Submitted by:

 Zoon Fatima 070

 Saman Fiaz 056
 Ayman Fatima 073
Submitted to:
Ma’am Beata Polok

Humanitarian Laws

LLB4-B

The world is a dangerous place to live;

not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the people who don’t do
anything about it.”
-Albert Einstein.
Contents
What Is Humanitarian Law?....................................................................................................................2
Origin of Humanitarian Law:..................................................................................................................2
International Committee of Red Cross:...................................................................................................3
Geneva Convention:..................................................................................................................................4
Law of Hague:............................................................................................................................................5
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW IN PAKISTAN:...........................................................5
CREATION OF PRIMER:.......................................................................................................................5
Examples of how Pakistan’s Domestic Law is relevant to IHL:............................................................6
PAKISTAN AS A PARTY TO GENEVA CONVENTIONS:................................................................6
The Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions:...........................................................................7
PAKISTAN AS A PARTY TO ICCPR:..................................................................................................7
LAWS IN PAKISTAN:.............................................................................................................................8
PAKISTAN ARMY ACT 1952:................................................................................................................8
PAKISTAN MILITARY LAW 1987:......................................................................................................8
Pakistan Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Ordinance 2000:.......................................9
Armed conflicts in Pakistan:.....................................................................................................................9
Non-International Conflict:......................................................................................................................9
Taliban; an armed conflict in Pakistan:...............................................................................................9
History of Taliban:................................................................................................................................9
Major Attacks in Pakistan:.................................................................................................................10
International Armed Conflict:................................................................................................................10
Kasmir Issue:.......................................................................................................................................10
War of 1947:.........................................................................................................................................10
War of 1965:.........................................................................................................................................11
War of 1999 or Kargil war:................................................................................................................11
Impact of Armed Conflict in Pakistan:..................................................................................................11
Children:..............................................................................................................................................11
Women:................................................................................................................................................11
Displacement:.......................................................................................................................................12
Destruction of Property:.....................................................................................................................12
Mine Ban Policy Complications:............................................................................................................12
References:...............................................................................................................................................13

Research Statement: For over decades we have victimized by the terrors of armed
conflict. On one hand we prohibit it, on other we have laws regulating it. Still, it
does not make a major difference. Humanitarian laws that were developed to
protect innocent victims of wars have been insufficient in doing so.

What Is Humanitarian Law?

Humanitarian Law can be defined as the type of law that lays down rules for the sake of Humans, to limit
the effects of armed conflicts and disputes.

It ensures the Protection of Individuals that are not willing to be a party to the hostilities and cruelty of
warfare along with restricting means and methods of warfare.

International Law includes International Humanitarian Law 1, that governs relations in between the states.
Agreements between the states-Convention and Treaties 2- contain International Laws that accommodates
Practices that the state is bound to follow.

Nonetheless, whether a state uses force is not regulated by the Law of War because it only applies to
armed conflicts. The use of force is governed by a distinct and significant branch of the International Law
set out by the United Nation Charter.

Origin of Humanitarian Law:

IHL is embedded in ruler of ancient civilisation & religions. Warfare was always subjected to certain
principles & conversation.
None the less, its codification begun in the nineteen centuries.

Humanitarian law was originated from the work of Mr. Henry Dunant. In 1859 after the battle of
solferino3, he witnessed how the wounded were left unattended & untreated. Mr. Henry along with the
women of that region arranged assistance for those who were left wounded as the result of that war.
Mr. Henry then published his experience and recommendation:

1
Humanitarian law is also termed as ‘Law of War’ or ‘Law of Armed Conflict’.
2
Convention and Treaties are legally binding agreement between nations.
3
Battle of Solferino was the last engagement of the second war for Italian Independence.
 I. Ever country during peacetime shall have a voluntary relief society to aid the army’s medical
service during the time of the war.
II. Certain basic international principal starter should agree upon, providing legitimate basis to the
safeguard of military hospitality & medical personnel.

It was his recommendation that led to the passing of Geneva Conventions and International committee of
red cross.

States have agreed to follow certain practical rules to strike a balance between the humanitarian concern
& the armed requirement of states. Many states have put in a significant effort to advance and nurture
these rules.

International Committee of Red Cross:

ICRC is an independent, neutral organization that ensures humanitarian protection and provide assistance
for the victims of war and armed violence.

ICRC prevents the suffering of the victims of armed conflict by upholding and strengthening
humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles.

Their aim is the provision of preservation of lives and dignity of the victims of armed conflicts.

 Creation of Red Cross:

A committee of swiss citizens in 1862 in Geneva, founded the Red Cross. A year later in 1863,
sixteen states sent its delegates to Geneva and established Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Red Cross name was formally adopted in 1880.

 Structure of Red Cross:

An assembly governs ICRC. It consists of and Assembly Council and Directorate. Assembly council
is the subsidiary body with certain delegated powers and its currently chaired by President Peter
Maurer and is assisted by Giller Carbonnier whereas Directorate is the executive body of ICRC.

 Tasks of Red Cross:

17th resolution adopted by the 20th conference of the IRC; Vienna Convention are summarized down
below:

 Provision of protection to the victims of armed conflicts.

 Assistance to the victims of natural disasters
 Develop and disseminate of International Human Rights and
 Contribute to the promotion of health and social well-being.

The international conference f Red Cross in Vienna 1965 adopted fundamental principles of movement
that are:
  HUMANITY
 IMPARTIALITY
 NEUTRALITY
 VOLUNTARY SERVICE
 INDEPNDENCE
 UNITY
 UNIVERSALITY

Geneva Convention:
Geneva convention and their additional protocols are international treaties that contain the utmost
significant rules that limits the barbarisms of war.

Geneva Convention can be regarded as the core of International Humanitarian Law. It provides protection
to people who are taking part in the war (aid workers, civilians and medical personnel) and those who can
no longer fight (sick, prisoners of war, wounded and ship wrecked troops).

This convention contains strict rules to deal with “grave breaches” and the ones who commit grave
breaches are sought, tried and extradited regardless of the nationality they have.

 The first Geneva Convention of 1864:

The first GC provided for equal treatment of the injured and wounded despite their allegiances, the right
of civilians to treat all wounded personnel, the emblem of red cross to be paraded and the neutrality of
military medical services.

 Geneva Conventions of 1949:

 The first Geneva convention shields the wounded and sick soldiers on land during the war. It
contains 64 articles and provides protection for the sick and wounded along with medical and
religious personnel, medical transport and medical units. This convention also recognizes the
districts emblem.
 The second Geneva convention shields wounded, sick and ship wrecked military personnel at
sea during war. Maritime warfare of the principles of Geneva convention was adopted and it
replaced The Hague Convention of 1907. It contains 63 articles particularly applicable to war
at sea, for example, provisions of hospital ships.
 Third convention applies to prisoners of war. Prisoners of war convention of 1929 only had
97 articles. Places of captivity and conditions were more subtly defined with regard to the
labor of prisoners of war, their financial resources, acquirement of relief, and the judicial
proceedings.
 The fourth Geneva convention provides protection to civilians, including those who are in
occupied territory.
Conventions adopted before 1949 were only focused with the combatants and not civilians. After the
second world war ended it revealed the disastrous and inhumane consequences because of the absence of
convention for the protection of civilians during wartime. It is composed of 159 articles and has a short
section concerning the general protection of populations.

Additional Protocol 1 Relating to international armed conflicts where armed conflicts in which
people are fighting against colonial domination, alien occupation or racist regime are to be regarded as
international conflicts.

Additional Protocol 2 Relating to non-international armed conflict

In 2005, a third protocol war adopted creating Red Crystal, an additional emblem which has the same
status as Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Law of Hague:
It is a body of law that deals with rules of conduct of hostilities and establish restrictions or prohibitions
of specific means and methods of warfare and thus restrict the choices of means and methods of
conducting war.

Since, they were adopted at the peace conference held in The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907 that’s
why these treaties are known as ‘Hague Conventions’.

INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW IN PAKISTAN:

CREATION OF PRIMER:
The primer on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Pakistan's Domestic Law (PDL) was
documented in 2016 in order to have better understanding regarding International Humanitarian Laws.
The context of this document on IHL is most applicable to the laws related to armed conflicts in Pakistan.
The domestic laws of Pakistan incorporated as Domestic Humanitarian Law are basically derived from
the International Humanitarian Law. Pakistan has customary and legal obligations to oblige, in case of
arising of any armed conflict which are mentioned in this primer as;
 Pakistan is bound by customary rules of IHL as well as the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 to
which it is a party. Pakistan is a signatory to Additional Protocols I and II.
 Pakistan is a party to several core human rights instruments i-e International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights.
Understanding of the International Humanitarian Law is important as it provide safeguard to persons that
are victims of the armed conflicts such as civilians, prisoners of war by imposing restrictions on the using
of illegal methods and means of warfare and limiting the extent of several legal modes of warfare during
conflict. It is imperative for Pakistan to comply with International Humanitarian Law when there is any
violence to combat, as well as, to be aware of the extent according to which the use of force is permitted
resort violence. It is compulsory to be regulated in both international armed conflicts and non-
international armed conflicts (conflicts between two armed groups, or between state and any armed
group). This primer is published for the assistance of Armed Forces and Judiciary members, law
enforcement agencies, policy makers and many other significant members that actively participate in
making and regulating laws related to violence and armed conflicts, to ensure Pakistan’s better
compliance with legal obligations incorporated under the IHL.

Examples of how Pakistan’s Domestic Law is relevant to IHL:

International law recognized in Article 41 (1) Additional Protocol 1 states that A person who expresses
his intention to surrender or a defenseless person in an armed conflict, shall not be targeted. Furthermore,
he should be given proper treatment in case if he is wounded. Domestic Laws of Pakistan affirmed under
Preamble of Regulation 3 of 1818 that every prisoner of war should receive a fair attention towards his
health.
Medical personnel are also protected under the obligation to give medical care in both IHL and Pakistan
Domestic law. The medical personnel who are providing services during the armed conflicts are given a
respected status as well as protection under Geneva Convention. Whereas only those medical personnel
are safeguarded who are formally allocated in the conflict region by the Pakistan’s government under
Domestic Laws.

PAKISTAN AS A PARTY TO GENEVA CONVENTIONS:

The four Geneva Conventions are concluded to cope with the effects of armed conflicts on soldiers and
civilians by inducing several laws and regulations and making them obligatory to the states to follow in
times of conflict.

Convention I: It provides the protection to those who non-actively participating in the antagonism during
the time of conflict. These includes medical personnel, wounded soldiers etc. who shall not be treated on
the basis of discrimination.

Convention II: This convention generally extends the laws of protection to the wounded and
shipwrecked military and naval personnel, hospital ships etc. at sea in times of conflict. It replaced Hague
Convention of 1907 as it affirms the adaptation to provisions related to Maritime warfare under Geneva
Convention.

Convention III: This convention exclusively deals with the prisoners captured in war or any armed
conflict. The Prisoners of War Convention 1929 has been replaced by the Convention III. The provisions
of this convention holds that prisoners of war should be treated with adequate regard and assured that
their dignity shall not be compromised by means of torture. The prisoners of war have several rights
under the Geneva Convention, related to the labour, judicial proceedings as well as their release with the
ceasefire of the hostilities.

 Capture of Prisoners and their Treatment in Pakistan: The protection of captured

combatant shall be effective from the moment he is captured by the State till his release.
Pakistan captured the Indian combatant, wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman, when
his jet was shot down by PAF. Article 17 of the third Geneva Convention says that the State
can question about the name, rank, armed force serial number from the captured person in
order to give him prisoner of war status without use of torture or inhumane treatment.
Therefore, Abhinandan identified himself before the Pakistani Officers and gave his
designated serial number i-e 27981.
Convention IV: This Convention specifically seeks humane treatment towards civilians as well as those
civilians who belong to occupied territory. Some additional regulations are made under this Convention
related to civilians of the territory indulged in armed conflict after witnessing the events of the World War
II, which left deadly aftereffects. These provisions have imposed restrictions on attacking civilian hospital
and medical transport.

The Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions:

These protocols provided the limitations on the war fighting strategies and handling of victims and their
protection in both International armed conflicts which poses liberation struggles under Protocol I, and
internal conflicts within a State, also known as non-International armed conflicts, under Protocol II.
Third Protocol was concerned with the adoption of Red Crystal which has significance similar to the Red
Cross.

Examples of international armed conflict of Pakistan is Conflict between Pakistan and India. Examples of
non-state parties in non-international armed conflict in Pakistan are; Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP),
The Haqqani Network, The Baloch Liberation Army and many others.

Case Law: EFU General Insurance Ltd., vs. M/s. Emirates Airline / Emirates Sky Cargo and
Others

The Sindh High Court gave judgement on May 6, 2020 related to the issue raised, when an attack was
launched on the cargo terminal of Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. The Court has to decide on the
issue that whether this attack was an international armed conflict or non-international armed conflict i-e
between the State of Pakistan and TTP. The Sindh High Court ruled that the conflict is a non-international
armed conflict, therefore, airline carriers were ineligible to pay the compensation to insurance companies.

PAKISTAN AS A PARTY TO ICCPR:

Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by the
State of Pakistan on 23rd June 2010. Therefore, Pakistan is obligated to upheld all the human rights
enlisted in the Covenant of ICCPR.
Article 4 highlights the regulations of laws related to the International Humanitarian Law. This Article
allows the States, that are party to the Covenant, to derogate some of the rights incorporated in this
Covenant when there is a prevailing situation of public emergency. These rights may include Right to
education, right to assembly etc. It also mentions those rights which cannot be derogated under any
circumstances i-e state of emergency or in times of war, rendering them as absolute rights. Para 2 of the
Article 4 has specified the absolute rights, they cannot be compromised for any reason.
 Article 6 – Right to life
 Article 7 – Freedom from torture and inhuman punishment
 Article 8 – Freedom from slavery and servitude
 Article 11 – Freedom from imprisonment for inability to complete contractual obligations
 Article 15 – Prohibited of retrospective operation of criminal laws
 Article 16 – Right to recognition before the law
 Article 18 – Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
All these rights are also protected in the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 in the Chapter of fundamental
rights.
 Section 9- Security of person; no person shall be deprived of life save in accordance with law.
 Section 11- Freedom from slavery and forced labour.
 Section 12- Protection against retrospective punishment.
 Section 14- Inviolability of dignity of man
 Section 20- Freedom of religion.
GENERAL COMMENT ON ARTICLE 4
(adopted at the 1950th meeting, on 24 July 2001)
A State can only make derogatory measures of the rights only when there is a grave threat to the nation’s
security and existence. After ‘the state of emergency' has been announced officially, the State is able to
exercise the derogation of rights. The non derogable rights, mentioned in Article 4, must be protected
under any cost until the respective State achieves the truce and restores the respect and obligations
towards all rights of ICCPR.

LAWS IN PAKISTAN:

PAKISTAN ARMY ACT 1952:

Parliament adopted the Pakistan Army Amendment Act 2017 under which certain amendments were
made in Pakistan Army Act of 1952. This Act has made the trial for the terrorist suspects, claiming to
exercise violence for religious motives, mandatory at the military courts to cater extraordinary
circumstances and speedy trials. The punishments for illegal and violent acts of aggression are declared
under Section 2 of this Act. Following offences are prohibited, possession and use of explosives devices,
suicide jackets, explosive vehicles, abduction for the purpose of ransom money, use of armed devices or
weapons against the State of Pakistan, Armed Forces, or any other institution for the purpose of waging
war and threatening peace. This provision extends to all the territory of Pakistan and any terrorist group
conducting these offences will be held liable.

PAKISTAN MILITARY LAW 1987:

The Manual of Pakistan Military also upheld the laws and regulations related to right to fair trial and
protection from retrospective punishment, as these are absolute rights which cannot be compromised
under any circumstances. Rule 100 has protected the fair trial guarantees.
“No one may be convicted or sentenced, except pursuant to a fair trial affording all essential
judicial guarantees.”
These guarantees are protected under the Constitution of Pakistan, ICCPR as well as in International
Humanitarian laws. This rule was preserved in the case proceedings of the Mirani vs President of
Pakistan (1998). The petition was dismissed by Pakistan Supreme Court, and it was declared that the
accused person shall not be convicted without any judicial trial and lawful representation at court.

Pakistan Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Ordinance 2000:

Under this Ordinance, Pakistan has put limitations on the production as well as use of method and means
of warfare. Only those chemical weapons are allowed to be made which are permitted and produced in a
proper manner. Section 3 and Section 5 of the Pakistan Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation
Ordinance 2000 deals with the several prohibitions related to chemical arms and equipment, and
manufacturing of chemicals respectively. Section 3 specifically calls for the prohibition on production of
certain kind of ammunition or weapons and its transport of these. Subsection 2 has put limitations on the
use any chemical weapons and subsection 3 forbids any kind of involvement of any person in the military
preparation to utilize the chemical arms. Section 5 has restricted the manufacturing of toxic chemicals and
precursors; exclusively identified under this section. Their acquisition, production, importation,
possession as well as transfer is also regulated, otherwise a penalty of ten thousand rupees is to be paid by
the offender.

Armed conflicts in Pakistan:

Since the time of independence, armed conflict has been an issue on greater level. Foreign invasions from
our neighboring countries to non-international conflicts which led to chaos in the country. Two major
conflicts till today are India-Pakistan rivalry over Kashmir issue and Taliban affiliated groups attacks.
The geographical and political situation of Pakistan also has contributed to this conflict, making an
unstable foundation for the country to progress. Under Rule of law armed conflict project there are two
types of armed conflict going on in Pakistan:

 Non-international (force of Taliban)

 International (Indo-Pak war)

Non-International Conflict:
Taliban; an armed conflict in Pakistan:
War of terrorism is an ongoing armed conflict in Pakistan. For an act to be classified as an armed conflict
it has to be a combination of legal and illegal activities which are committed against the state. In Pakistan
these armed forces have been trying to influence the laws in accordance with Shari law by using violence
as a force. The intensity and time duration of this violence also makes it an armed conflict. Secondly, they
are non-state people which work as organized party. United Nations Security Council has also taken keen
interest in this conflict while trying to resolve it with peace.

History of Taliban:
The beginning of non-international armed conflict in Pakistan can be dated back to 1994, after Soviet
Union left Afghanistan in 1989 by making an agreement with America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. A
group of people were created who called themselves “Taliban” which means “a student” in Pashto. This
was made to restore peace and security. They were mainly funded by Saudi Arab with an aim to establish
Shari laws in Afghanistan. Pakistan army, especially Inter-state Intelligence (ISI) trained the militants and
provided weapon. Slowly but surely as they rose to power violations began. Initially they started with
their strict interpretation of Sharia laws for example giving cruel punishments and banning any form of
music in country. Later the abuse got worse, in 2001 they destroyed Bamiyan Buddha and stopped girls
over the age of 10 from attending schools. As all this disturbed Pakistan, in 2002 a military operation
against all the foreign fighting groups hiding in different tribal areas began. By the year 2009, terrorism
was at worst stage, making the government and military of Pakistan to take some important decisions.

Major Attacks in Pakistan:

 Siege of Lal Masjid: In July 2007, Pakistan witnessed a horrifying incident which was only the
beginning of trouble. There was mascaraed between students of Lal Masjid and the government
 of Pakistan. They were asking strict implication of Shari law and took a Chinese health care
center female a hostage. Military response was called to protect the locals and diplomatic
relations with China. 1096 people were rescued, with the total of 204 civil injuries and 14
casualties. This started a war of revenge between militants and Pakistan army, resulted in terrorist
attacks and suicide bombing for the next decade almost.
 APS Peshawar Attack: In December 2014, Army Public School Peshawar came under attack.
They attacked the school during working hours. This resulted in death of 140 people from which
134 were students. Later, TTP admitted the attack claiming it as a revenge of ongoing military
operations against the group mainly in North-Wazirstan.
 Karachi Airport attack: On 8 June 2014, Karachi International Airport also known as Jinnah
International, was attacked by Taliban. Total of twenty-eight people were killed including
foreigners. This attack got special attention as Pakistan had to define to the international
authorities whether the attack was terrorism or armed conflict. Taliban took the whole
responsibility for the attack which made it easier for authorities to decide as Pakistan was already
under declared armed conflict against Taliban.
TTP (Tahreek-e-Taliban) has been involved in armed conflict with Pakistan since its formation in 2007.
This groups serves as umbrella for other armed groups such as Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, The Haqqani
network and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Several operations have been lunched as group effort of Pakistan
government and army to resolve this conflict. ‘Zarb-e-Azb” was fought in the tribal areas of Pakistan
from 5 Jume 2014 to 3 April 2016. While the operation lasted for almost 2 years, the final clearance
report submitted by army was in February 2017. This became a huge accomplishment as it finally broke
the bone of non-state armed grouped in Pakistan, restoring its peace. It was followed by “Operation Rad-
ul-fasad” which added further to the success.

International Armed Conflict:

Right after the independence of two countries the conflict emerged. Two states which once lived in
harmony are now at constant war with each other.

Kasmir Issue:
It can be described as a territorial issue between Pakistan and India. After independence both countries
have tried to claim the entire territory. China has also been part of this conflict as a third party. As for
now 55% of the land is under India, 35% is with Pakistan and remaining 20% is with China. This conflict
started when after the independence the Hindu leader of Kashmir joined India. Kashmir has been a reason
for this conflict which to led to three wars in history. First in 1947, second in 1965, and third in 1999 the
kargil war that was never declared by officials.

War of 1947:
From the year of 1947 to 1948, two newly independent countries were at war. This war was initiated
because of Kashmir issue. The war began when Pashtun militants attacked with a mindset to capture the
capital Srinigar on 22 October 1947. As the dispute increased armies of both countries got involved. The
war resulted in killing thousands of people. In the end the United Nations declared the ceasefire. India
was successful in defending while securing one-third of the land.

War of 1965:
In less than twenty years India and Pakistan were at war again. The war began after the failure of
Operation Gibrattar. The plan was to cross the LoC and investigate the Muslim-majority areas in Indian
occupied Kashmir. As a counter act, India attacked the West Pakistan. Though Pakistan was successful in
defending its border, this war also only bought misery on citizens. After seventeen days of war, United
Nations Security Council again interfered to declare the ceasefire under resolution 211.

War of 1999 or Kargil war:

It is also known as armed conflict between Pakistan and India. India lunched an Operation Vijay to clear
out regular and irregular troops of Pakistan army from the Kargil sector. By this time India and Pakistan
has already tested their nuclear powers. Multiple attacks and retaliation were done by both sides. On July
5 the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif declared to retrieve the Pakistan army from Kashmir after
being heavily criticized by international media. Kargil war goes down in the history of Pakistan as a
biggest blunder which consequences are still being faced by the nation.

Impact of Armed Conflict in Pakistan:

Increase in armed conflicts directly means increase in war crimes. War crimes mean extreme violation of
Public International laws and customs of civilian welfare. Pakistan has witnessed crime for ages.
Generally vulnerable people such as women, children, elderly, and people with disabilities are the
common victims. Further it also impacts the social, economic, and living standards.

Children:
Children being most easy targets always become a victim of these conflicts. Around 600 children were
killed by landmines in FATA, from which 27% were under the age 18. These killings occurred as they
were performing their routine tasks of going to school, playing, or collecting fodder for livestock. Also,
there were total of 106 reported cases of missing children and kidnappings. Children from areas of
dispute, if end up living their mental health is strongly compromised. High rate of depression, anxiety,
and posttraumatic stress disorder can be diagnosed after war-crimes. In Sindh, when few children were
interviewed it showed that they possessed the knowledge of weapons and how to use them. Many of them
were even willing to join militant groups to resolve on going conflicts.
Children are beings of love, protection, and care. Compromised childhood will never be able to make
them a contributive member of society. For us to have a secure future of our country we need to resolve
this, so it does not become a conflict which passes from one generation to another.

Women:
Either it is a time of war or peace, women have always been a victim of gender-based violence. War
crimes makes it even more difficult for women to survive. Women especially from Orphans families are
more susceptible to violence. Rape has been used as a weapon during conflict in a very systematic way by
the predators to dominate their power. Many of these women become the victims of human trafficking
and forced prostitution. Many women also become victims of life changing diseases like AIDS and HIV
which further puts a label on them. Women there also do not have proper excess to reproduction health
care. In Pakistan, there are still women imprisoned from the war of 1971 either under the allegations of
illegal crossing of border or Hudood Ordinance. Education of women is also affected, in the year 2012 a
girl named Malala Yousafzai was shot alongside her two friends by Tahreek-Taliban Pakistan gunman on
her way back from school. During the capture of Swat by Taliban, there was a complete ban on girls’
education above the age of 10. Life of women is overall affected due to armed conflicts.

Displacement:
As the situation worsened in areas of conflict, people had to leave their homes. Poor living standards
pushed people out while others were forced. With an increase in attacks and operations government had
to issue a formal statement declaring people from troubled areas in FATA, Waziristan, and Azad Kashmir
refuges. Estimated 30,000 people were displaced from the LoC while there are more than fifteen refugee
camps in Azad Kashmir. Some of these families are now broken either for the time being or forever.
Parents not being able to protect their children are separated to look for better life facilities.

Destruction of Property:
With war, there comes a destruction. This takes a major tole on civilian objects. Planned attacks are done
to destroy the properties. Just during the June of 2008 thirty-nine girls’ schools were bombed by Tahreek-
e-Taliban. Several music shops and entertainment places were attacked. Spokesperson of the group
Muslim Khan issued a statement admitting to blowing up the schools, army guesthouse and Orakzai hotel.
Other major suicide attacks were done which resulted in targeting civil people and objects. In September
of same year Islamabad came under attack after the suicide bombing at Marriot Hotel which killed fifty-
four people.

Social Damage:
Armed conflicts not only affect the lifestyle of people but also the social thinking. The literal meaning of
Taliban is students and they associated themselves with Madrasas. This meant that they are the students
of Madrasas. Madrasa is a scared place for Muslims where they learn Quran and Islamic teachings. After
the Taliban activity Madrasas got symbolled as place which is the originating point for terrorist. A group
against the use of Children soldiers stated that “the situation of education is Islamic schools of Pakistan
(Madrasas) is a concerning matter for national as well international reasons”. These people have also
damaged the international repute of Muslims. Islam now being labeled as an extremist religion which
promotes violence.

Mine Ban Policy Complications:

Pakistan strictly follows the protocol of ban on landmines for maintenance of internal peace or in counter-
terrorism operations. Pakistan’s Statutory Regulatory Order of February 1999, declare the export or re-
export of antipersonnel landmines illegal.
Private sector in Pakistan is not authorized to produce landmines, still the stockpile of Pakistan has
always been questioned. In past Pakistan manufactured mines were found in Afghanistan, Somalia, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, and many other countries. It has been estimated that the stockpile has over 6 million
landmines, making it fifth largest in the world. It was reported that in 2018 13,803 mines and in 2019
15,925 mines were destroyed in the private sector.

Closing statement; In our research we have detailed the development of

Humanitarian laws. further to support our statement we have used armed conflicts
in Pakistan. Hence it can be concluded that Humanitarian laws have failed to
fulfill their purpose.
References:
https://rsilpak.org/project/understanding-international-humanitarian-law-a-primer-on-ihl-and-
pakistans-domestic-law/

https://www.rulac.org/browse/conflicts/non-international-armed-conflicts-in-pakistan#collapse2accord

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10576100903582535

https://www.icrc.org/en

http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2020/pakistan/mine-ban-policy.aspx