Human rights abuses occur when State or non-State actors fail to meet the relevant
standard, either as a result of a policy or practice.3
International humanitarian law is a separate
body of law that regulates the conduct of
parties (State and non-State) engaged in
armed
conflict.
While
international
humanitarian law is principally concerned with
what parties can do in the context of an
international conflict, there are still rules that
must be observed by all parties to a conflict in
a non-international armed conflict or civil war.
A number of these rules concern how the
civilian population must be treated during war,
the kinds of weapons that can be used, and
defining and identifying military targets in
order to protect civilians. The key documents
setting out international humanitarian law are
the four Geneva Conventions and the two 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva
Conventions. Even though Syria is not a party to the latter protocols, a number of the
rules contained in those instruments have such widespread international support
that they are nonetheless binding on Syria under customary international law.
Grave
violations
of
international
humanitarian
law (the law of armed conflict)
are crimes that can be
prosecuted in courts such as the
International Criminal Court.
This includes the forcible
displacement
of
civilian
populations or the willful
killing of civilians. Examples of
such crimes are discussed in
Section D.
There are a number of reasons that the conduct of State and non-State actors is
measured against the standards set out in international law:
The vast majority of governments, including the government of Syria, have
voluntarily agreed to be bound (through the ratification of international
treaties) by international human rights and humanitarian law.
International human rights and humanitarian law standards were
determined at an international level with input from the representatives of
many countries and organizations, and therefore represent a high degree of
international consensus.
International human rights and humanitarian law can be applied in a
number of different fora, including UN, regional, and local bodies.4 Grave
violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed by individuals
can be prosecuted under international criminal law. The International
Criminal Court, for example, has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for
genocide, war crimes (large-scale violations of international humanitarian
law), and crimes against humanity (widespread or systematic attacks
against civilians, including murder or torture). Syria’s obligations under
international law are elaborated in section D.
Although the range of human rights protected under international law is very broad,
this primer will focus on those rights that are most likely to have been abused in the
context of the conflict in Syria [outlined in Section E]. On July 14, 2012, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) classified the conflict in Syria as a noninternational armed conflict. The ICRC had previously declared that this classification
only applied to certain territories, including Homs, Idlib, and Hama, but the spreading
3