Lastly,a landmark provision is inserted in each treaty to provide parties to it with the right to prosecute and punish perpetrators of the grave breaches of the treaties as defined there under.This mechanism provides in fact universal jurisdiction for the contracting parties,whether or not the perpetrators are of their nationality.
6) The 1977 Additional Protocols
Following several calls for updating IHL since 1949,especially after the adoption in 1968 by the International Conference of the Red Cross in Tehran of Resolution ⅩⅩⅢ on human rights in armed conflicts,the ICRC published two draft protocols in 1973.The Swiss Government convened a diplomatic conference from 1974 to 1977,with the two protocols adopted by the conference on 8 June 1977.As of March 2007,167 States were parties to API and 1 63 to APII.China has been Dartyto both since 14 September 1983.The US is a non—party to both.27
The major points of contention in this round of codification included that of defining armed forces as precisely as possible and the issue of repatriation of prisoners of war at the close of a conflict.
7) IHL in the Early 1990s
The armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia(1992—1995) again raised issues of IHL on a large scale.The UN Security Council passed Resolutions 808(1993) and 827(1993) in February and May 1 993 to establish the ICTY to prosecute serious violations of IHL in the region.Resolution 808 decided to establish an international criminal tribunal for prosecution of persons responsible for serious violations of IHL in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.Resolution 827 was more specific as to the starting date of the jurisdiction,being 1 January 1991,while leaving the closing date to be determined.Further,the latter resolution was adopted under Chapter Ⅶ of the UN Charter,thus creating the tribunal as a matter of enforcement. 近15年来,国际人道法在实践和理论上的意义显得愈发重要,原因有以下三个。首先,大规模武装冲突直接威胁国际社会的和平与**,危机中必然涉及人道法下的权利与义务的遵守和执行。联合国安理会在处理此类危机局势时,越来越多地强调人道法规则的落实;而实践中存在的违反人道法行为,一直是各国关注的焦点:1994年卢旺达发生的灭种罪行;1999年北约在科索沃干涉而导致的平民伤亡与民用设施的损毁;从2002年起美国在关塔那摩基地关押“塔利班”和“基地”组织的被俘人员,等等。在这些震撼世界的事件中,人道法是处于冲突中个人(法律地位可能是平民、军人或二者之外的特别类型)所能得到的**法律保障。其次,20世纪90年代起出现的特设或混合国际刑事法庭和2002年开始运转的(常设)国际刑事法院,通过对造成国际影响的案件的调查和审理,实现了在国际法下对个人刑事责任的追究,并使之成为一项制度,展现出人道法对国际社会的重要保护作用,也使得诸多罪行得以在国际法中确立而脱离了国内刑法的有限范围。这是写本书的时代背景。
写作这本教科书的首要起因,源于我自2005年春季学期起在清华大学法学院开设的“国际人道主义法”课程(后改名为“国际人道法”);此后每年春天都上此课。教授对象从开始的大四学生,发展到后来的研究生与本科生混合上课。我自己准备的课件,在教学过程中得到不断充实、完善。
写作此书的次要原因是现有教材的缺乏。虽然本课程的教学在国外法学院已有多年的历史,但是经典教科书却是无从寻觅(可参看本书所列的参考书目);已有的关于武装冲突法的教科书多未经修订,与当今实践有明显距离。当然,在法文教科书中有较为出色的选择(E.David,Principes de droit des conflits armes,第三版,比利时Bruylant出版社2002年出版);但对于学生来说,语言问题使此书的使用并不现实。