CONTROLLING THE MEANS AND

METHODS OF WARFAFE
Prepared by:
Loyola, Aldrin R.
Sumalpong, Romeo R.
Apas, Carlo Joel B.
Banding-Sumalipao, Jinnan C.
Laut, Aljade L.
Razuman, Ibrahim Lyndon A.
Napalm Bombing (Vietnam War)

Napalm was formulated by mixing naphthenic and palmitic acids with

gasoline. 388,000 tons of napalm was dropped in Vietnam during 1963 -
1973 period. A 2,500-square-yard area could be engulfed in flame by a
single bomb. However, dropping napalm from high-speed aircraft was not
so accurate. This resulted in a large number of innocent civilians suffering
serious harm.
Cambodia Landmines

Cambodia is a country located in Southeast Asia that has a major problem

with landmines, especially in rural areas. This is the legacy of three decades
of war which has taken a severe toll on the Cambodians; it has some 40,000
amputees, which is one of the highest rates in the world. The Cambodian
Mine Action Centre (CMAC) estimates that there may be as many as four to
six million mines and other pieces of unexploded ordnance in Cambodia.
Halabja Chemical Attack a.k.a Bloody Friday of 1988

The Halabja chemical attack was a massacre against the Kurdish people that took place
on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran-Iraq War in the Kurdish city
of Halabja in Iraq. The attack was part of the Al-Anfal Campaign in northern Iraq, as well
as part of the Iraqi attempt to repel the Iranian Operation Zafar 7. A United Nations (UN)
medical investigation concluded that mustard gas was used in the attack, along with
unidentified nerve agents. The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people and injured
7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians.
I. General Principles and
the Law of Targeting
 REGULATING THE
WEAPONS OF WAR

The right to choose the methods and means of

warfare is not unlimited. International law imposes
restrictions on the manufacture and use of certain
weapons—namely, those that strike civilians and
combatants indiscriminately or cause damage that is
extensive or basically irreversible and is
disproportionate to any specific military advantage
(Rules 7 to 24 of the customary IHL study).
 REGULATING THE
TECHNIQUES OF WAR

Humanitarian law prohibits gratuitous and wanton

violence and destruction. It requires that any means
of violence employed (i) be justified by a real and
direct military necessity, (ii) be directed to a military
objective, and (iii) be proportionate to the threat.
 1. the use of means and methods of warfare of a nature
to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering
(API Art. 35; Art. 22 of the rules of the 1907 Hague
Conventions; and the 1868 Saint Petersburg
Declaration)
INTERNATIONAL 2. carrying out attacks with the goal that there will be
HUMANITARIAN LAW no survivors—in other words, giving no quarter (API
PROHIBITS Arts. 40, 41; Art. 35 of the 1907 Hague Convention
on the laws and customs of war). Rule 46 of the
customary IHL study provides that “ordering that no
quarter will be given, threatening an adversary
therewith or conducting hostilities on this basis is
prohibited.”
PERFIDY TERROR
Prohibited Methods
(API Arts. 37–39; (API Art. 51, APII
of Warfare includes
Rules 57–65) Art. 13, Rule 2)

REPRISALS AGAINST ATTACKS ATTACKS AIMED AT

FAMINE NON-MILITARY AGAINST CAUSING DAMAGE
(STARVATION) OBJECTIVES PROTECTED TO THE NATURAL
OF CIVILIANS (GCI Art. 46; GCII Art. 47; PERSONS AND
GCIII Art. 13; GCIV Art. 33;
ENVIRONMENT
(API Art. 54, APII CIVILIAN
API Arts. 20, 51–56; Art. 46 (API Arts. 35, 52, and
Art. 14, Rule 53) of the 1954 Convention on OBJECTS
55; Rules 43–45)
the Protection of Cultural (API Arts. 48, 51;
Property) Rules 1 and 6)
 ATTACKS AGAINST PILLAGE OF
WORKS AND
INSTALLATIONS
CULTURAL Prohibited Methods
CONTAINING OBJECTS AND
DANGEROUS FORCES PROPERTY of Warfare includes
(GCIV Art. 33; Art. 4 of 1954
(API Arts. 52, 56; Convention on the Protection
APII Art. 15; Rule of Cultural Property; APII Art.
42) 4; Rules 38–41 and 52)

TAKING
FAMINE USING HUMAN
(STARVATION) HOSTAGES SHIELDS OR
(GCI–IV Art. 3; GCIV Art. 34; API
OF CIVILIANS Art. 75; principles of international POPULATION
law established by the statute and MOVEMENTS TO
(API Art. 54, APII judgments of the Nuremberg
FAVOR THE CONDUCT
Tribunals; Art. 12 of the 1979
Art. 14, Rule 53) Convention against the Taking of OF HOSTILITIES
Hostages; Rule 96) (GCIV Art. 49; API Art. 51; APII
Art. 17; Rules 97 and 129)
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF WAR AND
THEIR TARGETING IMPLICATIONS

The law of war rests on five fundamental principles that are inherent to all
targeting decisions:

1. Military Necessity
2. Distinction
- Combatant v. Civilian
- Military Objective v. Civilian Object
3. Proportionality
4. Unnecessary Suffering
 MILITARY NECESSITY
The Rendulic Rule

- may be defined as the principle that justifies the use of all

measures needed to defeat the enemy as quickly and efficiently
as possible that are not prohibited by the law of war.

- the rule stands for the proposition that a commander’s liability is

based on the information reasonably available at the time of the
commander’s decision.

Military necessity includes two elements:

(1) a military requirement to undertake a certain measure,
(2) not forbidden by the laws of war. A commander must articulate a
military requirement, select a measure to achieve it, and ensure
neither violates the law of armed conflict.
DISTINCTIONTION

“Parties to the conflict shall at all times

distinguish between the civilian population and
combatants and between civilian objects and
military objectives and accordingly shall direct
their operations only against military objectives”
(AP I, art 48).
 Categories of People
CIVILIAN - members of the civilian population

MIXED CASES - personnel engaged in humanitarian duties

- authorized supporters of the armed forces
- unprivileged belligerents

COMBATANTS - members of the armed forces of a state

- members of militia and other volunteer groups
- levée en masse
PEOPLE WHO CAN ATTACK BASED ON STATUS

• Combatants
• Unprivileged Belligerents - members of
hostile or non-state armed groups
• Leaders (with operational command and
control of the armed forces or non-State
armed group)

These persons are ALWAYS subject to attack

based on status UNLESS hors de combat.
Military Exceptions

Hors de combat POWs, Detainees, the Wounded and the Sick,

1 Shipwrecked, and Parachutists (as compared from
paratroopers)

Medical Personnel
2

Chaplains
3
 1) The right of belligerents to adopt mean
s of injuring the enemy is not unlimited.

2) It is prohibited to launch attacks against

PRINCIPLES OF the civilian population.
LAWFUL TARGETING
3) Distinctions must be made between co
mbatants and noncombatants, to the effect
that noncombatants be spared as much as
possible.
 MILITARY OBJECTIVES
those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an
effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction,
capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a
definite military advantage (AP I, art. 52(2) ).

CIVILIANS & CIVILIAN OBJECTS

Civilians and civilian objects may not be made the object of attack. Civilian
objects consist of all civilian property and activities other than those used to
support or sustain the enemy's war-fighting capability.
INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS PROHIBITED

Three types of indiscriminate attacks:

1. Not directed at specific military objectives.
2. Employ method or means of combat that
cannot be directed at specific military
objective.
3. Employ method or means of combat the
effects of which cannot be limited.
 An attack which may be expected to cause
incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians,
damage to civilian objects, or a combination
thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the
concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
(AP I, Article 51(5)(b))
PROPORTIONALITY
• Is incidental civilian death and damage
excessive in relation to anticipated direct and
concrete military advantage?

Excessive: exceeding a normal, usual, reasonable

or proper limit.
 U N N E C E S S A RY
S U F F E R I N G
(SUPERFLUOUS INJURY)

1899 Hague II, Art. 23 (e)
It is especially prohibited to employ
arms, projectiles, or material of a
nature to cause superfluous injury.
1907 Hague IV, Art. 23 (e)
It is especially prohibited to employ
arms, projectiles, or material
calculated to cause unnecessary
suffering.
Cont.
Weapons that may cause great injury
or suffering or inevitable death are not
prohibited, if the weapon’s effects that
cause such injury are necessary to
enable users to accomplish their
military missions”.
II. The Ottawa Convention
Ottawa Convention

Also called Anti-Personnel Mine Ban

1 Convention | Mine Ban Treaty

Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,

2 Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-
Personnel Mines and on their Destruction

It prohibits the use of weapons which by their

3 very nature do not discriminate between civilians
and combatants (Anti-Personnel Mines)
 General Obligations
1. Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances:

a. To use anti-personnel mines;

To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to

b. anyone, directly or indirectly, anti-personnel mines;

To assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any

c. activity prohibited to a State party under this convention;

Each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction of all

2a anti-personnel mines in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.

.
Which mines are affected? Only Anti-Personnel mines
Excluded: Anti-tank/Anti-Vehicle; Anti-handling
devices; Command-detonated; Retention and transfer
of mines for TRAINING and DESTRUCTION purposes

How does the treaty Member States' Obligations

help mine victims? Provide assistance for mine clearance; Mine-
awareness programs; Care and rehabilitation of mine
victims.

YES!
States are required to report annually to the UN
Is it monitored? secretary-general; Provide technical information
about mines produced; Provide voluntary information
on other efforts to implement the Convention
Can a State ban anti-personal mines and adhere to 1980 UN
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons?

YES!
A State is able to adhere to both,
although the stricter provisions of
the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban
Convention will apply to its States
Parties.
(Note: More on UN Convention on Certain Conventional
Weapons next)
 III. Convention on
Certain Conventional Weapons
(CCW)
Protocols to the
Convention
Protocol I
Non-detectable Fragments

Protocol II
Landmines, Booby-Traps, and Other Devices

Protocol III
Incendiary Weapons

Protocol IV
Blinding Lasers

Protocol V
Explosive Remnants of War
The Convention
The agreement is formally known as the
“Convention on Prohibitions or
Restrictions on the Use of Certain
Conventional Weapons Which May Be
Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to
Have Indiscriminate Effects.” It is also
sometimes referred to as the “Inhumane
Weapons Convention.”

The convention aims to protect military troops

from inhumane injuries and prevent
noncombatants from accidentally being
wounded or killed by certain types of arms.
When it entered into force in December
1983, the treaty applied to incendiary
weapons, mines and booby-traps, and
weapons designed to injure through
very small fragments.

Since then, treaty states-parties—

numbering 120 total as of August
2017—have added provisions to ban
blinding laser weapons and address
lingering dangers posed by unexploded
munitions leftover after combat ends.
The operative provisions of the CCW are
contained in several protocols annexed to
the convention. States that become CCW
members must sign on to at least two of
the convention’s protocols, but do not have
to become party to all of them. Currently,
there are five protocols in force. All states-
parties must agree to the addition of a new
protocol. Each protocol is only binding on
those states-parties that ratify it.
Initially, the scope of the convention covered only
international armed conflicts. However, states-parties
amended a single protocol in 1996 to apply to intrastate
conflicts and in 2001 elected to extend that modification
to the entire convention. Still, the change only applies to
those states-parties ratifying the amendment, and it does
not automatically extend to new protocols. Henceforth,
states-parties must specify whether new protocols they
ratify cover intrastate conflicts in addition to interstate
wars.

The convention lacks verification and enforcement

mechanisms and spells out no formal process for
resolving compliance concerns.
 Protocol I
Non-detectable Fragments

Protocol I prohibits the use of any weapon designed to wound or kill

with small fragments that cannot be detected by x-rays.
Conventional x-ray imaging cannot locate small pieces of glass,
plastic, or wood lodged in human tissue. This makes it prohibitively
difficult for doctors to remove the fragments, effectively preventing
victims from receiving necessary treatment.
 Protocol II
Landmines, Booby-Traps, and Other Devices

 Regulates but does not ban the use of landmines and

booby-traps.

 Anti-personnel landmines (APLs) must be kept in

clearly marked and protected minefields or be
equipped with self-destruct and self-deactivation
mechanisms that disarm and render the mine
unusable after a certain period of time.
 Protocol II
Landmines, Booby-Traps, and Other Devices

 Mines dropped from aircraft or delivered by artillery or missiles

must be outfitted with self-destruct and self-deactivation
mechanisms.

 All APLs must further be detectable using common mine

detection equipment to enable them to be located and safely
removed after a conflict ends. The responsibility for clearing any
mines is on the government controlling the territory where the
mines are located.
Protocol III
Incendiary Weapons

Regulates the use of weapons designed to set

fire to or burn their target.
Proscribes targeting civilians with incendiary
weapons and restricts the use of air-delivered
incendiary weapons against military targets in
close proximity to concentrations of
noncombatants.
 Protocol III
Incendiary Weapons

Prohibits parties from targeting forests or other

plant cover unless the vegetation is being
used to conceal military forces.
Covers weapons created intentionally to set
fire or burn, such as flamethrowers. Weapons
that ignite fires or burn as a side effect are not
subject to the protocol.
 Protocol IV
Blinding Lasers

 Prohibits the use of lasers specifically designed to

cause permanent blindness. It further obliges states-
parties to make every effort to avoid causing
permanent blindness through the use of other lasers.
 While prohibiting the use of blinding lasers, the
convention does not rule out their development or
stockpiling. However, it does outlaw any trade in such
arms.
 Protocol V
Explosive Remnants of War

 Deals with unexploded and abandoned ordnance left

over after fighting ends—so-called explosive remnants
of war (ERW).
 Covers munitions, such as artillery shells, grenades,
and gravity bombs, that fail to explode as intended,
and any unused explosives left behind and
uncontrolled by armed forces.
The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it
is the soldier who must suffer and bear the
deepest wounds and scars of war.

Douglas MacArthur
Thank you!