International Law
Jabalia medics, evacuated from their targetted ambulance station, waiting on street for calls. Their old bullet-proof vests are too heavy to for most to work effectively in. Pic by Mohammed Rujailah
Click here for the basics regarding the protection of civilians and medical personel and resources under international law… the document is easy to read and understand: International Humanitarian Law, April 2011: Summary of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols
International Law – (draft version which needs to be completed with sources included)
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is founded on the desire to alleviate the suffering caused by war. To this end, IHL – and the Fourth Geneva Convention in particular – specifically protects medical facilities and those persons engaged in the search for, and care of, the wounded and sick.
Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention requires that medical facilities be respected and protected: in no circumstances may they be the object of an attack. Article 20 explicitly requires that “persons engaged in the search for, removal, and transporting of and caring for wounded and sick civilians … be respected and protected.”
IHL also places an obligation on all Parties to a conflict, to “facilitate the steps taken to search for the killed and wounded”. This is a pressing, positive obligation. As far as the military situation allows, medical and relief personnel must be allowed to carry out their work.
As non-combatants, IHL grants medical and relief personnel the same rights, protection, and immunity as civilians. They must be spared the effects of hostilities to the greatest extent possible, and they may not be directly targeted; doing so constitutes the crime of wilful killing and amounts to a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.
As High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, all States are under a legal obligation to ensure respect for the Conventions in all circumstances. The individual States of the international community are thus under an obligation to hold accountable those who violate the fundamental principles of IHL.
July 15, 2012 at 21:58 |
My name is Naazly,I am from South Africa,I would love to Volunteer in Palestine,However I am muslim,would I need a Mahram to travel to another muslim country e.g my father,brother,husband..?would the Palestinian embassy allow me to travel by myself or maybe with a volunteer group? Do I need a Mahraam?
July 22, 2012 at 23:00 |
Hi Naazly, we are not Muslim so we don’t know about the Mahraam arrangement, but we think in Palestine it is not necessary unless you choose it. Israel controls all the borders into Palestine, and they have Jews, Muslims and Christians crossing their borders as well as many other religions, so you should be fine there at least from a religious viewpoint, they will not require you to be accompanied. When you enter into the West Bank (Palestine), again Israel controls this crossing, as it does the checkpoints within the West Bank itself, so they do not have any Muslim requirements. It is fine for tourists of all religions to be in the West Bank, from a Palestinian point of view, so even if your papers are checked by Palestinian police within the West Bank, it is fine for you to be unaccompanied, Muslim women can travel freely alone in Palestine – some choose to travel with their relatives, but many are happy to travel alone and this is normal. If you contact a Muslim volunteering organisation that has a presence in Palestine they may be able to suggest a group you would like to travel with if you are more comfortable this way. Or you can contact a Palestinian women’s organisation who could welcome you if that helps. Good luck!