Resolution for the Respect of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law in Times of Armed Conflict

Noting the persistence of armed conflict in Africa, in particular internal armed conflicts and the human suffering that they cause;

Conscious that injustice, discrimination, exclusion, corruption, elections and poverty constitute the sources of armed conflict in Africa;

Convinced that the respect for international humanitarian law and human rights makes it possible to avert the escalation of violence and to facilitate the settlement of conflicts;

Concerned about the fact that the civilian populations have become the principal victims of the acts of violence perpetrated during armed conflicts;

Concerned by the wide spread usage of the illicit means and methods of combat, notably the attacks against individuals who are not participating in or are no longer participating in the hostilities;

Concerned by the illicit circulation of light arms, the recruitment of mercenaries and the use of children in hostilities;

Taking note of the fact that the Statutes of the ICC, which entered into force on the 1st July 2002, cover the most serious crimes of international significance from the point of view of international humanitarian law;

Worried by the persistence of the culture of impunity which is manifested by the adoption of laws of general or special amnesty;

Recognizing the universality of international humanitarian law and the fundamental principles of human rights and their complementarity in situations of armed conflict;

Request the Commission to adopt a Resolution requesting:

1. The Members States of the African Union:

To ratify the instruments of humanitarian and human rights law to which they have not yet acceded, in particular the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;

To respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law under any circumstances, as stipulated by Article 1 common to the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 on the protection of the victims of armed conflicts, and to guarantee the effectiveness of human rights;

To take all the legislative, regulatory and adequate practice measures to implement their obligations stemming from international humanitarian law, including the imposing of criminal sanctions, and human rights instruments;

To ensure that genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of humanitarian law are duly pursued and punished by national Courts or, if need be, by the International Criminal Court;

To ensure wide dissemination of the instruments of international humanitarian and human rights law among the civilian population and the integration of these instruments into the programmes of military education and school curricula;

2. To the Parties to the Conflict:

To ensure that the hostilities are conducted in a manner conforming to the laws and customs of war, notably in making, at all times, the distinction between civilians and combatants and between civilian property and military objectives;

To guarantee the respect for international humanitarian law as a means of avoiding population displacements, both within the territory where the conflict is taking place and towards neighboring States;

To ensure that individuals of less than 18 years do not take part in the hostilities and to take adequate measures to this effect;

To respect and protect victims of conflicts without distinction as to the side to which they belong and, in particular, to ensure that detained persons are not subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and that they benefit from procedural and judicial guarantees as stipulated by international humanitarian and human rights law;

To ensure that humanitarian workers are respected and protected;

To guarantee the access to victims of armed conflict and of all other forms of violence and to facilitate the coordination of emergency humanitarian activities for the humanitarian organizations responsible for providing assistance and protection to the victims;

Done in Banjul, The Gambia, 8 May, 2006