See above 7.2 “Treatment of prisoners in guerrilla warfare”.
page 287 note 1 See also: Berber, , op. cit., pp. 230–231 Google Scholar; Ducasse, A., La Guerre des Camisards, Paris, 1970, pp. 100–101 Google Scholar; Farer, T., “The Laws of War 25 Years after Nuremberg” in International Conciliation, No. 583 (05 1971), p. 46 Google Scholar; Reed, J., Insurgent Mexico, New York, 1969, p. 132 Google Scholar; Siotis, J., Le droit de la guerre et les conflits armés d'un caractère international, Paris, 1958, p. 213 Google Scholar; Werth, A., Russia at War, London, 1965, p. 865 Google Scholar, and, for comparison, the affair of the “private air war” of General John D. Lavelle ( Newsweek, 26 06 1972, pp. 7–8 Google Scholar “The Private War of General Lavelle”); IHT, 10 10 1972, p. 6 (“The Lavelle Case”).Google Scholar
page 287 note 2 The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 contain provisions by virtue of which the High Contracting Parties undertake to disseminate as widely as possible, in time of peace and time of war, the text of the Conventions in their respective countries, and in particular to incorporate the study of them in the military and, if possible, civil instruction programmes in such a way that the principles become known to the population as a whole (Articles 47 of the First Convention, 48 of the Second Convention, 127 of the Third Convention, 144 of the Fourth Convention). The Third and Fourth Conventions moreover stipulate that the authorities who assume responsibilities towards protected persons must have a copy of the Conventions and be given special instruction in their provisions. See in this connection de Preux, J., Diffusion des Conventions de Genève de 1949, Geneva, 1955, 32 pGoogle Scholar. Many instructions given to guerrilla movements and their adversaries have been mentioned in Part 3 above. With regard to efforts by both parties to guerrilla warfare to disseminate humanitarian principles, and the special difficulties involved, see particularly Fanon, F., Sociologie d'une révolution, Paris, 1958 p. 5 Google Scholar, on the Algerian FLN, and the Russell Tribunal, Le jugement final, Paris 1968, p. 105 Google Scholar (Statement made by an American soldier in Vietnam).
page 287 note 3 Cf. Frei, , loc. cit., p. 25.Google Scholar
page 287 note 4 Even in guerrilla warfare, it is necessary and possible for both a guerrilla movement and its enemies to penalise violations of humanitarian law. See also Reed, , op. cit., p. 132 Google Scholar, quoting Pancho Villa's policy:
“There is no case on record where he wantonly killed a man. Anyone who did so he promptly executed.”
page 287 note 5 Montesquieu, , De l'esprit des lois Google Scholar, Book XV, Chapter II (in Œuvres complètes, Paris, 1856, p. 202 Google Scholar). See also Buchheim, , op. cit., pp. 164–165 Google Scholar, who writes that it was only in the spring of 1942 that the use of Russian workers for forced labour, to meet the needs of the German war economy, brought about a slow improvement of living conditions for prisoners of war and the cessation of large-scale executions. For earlier historical examples, see Davie, M. R., La guerre dans les sociétés primitives, Paris, 1931, pp. 242, 296–297 Google Scholar, Farrer, , op. cit., p. 112 Google Scholar and Fuller, J. F. C., L'influence de l'armement sur l'histoire, Paris 1948, p. 239, note 35.Google Scholar
page 287 note 6 Fuller, ibid., p. 215. See also Baldwin, , loc. cit., pp. 8–9 Google Scholar. Lemercier—Quelquejay, C., La paix mongole, Paris 1970, p. 26.Google Scholar
page 288 note 1 For example, according to J. F. Chavel on Radio Suisse Romande on Thursday 27 September 1973, at 7.55 p.m., the leading Palestinian resistance organizations are supposed to have taken the political decision in 1972 to carry out no more indiscriminate attacks, one of the reasons being that they did not wich to deprive themselves of economic aid from other Arab countries. This analysis is confirmed by the annoyance of the PLO, as well as of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the major financial backers of the move ments, at the hijacking of an aircraft during the 1973 Algiers Conference of non-aligned countries ( IHT, 10 09 1973, p. 1).Google Scholar
page 288 note 2 For this factor, which is of prime importance in guerrilla warfare since this is concerned with forming or preserving nations, see in particular the following authors: Baldwin, , loc. cit., p. 13 Google Scholar. Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam, In the Name of America, New York, 1968, pp. 11–12 and 26 Google Scholar; Constant, B., De l'esprit de conquête, Neuchâtel, 1942, p. 98 Google Scholar; Erasmus Dulce bellum inexpertis, Brussels, 1953, pp. 25–26 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Escarpit, R., “Balles perdues”, Le Monde, 18 05 1972, p. 1 Google Scholar; Graham, H., and Gurr, T., Violence in America, New York, 1969, pp. 62 and 519 Google Scholar; Hersch, S., “The Investigation of Son My”, The New Yorker, 29 01 1972, p. 71 Google Scholar; Julien, C., Le Monde diplomatique, 01 1973, p. 1 Google Scholar; Christi, Pax, Guerre révolutionnaire et conscience chrétienne, Paris 1963, p. 3 Google Scholar; Servan-Schreiber, J. J., Lieutenant en Algérie, Paris, 1957, p. 244 Google Scholar; Shannon, William V., “US Military under Fire”, IHT, 15 08 1973, p. 6 Google Scholar; Sully, F., Age of the Guerrilla, New York, 1970, pp. 38–39 Google Scholar: Taylor, , op. cit., pp. 40–41 Google Scholar; Toynbee, , op. cit., pp. 57 and 117.Google Scholar
page 288 note 3 For this interdependence between peace and respect for humanitarian law, see Baldwin, , loc. cit., p. 18 Google Scholar; Camus, A., Actuelles III, Paris, 1958, p. 128 Google Scholar; Fontaine, A., “Justice et politique”, Le Monde, 30 12 1970 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Giraud, , loc. cit Google Scholar. Guelle, J., Précis des lois de la guerre sur terre, Paris 1884, p. VI Google Scholar. Huber, M., Das Völkerrecht und der Mensch, Saint-Gall, 1952, p. 54 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kant, E., Projet de paix perpétuelle, Paris 1948, pp. 8–9, art. 6Google Scholar; Lieber, F., Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, Washington 1863 Google Scholar, art. 16, in fine; Lossier, J.-G., La Croix-Rouge et la Paix, Geneva, 1951, p. 23 Google Scholar; Oliveira, , op. cit., p. 65 Google Scholar; Patrnogic, J., “Les droits de l'homme et les conflits armés” in Institut international de droit humanitaire, Les Droits de l'homme, base du droit international humanitaire, Lugano, 1971 p. 156 Google Scholar; Rousseau, C., Droit international public, Paris 1970, p. 334 Google Scholar; Vanderpol, A., La doctrine scolastique du droit de guerre, Paris 1919, p. 91 Google Scholar, quoting Ayala, Lupus, Gentili and Victoria; Zorgbibe, C., “Pour une réaffirmation du droit humanitaire des conflits armés internes”, in Journal du droit international, 1970, No. 3, p. 682.Google Scholar
page 289 note 1 Bindschedler, D., Reconsideration, p. 113 (conclusions).Google Scholar
page 289 note 2 See Huber, M., “Ethos, Internationales”Google Scholar, in Strupp-Schlochauer, , Wönerbuch, I, pp. 444–448.Google Scholar
page 289 note 3 Vidal-Naquet, P., La torture dans la Républlque, Paris 1972, p. 174 Google Scholar, where he challenges “the inexorable evolution of the rules of revolutionary warfare”:
“Nothing in history is ever inevitable: it is always possible for men, even burdened with a repressive task, to show imagination. It is just that the easiest, most elementary and most repetitive reactions are nearly always the most likely”.
page 289 note 4 Bollardière, Général de, Bataille d'Alger, bataille del'homme, Paris, 1972, p. 16 Google Scholar; Lossier, J.-G., Les civilisations et le service du prochain, Paris, 1958 Google Scholar, La Croix-Rouge et la Paix, Geneva, 1951, p. 23 Google Scholar; Christ, Pax!, op. cit., p. 242.Google Scholar
page 289 note 5 Bollardière, , op. cit., p. 20 Google Scholar, writes as follows:
“J'avais aussi compris que cet étranger si proche et si loin de moi, mon ennemi, avait un double visage: tendu de violence et de haine quand il se dressait brandissant ses armes, mysterieusement identique au mien quand il gisait à terre, brisé et pitoyable.”
See also Lossier, J.-G., Solidarité, signification morale de la Croix-Rouge, Neuchâtel, 1948.Google Scholar
page 289 note 6 Camus, A., Actuelles III, p. 24 Google Scholar. See also Fanon, , op. cit., pp. 6–7 Google Scholar on guerrilla warfare and on antiguerrilla warfare; Schlesinger, A., “The Necessary Amorality of Foreign Affairs”, Harper's Magazine, 08 1971, pp. 67–77 Google Scholar, in which the author refutes the title of his study.