The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict
The 2011-started Syrian conflict has become among the most extensive humanitarian disasters in current times. The current study investigates how International Humanitarian Law protects medical staff and population groups throughout the Syrian conflict which constitutes a non-international armed conflict (NIAC). Since the legal foundation known as Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols came into effect neither government forces nor rebel parties playing in Syria have prevented IHL violations resulting in major incidents targeting medical facilities and chemical weapons deployment and attacks on civilians. The paper analyzes both the available legal safeguards from IHL while exploring the difficulties organizations face in enforcing those protections across multiple conflicting parties and their collaborations with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. This analysis reveals restrictions of international justice organizations such as the International Criminal Court because of political roadblocks paired with jurisdictional constraints when assisting IHL violations.
-
International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Syrian Conflict, Medical Personnel Protection, Civilian Protection, Geneva Conventions, Accountability Mechanisms, Non-State Actors
-
(1) Mehnaz Begum
Lecturer, Department of Sharia and Law, Islamia College Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Nouman Ijaz
Independent Researcher & Advocate, Lower Court, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Muhammad Umair
Research Assistant, Global Policy & Research Institute (GloPRI), Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
-
Albarry, H. (2022). The protection of civilians in Northwest Syria: How is the responsibility to protect reflected in the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of non-state armed groups? (Master's thesis, Hasan Kalyoncu Üniversitesi). https://openaccess.hku.edu.tr/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.11782/3659/Albarry%2C%20Halil.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- Ozgul, B. A. (2019). Leading protests in the digital age. In Springer eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25450-6
- Berkowitz, H., Crowder, L. B., & Brooks, C. M. (2020). Organizational perspectives on sustainable ocean governance: A multi-stakeholder, meta-organization model of collective action. Marine Policy, 118, 104026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104026
- Bradley, M. (2020). From armed conflict to urban violence: transformations in the International Committee of the Red Cross, international humanitarianism, and the laws of war. European Journal of International Relations, 26(4), 1061-1083. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066120908637
- Chalisey, K. C. (2025). Geneva Conventions at 75: Alleviating Human Suffering in Armed Conflicts. NCWA Annual Journal, 56(1), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.3126/ncwaj.v56i1.76196
- Elnakib, S., Elaraby, S., Othman, F., BaSaleem, H., Abdulghani AlShawafi, N. A., Saleh Al-Gawfi, I. A., Shafique, F., Al-Kubati, E., Rafique, N., & Tappis, H. (2021). Providing care under extreme adversity: The impact of the Yemen conflict on the personal and professional lives of health workers. Social science & medicine (1982), 272, 113751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113751
- Farhat, S. A., Nurdin, R., & Basir, S. B. (2022). Attacks Against Civilian Objects: An Analysis Under International Humanitarian Law. Hasanuddin Law Review, 8(1), 60-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.20956/halrev.v8i1.3548
- Folger, J. P., Poole, M. S., & Stutman, R. K. (2021). Working through conflict: Strategies for relationships, groups, and organizations. Routledge.
- Gisel, L., Rodenhäuser, T., & Dörmann, K. (2020). Twenty years on: International humanitarian law and the protection of civilians against the effects of cyber operations during armed conflicts. International Review of the Red Cross, 102(913), 287-334. https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/twenty-years-international-humanitarian-law-and-protection-civilians-against-effects-cyber-913
- Gravili, R. (2020). Implementation of the Comprehensive Approach. Leadership factors that influence the respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (Doctoral dissertation, Universidad DE Valencia). https://hdl.handle.net/10550/77123
- Hamidah, F. N., & Muhammadin, F. M. (2024). Improving Compliance towards International Humanitarian Law: Filling in the Gaps? Al Daulah Jurnal Hukum Pidana Dan Ketatanegaraan, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.24252/al-daulah.v13i1.48847
- Hashimy, S. Q. (2023). Chronicle Causes for the failure of the Afghan Government: Past imperfect and Future tense of Afghanistan. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4352525
- Nuzov, I. (2020). Post-conflict justice: Extending international criminal responsibility to non-State entities. International Humanitarian Law and Non-State Actors: Debates, Law and Practice, 229-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-339-9_9
- Ogunnowo, O. E., & Chidozie, F. (2020). International law and humanitarian intervention in the Syrian Civil War: the role of the United States. SAGE Open, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020919533
- Olu, O. R., & Eniola, O. P. (2023). The paradox in the treatment of prisoners of war. Ajayi Crowther University Law Journal, 5(1).
- Omar A. (2020). Understanding and Preventing Attacks on Health Facilities During Armed Conflict in Syria. Risk management and healthcare policy, 13, 191–203. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S237256
- Pedrazzi, M. (2024). Strengthening IHL compliance: The conduct of hostilities, the protection of essential services and humanitarian assistance in contemporary armed conflict. https://air.unimi.it/handle/2434/1098028
- Sadique, M. Z., & Naskar, A. (2022). Protection of women in armed conflict by ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross). Indian Journal of Integrated Research in Law, 2, 1. https://ijirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/PROTECTION-OF-WOMEN-IN-ARMED-CONFLICT-BY-ICRC-INTERNATIONAL-COMMITTEE-OF-RED-CROSS.pdf
- Sarkin, J. J. (2021). The conflict in Syria and the failure of international law to protect people globally: Mass atrocities, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions. Routledge.
- Sarkin, J. J., & Capazorio, R. C. (2022). The Syrian Conflict as a Test Case for the Limits of the International Community and International Law: Global Politics and State Sovereignty Versus Human Rights Protection. Human Rights Quarterly, 44(3), 476-513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0024
- Sosnina, O., Mykytiv, O., Mykytiv, H., Kolenichenko, T., & Holovach, A. (2021). International aspects of the protection of victims’ rights in the conditions of armed conflict in Ukraine. Cuestiones Políticas, 39(71), 433–457. https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.3971.24
- Thomas, T. (2020). Russian lessons learned in Syria. MITRE Center for Technology and National Security, June, 1-27. https://www.mitre.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/prs-19-3483-russian-lessons-learned-in-syria.pdf
Cite this article
-
APA : Begum, M., Ijaz, N., & Umair, M. (2024). The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict. Global Legal Studies Review, IX(III), 15-34. https://doi.org/10.31703/glsr.2024(IX-III).02
-
CHICAGO : Begum, Mehnaz, Nouman Ijaz, and Muhammad Umair. 2024. "The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict." Global Legal Studies Review, IX (III): 15-34 doi: 10.31703/glsr.2024(IX-III).02
-
HARVARD : BEGUM, M., IJAZ, N. & UMAIR, M. 2024. The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict. Global Legal Studies Review, IX, 15-34.
-
MHRA : Begum, Mehnaz, Nouman Ijaz, and Muhammad Umair. 2024. "The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict." Global Legal Studies Review, IX: 15-34
-
MLA : Begum, Mehnaz, Nouman Ijaz, and Muhammad Umair. "The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict." Global Legal Studies Review, IX.III (2024): 15-34 Print.
-
OXFORD : Begum, Mehnaz, Ijaz, Nouman, and Umair, Muhammad (2024), "The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict", Global Legal Studies Review, IX (III), 15-34
-
TURABIAN : Begum, Mehnaz, Nouman Ijaz, and Muhammad Umair. "The Role of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Protecting Medical Personnel and Civilians in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Focusing on the Syrian Conflict." Global Legal Studies Review IX, no. III (2024): 15-34. https://doi.org/10.31703/glsr.2024(IX-III).02