Rules of war in Islam

Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been
wronged... Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly only because they said,
'Our Lord is God' -- And if God did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely
have been pulled down temples and churches and synagogues and mosques... (22:40-41).

Thus, the permission -- not commandment -- to fight is defensive. And that fighting protects
temples, churches, synagogues, and mosques -- which is to say, universal religious freedom.

While critics and extremist groups both love to cite Quranic excerpts like "kill them where ye
find them," they ignore that such verses clearly refer to treatment of those who would violently
persecute Christians, Jews, or any person because of his faith. Indeed, Muhammad commanded
the following uncompromising rules of war:

O people! I charge you with ten rules; learn them well... for your guidance in the battlefield! Do
not commit treachery, or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither
kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire,
especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food. You are
likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone.

International Committee of the Red Cross , (ICRC), French Comité International de la Croix-
Rouge, international nongovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, that
seeks to aid victims of war and to ensure the observance of humanitarian law by all parties in
conflict. The work of the ICRC in both World Wars was recognized by the Nobel Prize for Peace
in both 1917 and 1944. It shared another Nobel Peace Prize with the League of Red Cross
Societies in 1963, the year of the 100th anniversary of the ICRC’s founding.
  Hea
dquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva

The International Committee of the Red Cross was formed in response to the experiences of its
founder, Jean-Henri Dunant, at the Battle of Solferino in 1859. Dunant witnessed thousands of
wounded soldiers left to die for lack of adequate medical services. Soliciting help from
neighbouring civilians, Dunant organized care for the soldiers. In 1862 he published an account
of the situation at Solferino; by 1863 he had garnered so much support that the Geneva Society
for Public Welfare helped found the International Committee for the Relief of the Wounded. In
1875 this organization became the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The ICRC is now one component of a large network including national Red Cross and Red
Crescent societies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
(The Red Crescent was adopted in lieu of the Red Cross in Muslim countries.)

The governing body of the ICRC is the Committee, consisting of no more than 25 members. All
the members are Swiss, in part due to the origins of the Red Cross in Geneva but also to establish
neutrality so any countries in need can receive aid. The Committee meets in assembly 10 times
each year to ensure that the ICRC fulfills its duties as the promoter of international humanitarian
law and as the guardian of the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross: “humanity, impartiality,
neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.”

History of the ICRC

Since its creation in 1863, the ICRC's sole objective has been to ensure protection and assistance
for victims of armed conflict and strife. It does so through its direct action around the world, as
well as by encouraging the development of international humanitarian law (IHL) and promoting
respect for it by governments and all weapon bearers. Its story is about the development of
humanitarian action, the Geneva Conventions and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The founding

What was to become the International Committee of the Red Cross met for the first time in
February 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland. Among its five members was a local man named Henry
Dunant who, the year before, had published a crusading book (A Souvenir of Solferino) calling
for improved care for wounded soldiers in wartime.

By the end of the year the committee had brought together government representatives to agree
on Dunant's proposal for national relief societies, to help military medical services. And in
August 1864 it persuaded governments to adopt the first Geneva Convention. This treaty obliged
armies to care for wounded soldiers, whatever side they were on, and introduced a unified
emblem for the medical services: a red cross on a white background.

The ICRC's primary role was a coordinating one. But it gradually became more involved in field
operations, as the need for a neutral intermediary between belligerents became apparent. Over
the following 50 years, the ICRC expanded its work while national societies were established
(the first in the German State of Württemberg in November 1863) and the Geneva Convention
was adapted to include warfare at sea.

First World War, 1914-18

At the outbreak of the First World War, based on experience in other conflicts, the ICRC opened
a Central Prisoners of War Agency in Geneva, to restore links between captured soldiers and
their families.

It continued to innovate: its visits to prisoners of war grew during this period and it intervened over the
use of arms that caused extreme suffering – in 1918 it called on belligerents to renounce the use of
mustard gas.

(Mustard Gas is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS POISON GAS and contact with the liquid or exposure to
high vapor concentrations can cause severe eye burns and permanent eye damage. *Mustard Gas can
cause severe skin burns and blisters. Breathing Mustard Gas can irritate the lungs causing coughing
and/or shortness of breath).

That same year it visited political prisoners for the first time, in Hungary.

The national societies themselves undertook an unprecedented mobilization that saw volunteers
running ambulance services on the battlefield and caring for the wounded in hospitals. For the
Red Cross in many countries, it was their finest hour.
1918-1939

After the war, many national societies felt that, with the coming of peace and hopes for a new
world order, the role of the Red Cross had to change. In 1919, they founded the League of Red
Cross Societies, intended as the future coordinating and support body for the Movement.

The ICRC persuaded governments to adopt a new Geneva Convention in 1929 to provide greater
protection for prisoners of war. But despite the obvious broader threats posed by modern
warfare, it was unable to have them agree on new laws to protect civilians in time to prevent the
atrocities of World War II.

Second World War, 1939-45

The Second World War saw a huge expansion of activities as the organization tried to work to
assist and protect victims on all sides. The ICRC and the League worked together to ship relief
supplies across the globe, reaching both prisoners of war and civilians. ICRC delegates visited
POWs around the world and helped exchange millions of Red Cross Messages between family
members. For years after the war, the ICRC dealt with requests for news about missing loved
ones.

Since 1945

Since 1945 the ICRC has continued to urge governments to strengthen international
humanitarian law – and to respect it. It has sought to deal with the humanitarian consequences of
the conflicts that have marked the second half of the 20th century – starting with Israel and
Palestine in 1948.

In 1949, at the ICRC's initiative, states agreed on the revision of the existing three Geneva
Conventions (covering wounded and sick on the battlefield, victims of war at sea, prisoners of
war) and the addition of a fourth: to protect civilians living under enemy control. The
Conventions provide the ICRC's main mandate in situations of armed conflict.

And in 1977, two Protocols to the Conventions were adopted, the first applicable to international
armed conflicts, the second to internal ones – a major breakthrough. The Protocols also laid
down rules concerning the conduct of hostilities.
The Geneva Conventions
Henri Dunant, in full Jean-Henri Dunant (born May 8, 1828, Geneva, Switzerland—died
October 30, 1910, Heiden), Swiss humanitarian, founder of the Red Cross (now Red Cross and
Red Crescent) and the World’s Young Men’s Christian Association. He was co-winner (with
Frédéric Passy) of the first Nobel Prize for Peace in 1901.

An eyewitness of the Battle of Solferino (June 24, 1859), which resulted in nearly 40,000
casualties, Dunant organized emergency aid services for the Austrian and French wounded. In
Un Souvenir de Solférino (1862; A Memory of Solferino), he proposed the formation in all
countries of voluntary relief societies for the prevention and alleviation of suffering in war and
peacetime, without distinction of race or creed; he also proposed an international agreement
covering the war wounded. In 1863 he founded the International Committee for the Relief of the
Wounded (now International Committee of the Red Cross), and the following year the first
national societies and the first Geneva Convention came into being.

Having gone bankrupt because he neglected his business affairs, Dunant left Geneva in 1867 and
spent most of the rest of his life in poverty and obscurity. He continued to promote interest in the
treatment of prisoners of war, the abolition of slavery, international arbitration, disarmament, and
the establishment of a Jewish homeland. After he was “rediscovered” by a journalist in Heiden,
Switzerland, in 1895, Dunant received many honours and annuities.
Henri Dunant
Swiss humanitarian

Geneva Conventions
1864–1977

Geneva Conventions, a series of international treaties concluded in Geneva between 1864 and
1949 for the purpose of ameliorating the effects of war on soldiers and civilians. Two additional
protocols to the 1949 agreement were approved in 1977.

The development of the Geneva Conventions was closely associated with the Red Cross, whose
founder, Henri Dunant, initiated international negotiations that produced the Convention for the
Amelioration (betterment/ improvement) of the Wounded in Time of War in 1864. This
convention provided for:

(1) the immunity from capture and destruction of all establishments for the treatment of wounded
and sick soldiers and their personnel,

(2) the impartial reception and treatment of all combatants,(soldiers)

(3) the protection of civilians providing aid to the wounded, and

(4) the recognition of the Red Cross symbol as a means of identifying persons and equipment
covered by the agreement.

The 1864 convention was ratified within three years by all the major European powers as well as
by many other states. It was amended and extended by the second Geneva Convention in 1906,
and its provisions were applied to maritime warfare through the Hague conventions of 1899 and
1907. The third Geneva Convention, the Convention Relating to the Treatment of Prisoners of
War (1929), required that belligerents treat prisoners of war humanely, furnish information about
them, and permit official visits to prison camps by representatives of neutral states.

Because some belligerents in World War II had abused the principles contained in earlier
conventions, an International Red Cross conference in Stockholm in 1948 extended and codified
the existing provisions. The conference developed four conventions, which were approved in
Geneva on August 12, 1949:

(1) The Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed
Forces in the Field,

(2) The Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and
Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea,

(3) The Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and

(4) The Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

The first two conventions elaborated on the principle that the sick and wounded have neutral
status.

The prisoner-of-war convention further developed the 1929 convention by requiring humane
treatment, adequate feeding, and the delivery of relief supplies and by forbidding pressure on
prisoners to supply more than a minimum of information.

The fourth convention contained little that had not been established in international law before
World War II. Although the convention was not original, the disregard of humanitarian
principles during the war made the restatement of its principles particularly important and timely.
The convention forbade inter alia the deportation of individuals or groups, the taking of hostages,
torture, collective punishment, offenses that constitute “outrages upon personal dignity,” the
imposition of judicial sentences (including executions) without due-process guarantees, and
discriminatory treatment on the basis of race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs.

In the decades following World War II, the large number of anticolonial and insurrectionary
wars threatened to render the Geneva Conventions obsolete. After four years of Red Cross-
sponsored negotiations, two additional protocols to the 1949 conventions, covering both
combatants and civilians, were approved in 1977.

The first, Protocol I, extended protection under the Geneva and Hague conventions to persons
involved in wars of “self-determination,” which were redefined as international conflicts. The
protocol also enabled the establishment of fact-finding commissions in cases of alleged breaches
of the convention.

The second protocol, Protocol II, extended human rights protections to persons involved in
severe civil conflicts, which had not been covered by the 1949 accords. It specifically prohibited
collective punishment, torture, the taking of hostages, acts of terrorism, slavery, and “outrages on
the personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced
prostitution and any form of indecent assault.

More than 180 states have become parties to the 1949 conventions. Approximately 150 states are
party to Protocol I; more than 145 states are party to Protocol II, though the United States is not.
In addition, more than 50 states have made declarations accepting the competence of
international fact-finding commissions to investigate allegations of grave breaches or other
serious violations of the conventions or of Protocol I.

The importance of the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols was reflected in the
establishment of war-crimes tribunals for Yugoslavia (1993) and Rwanda (1994) and by the
Rome Statute (1998), which created an International Criminal Court.

Convention I: This Convention protects wounded and infirm soldiers and medical personnel,
who are not taking active part in hostility against a Party, ensuring humane treatment without
adverse distinctions founded on race, color, sex, religion or faith, birth or wealth, etc.  To that
end, the Convention prohibits execution without judgment, torture, and assaults upon personal
dignity (Article 3). It also grants them the right to proper medical treatment and care.

Convention II: This agreement extended the protections mentioned in the first Convention to
shipwrecked soldiers and other naval forces, including special protections afforded to hospital
ships.
Convention III: One of the treaties created during the 1949 Convention, this defined what a
Prisoner of War was, and accorded them proper and humane treatment as specified by the first
Convention. Specifically, it required POWs to give only their name, rank, and serial number to
their captors. Nations party to the Convention may not use torture to extract information from
POWs.

Convention IV: Under this Convention, civilians are afforded the protections from inhumane
treatment and attack afforded in the first Convention to sick and wounded soldiers. Furthermore,
additional regulations regarding the treatment of civilians were introduced. Specifically, it
prohibits attacks on civilian hospitals, medical transports, etc. It also specifies the right of
internees, and those who commit acts of sabotage. Finally, it discusses how occupiers are to treat
an occupied populace.

Protocol I: In this additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, the signing Nations agreed to
further restrictions on the treatment of "protected persons" according to the original Conventions.
Furthermore, clarification of the terms used in the Conventions was introduced. Finally, new
rules regarding the treatment of the deceased, cultural artifacts, and dangerous targets (such as
dams and nuclear installations) were produced.

Protocol II: In this Protocol, the fundamentals of "humane treatment" were further clarified.
Additionally, the rights of interned (detained) persons were specifically enumerated, providing
protections for those charged with crimes during wartime. It also identified new protections and
rights of civilian populations.

 The United States has ratified the four Conventions of 1949, but has not ratified the two
additional Protocols of 1977.
 Disputes arising under the Conventions or the Protocols additional to them are settled by courts
of the member nations (Article 49 of Convention I) or by international tribunals.
 The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has a special role given by the
Geneva Conventions, whereby it handles, and is granted access to, the wounded, sick, and
POWs.

Article 3, Commonly Applied to All Four Protocols of the General Conventions.

The Article 3 of Geneva Conventions covered, for the first time, situations of non-international
armed conflicts, types of which vary greatly.  They include traditional civil wars or internal
armed conflicts that spill over into other States (countries), as well as internal conflicts in which
third-party States or multinational forces intervene alongside the government. 

Common Article 3 functions like a mini-Convention within the larger [Geneva) Convention
itself, and establishes fundamental rules from which no derogation is permitted, containing the
essential rules of the Geneva Convention in a condensed format, and making them applicable to
non-international conflicts.
   It requires humane treatment for all persons in enemy hands, without any adverse distinction.
It specifically prohibits murder, mutilation, torture, cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment,
the taking of hostages and unfair trial.
  It requires that the wounded, sick and shipwrecked be collected and cared for.
  It grants the ICRC the right to offer its services to the parties to the conflict.
  It calls on the parties to the conflict to bring all or parts of the Geneva Conventions into force
through so-called special agreements.
  It recognizes that the application of these rules does not affect the legal status of the parties to
the conflict.
  Given that most armed conflicts today are non-international, applying Common Article 3 is of
the utmost importance. Its full respect is required. 

Applicability of the Geneva Conventions

 The Conventions apply to all cases of declared war between signatory nations. This is the
original sense of applicability, which predates the 1949 version.
 The Conventions apply to all cases of armed conflict between two or more signatory nations,
even in the absence of a declaration of war. This language was added in 1949 to accommodate
situations that have all the characteristics of war without the existence of a formal declaration
of war, such as a police action.
 The Conventions apply to a signatory nation even if the opposing nation is not a signatory, but
only if the opposing nation "accepts and applies the provisions" of the Conventions.

Enforcement of the Geneva Conventions

Geneva Convention provides for universal jurisdiction, as opposed to a more traditional (and
limited) territorial jurisdiction that was designed to respect the sovereignty of States over their
citizens.  The doctrine of universal jurisdiction is based on the notion that some crimes, such as
genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, and war crimes are of such exceptional gravity, that
they affect the fundamental interests of the international community as a whole, thus rendering
the convicts or accused of such crimes to the jurisdiction of all signatory states, regardless of
their nationality or territoriality of their crime.

Every State bound by the treaties is under the legal obligation to search for and prosecute those
in their territory suspected of having committed grave breaches, irrespective of the nationality of
the suspect or victim or the place where the act was allegedly committed. The State may hand the
suspect over to another State or an international tribunal for trial. Where domestic law does not
allow for the exercise of universal jurisdiction, a State must introduce the necessary domestic
legislative provisions before it can do so, and must actually exercise the jurisdiction, unless it
hands over the suspect to another country or international tribunal.