What the Importance of Knowing about the Humanitarian Law is

Earlier this year, the UAE announced that it will focus on spreading the awareness about the international humanitarian law. This subject will be included in the education at various schools, colleges, and universities throughout the country. This is a part of the plan by National Commission for International Humanitarian Law for the current and the next year. Various seminars will be organized with the coordination of Ministry of Education and various high ranking universities in order to make the students aware about the humanitarian law. This action has the support of Minister of Foreign Affairs and various other high profile people. So let’s find out about the humanitarian law.

What is the Humanitarian Law?

International humanitarian law (IHL) is a fork of international law which aims to keep the armed conflict as low as possible by protecting persons and property that are not related to the war (or not participating in the war hostilities).The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the institutionwhich has the controlling authority. This law consists of a set of rules which are to be followed during the state of war. The purpose of this law is to protect the civilians and civilian properties and those who are no longer taking part in the war. It also should be noticed that the humanitarian law and the human right are two different (however complimentary) things. Let’s learn about the importance of the humanitarian law.

Knowledge is Power

After conflicts are becoming more common in today’s time and are happening right now in various places in the world. International humanitarian law protects the civilians and civilian objects during the conflict. It has a set or rules like protection of captured persons, care for the wounded, and no torture policy etc. However a lot inhumane activities are quite common during the conflict which is condemnable. This law ensures that the states which break the law can be tried against in international courts. So the awareness about this law will make sure that the rules of the humanitarian law are followed and people can be protected from the barbarism of the states and the non-states armed groups. If more people become aware of this law, the inhumane activities can be prevented and lots of lives can be saved. Hence learning about this law is really important for the people around the world and it should be taught in education institutes. People of this world need to know about their rights so that the humanity can be kept alive.

The Pacifying Effect

Today, lots of conflicts are going on around the globe. So the need to teach the humanitarian law is more than ever. If this laws becomes well known among people, it will indirectly have a pacifying effect in the post-war situations and during the war. This is because the states (or non-state groups) will be wary of committing war atrocities, knowing that they will be asked to justify their actions and will be prosecuted if they are the culprits of war crimes.

Human Life and Dignity

People will respect lives and human dignity during the conflict, if taught about the humanitarian law. Spreading awareness will also help us learn about the nature of humans, the complexity of humanitarianism. Teaching it in various institutes will also pique the interest of young minds about international conflicts and what’s going on in the world. This will ensure that the future generations are more educated about international issues and will work to maintain peace in the world.

The humanitarian law needs to be taught in order to protect civilians and civilian properties as it ensures that those who are not participating the war will be protected. It has a set of rules that are to be followed during the state of conflict. Awareness about this law is really important in today’s world where so many socio-political conflicts are going on.

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