The
conflict in Chechnya falls within the meaning of Common Article
3 of the four Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 and of Protocol
II Additional to these Conventions.
The
indiscriminate attacks by Russian military forces against the civilian
population and civilian objects, including air and artillery bombardments,
resulted in violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Treatment
of Civilian populations. It also constitutes a violation of Protocol
II.
The
policies of the Russian government and its armed forces, as well
as the manner in which the indiscriminate use of force against protected
objects, constitute war crimes, for which the Russian government
leadership and the military leadership who participated in the making
and carrying out of these policies are responsible. Individual combatants
such as pilots and artillery officers who carried out orders to
indiscriminately kill civilians and destroy protected objects are
also individually responsible for the commission of war crimes if
the targets appeared to be unlawful.
It
is totally irrelevant to the application of the Geneva Conventions
and to the laws and customs of war that some of the actions of Chechen
insurgents are characterized as "terrorist." There is simply no
justification for the commission of deliberate and intentional violations
of Common Article 3, Protocol II, and the laws and customs of war.
It
is also significant to point out that international humanitarian
law prohibits reprisals against the civilian population and civilian
objects.
M.
Cherif Bassiouni is a professor of law and director of the International
Criminal Justice and Weapons Control Center at DePaul University
in Chicago. He chaired the UN Commission of Experts on the former
Yugoslavia, and is the author of Crimes Against Humanity in
International Criminal Law (Martinus Nijhoff, 1998).
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