A Manual of International Humanitarian Laws

Contents: Preface. I. The law and conventions: 1. The historical foundations of humanitarian action/Jean Guillermand. 2. Significance of the Geneva conventions for the contemporary world/Dietrich Schindler. 3. 1949 and 1999: making the Geneva conventions relevant after the Cold War/David Forsythe. 4. The 1977 protocols: a landmark in the development of International Humanitarian Law/Rene Kosirnik. 5. Essentials of the law of war/F. De Mulinen. 6. The law of air warfare/Javier Guisandez Gomez. 7. San Remo manual on International Law applicable to armed conflict at sea/Louise Doswald-Beck. 8. International Humanitarian Law and irregular warfare--Latin America/Joaquin Cuadra Lacayo. 9. The law of internal crisis and conflict/Tom Hadden and Colin Harvey. 10. Refugees and internally displaced persons--International Humanitarian Law and the role of the ICRC/Jean-Philippe Lavoyer. 11. International Humanitarian Law and the protection of the environment in time of armed conflict/Philippe Antoine. 12. International Humanitarian Law/Hans-peter Gasser. 13. The Martens Clause and the laws of armed conflict/Rupert Ticehurst. II. Enforcement and accountability: 1. Implementation of human rights and Humanitarian Law in situations of armed conflict/David Weissbrodt and Peggy L. Hicks. 2. Implementing International Humanitarian Law: problems and priorities/Dieter Fleck. 3. Training the armed forces to respect International Humanitarian Law--the perspective of the ICRC delegate to the armed and security forces of South Asia/David Lloyd Roberts. 4. Implementation of International Humanitarian Law: problems and prospects/Umesh Kadam. 5. The penal repression of violations of International Humanitarian Law applicable in non-international armed conflicts/Denise Platnner. 6. The evolution of individual criminal responsibility under International Law/Edoardo Greppi. 7. Accountability for international crimes: from conjecture to reality/Jelena Pejic. 8. The experience of the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda/Paul Tavernier. 9. Complementary jurisdiction and International Criminal Justice/Oscar Solera. 10. The International Criminal Court/Naorem Sanajaoba. III. Perspectives: 1. Acts of terror, "terrorism" and International Humanitarian Law/Hans-Peter Gasser. 2. New wars, new weapons? the obligation of states of assess the legality of means and methods of warfare/Isabelle Daoust, Robin Coupland and Rikke Ishoey. 3. Wired warfare: computer network attack and Jus in Bello/Michael N. Schmitt. 4. Landmines and measures to eliminate them/Jody Williams. 5. The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of Nuclear Weapons/Hisakazu Fujita. 6. Is there a 'droit d' ingerence' in the sphere of information? the right to information from the standpoint of International Humanitarian Law/Yves Sandoz. 7. The international fact-finding commission--article 90 of protocol I additional to the 1949 Geneva conventions/J. Ashley Roach. 8. The international committee of the red cross and humanitarian assistance--a policy analysis/David P. Forsythe. 9. The ICRC and civil-military relations in armed conflict/Meinrad Studer. 10. Conflict prevention and conflict resolution: limits of multilateralism: Fred Tanner. 11. International Humanitarian Law: an Indo-Asian perspective/V.S. Mani. 12. The wars of the 21 century/Herfried Munkler. Index.

"A Manual of International Humanitarian Laws, published with the academic support of the ICRC--the South Asia delegation in particular, is a basic manual for military leadership, senior officials in navy, airforce, army, police, judges, lawyers, jurists, non-state entities (rebel outfits), media, university and laws school professors and students in universities in India, South Asia and abroad. The selection is one of the best so far in the discipline.

The character of armed conflicts (read also war) has changed after 1990s; however, humanitarian laws regulate conduct of belligerents, restrict and limit means and methods of warfare in the 21 century, protect civilians, non-combatants, hors de combat and other protected persons.

The edited work--a significant one from an experienced and eminent professor of law and a campaigner for human rights-- in India's most volatile NE region is a must-read for every one in the west and the east, particularly South Asia. The work dwells upon the law and conventions, enforcement and accountability, the perspectives of the Humanitarian Laws-Geneva, the Hague and the UN laws and the trend." (jacket)