Status of Unlawful Combatants and Their Protection under International Humanitarian Law
Loading...
Date
2009-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kampala International University, bachelors degree of laws
Abstract
The phenomenon of terrorism has brought so many challenges to International
Humanitarian Law. This dissertation analyses the provisions of International
Humanitarian Law which prohibit acts of terrorism and the legal issues raised by
responses to terrorist acts, i.e. by counter-terrorist operations or, as politicians
and the media have come to call it, "the war on terrorism". It has considered
the views of various scholars regarding the status of so-called "unlawful
combatants" and the controversy arising from their treatment after capture.
With the US on the one hand arguing that they torture of the unlawful
combatants is not prohibited under IHL because these unlawful combatants
are, as it were, outside the protections of the laws of war. The ICRC on the other
hand argues that there is no intermediate status. While all the debate goes on
allegations of torture in detention centres in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo
Bay are on the increase. The dissertation has, in line with these allegations,
examined the US legal issues concerning torture and other forms of mistreatment
of prisoners held by the united states in the "global war on terror" and from the
armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also examined the initial response
of the executive branch of the US government to the allegations of torture,
efforts by the US Congress to address these concerns, and the role of the US
courts. Finally, it has considered whether IHL is adequate to deal with the
phenomenon of terrorism.
Description
This Dissertation Is Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Award of Bachelor of Laws Degree in Kampala International University
Keywords
Unlawful Combatants, International Humanitarian Law