Questions tagged [rules-of-war]
Questions about international conventions regulating warfare.
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Why isn't bombing cities under any circumstance a war crime? Same applies to launching attacks from cities
While there are rules in place, I think within the Geneva Conventions, regarding the protection of civilian infrastructure, the legal interpretation and application can vary. Deliberately targeting ...
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What recourse do international relief workers have if refugee camps where they work are bombed? [closed]
Israel's Netanyahu led government has recently been bombing Palestinian refugee camps:
Nov 01, 2023: Israel’s deadly attack on the Jabalia refugee camp: What we know so far
Nov 02, 2023: Gaza ...
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Does international law hold an Army accountable for killings done by other groups during a military attack?
Consider a situation where a country is partially occupied by another. An army unit strikes across a border town of the occupying force. Their military objective is to destroy an enemy defensive unit, ...
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How easy would it be to distinguish between Hamas fighters and non combatants?
I remember this discussion that it was practically impossible to distinguish between Taliban fighters and non-combatant civilians because they were not organized like a traditional army - the groups ...
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What methods do experts use to determine if civilian casualties in a conflict are excessive (or not)?
I read (recently) for example that:
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) [...] stressed that such ...
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What are the political impediments for a country in sending aid to Palestinians in Gaza, without an international consensus?
As we are all aware, recently 1,400+ people (mostly civilians, including women, children and babies) were killed in Israel in a terrorist attack by Hamas. In revenge (note that this is Israel's state ...
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Why do obvious humanitarian issues need to be voted on by members of the United Nations Security Council?
According to the UN website, UN has the following functions and powers:
to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations;
to determine ...
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How can Israeli compliance with the Geneva Conventions be tracked in Gaza in the coming weeks?
Article 51 of Protocol I to the Geneva Convention, (protocol to which Israel is not a signatory) puts the following constraints on attacks in civilian areas:
Article 51 — Protection of the civilian ...
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Is there any historical evidence of conventional (non-guerilla) warfare techniques defeating hybrid guerilla warfare cost-efficiently?
Pardon my lack of warfare jargon.
Modernization of warfare in the last 3-4 centuries including the use of mobile artillery, tanks, mortars, etc., and relative/approximating implementation of the ...
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According to each of Russia and Ukraine, are Russia and Ukraine officially at war with each other?
My understanding is that while both countries are "obviously" at war, neither country has officially declared war on each other.
So, according to each of (1) Russia and (2) Ukraine, are they ...
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Is there a process for certifying that a signatory to Geneva conventions is a bad-faith signatory?
Geneva conventions create a different (greater) set of obligations, by signatory states, towards the other signatory states than they do towards the non-signatory ones.
This creates an incentive for ...
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How effective are lawyers and NGOs (like Soldiers Mothers, Peaceplea and Conscript's School) in securing the rights of the mobilized in Russia?
After the start of the first mobilizations in Russia, a couple of organisations were created to help mobilized people to either escape military service or acquire them non-combat roles:
https://...
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Based on International law, to what extent can Ukraine take aggressive military action within the territory of Russia?
I wonder, based on international law, if Ukraine takes aggressive military action in the territory of Russia, such as occupying some cities of Russia (I am not considering Donbas, Luhansk and Crimea ...
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Would it be possible for NATO to intercept russian cruise missiles over the Ukraine from NATO airspace, and avoid becoming a party of the war? [closed]
In media reports and discussions, the impossibility of a no-fly zone was discussed since the current (2022) war in Ukraine started.
Basically, a no-fly zone would entail NATO jets shooting down ...
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The legality of bombing an embassy
During the bombing of Serbia, the Chinese embassy was bombed by US forces using five GPS-guided bombs. Although the US claimed that it was an accident, many believed that it was because the US aimed ...
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What is "proportionate response" in international relations?
I have seen in quite a few answers here, and in general on the internet about the theory of "proportionate response" - in context of activities that nations do against other nations.
I'd ...
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Will Ukraine jeopardize its position as a country waging a war of self-defense if it attacks deep inside Russian territory? [closed]
The U.S. and some European countries have not provided Ukraine with long-range weapons capable of striking inside Russian borders. The official reason for the hesitancy is to prevent any further ...
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Prisoner of war exchange against their will
In some conflicts exchanges of prisoners of war happen during the conflict, and this acts as an additional incentive for taking prisoners instead of killing enemy troops.
However, in certain cases ...
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Is it ever legal for an army to target civilians?
I'm just the average Joe here with no knowledge of wars or politics, so please bear with my simple question.
I've been watching the news in Ukraine and there's something I cannot understand. I see day-...
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Can a country declare all its mercenaries as its soldiers?
Ukraine hopes to save foreign soldiers sentenced to death, says lawmaker
Britain has condemned the sentencing of the fighters as an "egregious breach" of the Geneva Convention, under which ...
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Does the Geneva Convention with respect to prisoners of war apply to mercenaries?
There are people of different nationalities fighting as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the current ongoing conflict. If they are captured, would the Geneva Convention's principles on giving ...
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What are the safeguards, set by the US military, to reduce the risk of committing war crimes?
I am talking here about war crimes committed by individuals or units (i.e., not representing a deliberate government/military policy), such as, e.g., the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam war. One ...
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What arguments do Russia-critics offer to support their view that Russia is committing genocide?
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, many critics of Russia have argued that this war is a genocide against the Ukranian people. I don't feel the need to provide any evidence for this, but ...
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Are military units marching in military parades considered military or civilian targets?
Russian Federation is widely expected to conduct its annual military parade on May 9th. The parade traditionally takes places on the Red Square with many "military units" marching over a ...
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Why doesn't Russia assassinate Zelenskyy with a rocket? [closed]
Remember Dzhokhar Dudaev? He led the Chechens during their first uprising against Russia in die 90s and was assassinated by Russia in 1996 who used a rocket to kill him in the streets of Grozny.
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Mechanism and legal status of arms transfers to Ukraine
I've read news reports that Russia threatens to attack US or NATO vehicles with armaments on Ukrainian territory. This surprised me on two counts, first that NATO vehicles would be making that part of ...
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Why are Stinger (surface to air missiles) and Javelin (anti-tank missiles) not considered escalatory in war theater of Ukraine? [duplicate]
This is purely about military doctrine. Much effort has been made to avoid using US-made fighter planes in the Ukrainian theater because that would be seen as "escalation" and lead Russia ...
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Minimizing civilian casualties during the siege of Mariupol?
What are the best practices of minimizing civilian casualties in cities under siege, as applied to the siege of Mariupol?
I am looking for best practices from the perspective of world civilians, ...
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What are the established methods/procedures to estimate the costs of an armed conflict?
There have always been eye-catching headlines about conflicts regarding their cost, e.g.
The war in Iraq has cost USA x billion USD
The US presence in Afghanistan has cost the exchequer y billion USD
...
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What is the meaning of the term "Genocide" as opposed to "Crimes against Humanity"? [closed]
Genocide as a term came into being relatively after World War 2. There used to be a term earlier called Crimes against Humanity which used to be used to describe similar events. This use of this term ...
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How does UK MP Bob Seely's 2018 paper "Definition of Contemporary Russian Conflict" hold up in 2022 in Ukraine? (Seely's seven elements)
After seeing his discussion in the BBC's 2022-03-11 video Is Russia setting the stage to use chemical weapons in Ukraine? - BBC Newsnight (my transcription with help of closed captions):
The trouble ...
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What is the purpose of the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by the Russian invaders?
What are the geopolitical, military and humanitarian objectives that will be achieved following a successful siege of the civilian population of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by the Russian military ...
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According to the Geneva Conventions, when can a Prisoner Of War give an interview on camera?
There's been some debate online about footage of POWs talking to the camera to say more than name, rank, and serial number, but has there been any serious academic writing on the limits of the "...
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Is it illegal for Russia to kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy?
There are some actions in war that are designated as war crimes, such as targeting civilians, torture, and systematic sexual violence or enslavement. Some of these actions hinge on the definition of &...
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Is it politically acceptable to incentivize soldiers of another country to desert?
If the USA (or another western country) wants to help Ukraine without sending troops, one thing it can do is to convince Russian soldiers in Ukraine to desert the Russian army, for example, by ...
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How much bite does the Mutual Defense Clause of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) have?
As mentioned in other answers regarding the 2022 Ukraine conflict, there is a defense clause for the existing EU countries. I looked and found §42.7 TEU,
If a Member State is the victim of armed ...
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Isn't sending weapons to Ukraine an escalation?
As the title asks, isn't sending weapons to Ukraine an escalation in the war? Perhaps, due to this not being a 'declared war' or an 'invasion' (from the Russian pov), so sending weapons to Ukraine isn'...
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Is the Red Cross involved yet in checking up on prisoners of war in Ukraine?
Is the Red Cross involved yet in checking up on prisoners of war in Ukraine? I don't see it mentioned here or here.
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Is Putin a valid military target in this war? What about Moscow based senior political and governmental figures with roles related to the war effort?
Putin apparently believes the head of state of Ukraine is a valid target, suitable to be dispatched by any means. Or at least that seems to be a reasonable interpretation of some reports. Doesn't ...
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Right to declare a war in modern time
While browsing random articles I found an interesting fact - that USA never formally declared a war in Vietnam. After googling a bit more it turned out that since WW2 USA never formally declared a war ...
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Did Qassim Suleimani have any kind of diplomatic status while he was in Iraq?
If so, what would be the direct consequences?
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Are prisoners of war paid by their captors today?
The Third Geneva Convention calls for all POWs to receive a monthly allowance from their captors, separate from anything they may be paid for working while imprisoned, “to enable prisoners to improve ...
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Under what law can the U.S. arrest International Criminal Court (ICC) judges over war crimes probe?
US threatens to arrest ICC judges over war crimes probe (Deutsche Welle)
Is there any such law that would allow the U.S. impinge on another nation's sovereignty in order to prevent ICC judges from ...
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Does Russia need to treat the captured Ukranian sailors as POWs?
Some of the Ukranian sailors that were captured/arrested on their way to the Sea of Azov in November 2018 have been shown on Russian state TV with recorded statements.
Ukraine demands that they are ...
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What are the steps towards officially recognizing a Cold War?
The Guardian argues about so called "Cold War 2.0":
Warnings of a return to cold war politics have been a staple of
European debate for three years, but in recent weeks many western
diplomats, ...
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Legality of attacking an occupier by third-party forces within partially-occupied state
Suppose state A is (illegally, militarily) occupying some of the territory of state B (denote the occupied part B1 and the unoccupied part B2). Suppose also that state B is allied with state C, and ...
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Skripal vs. Castro poisonings, international law
Theresa May says the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal is a "flagrant breach of international law and the chemical weapons convention."
Would the (alleged) (attempted) Castro poisoning breach the ...
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Why don't leaders of countries fight instead of armies in a war?
When there is a war between two countries the military of each country fights against each other. But why don't the two leaders of both countries fight against each other and settle the issue. I ...
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Are you legally allowed to fight a war against terror?
So a different question asked if the pentagon was a legitimate military target. And an answer ended up saying, that the law of war does not apply to a terrorist organization but rather civilian law.
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Was the pentagon a legitimate military target? [closed]
Since the pentagon and WTC had military offices wouldn't this make it a military target according to the applicable international treaties such as the Geneva conventions?
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