A legal analysis 0f the effects of armed conflicts on humanity

Abstract

Armed conflicts cause significant psychological and social suffering to affected populations and can undermine the long-term mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of the affected population.1 In situations of armed conflict, communities as well as individuals are often affected in a way which destroys unity and solidarity of the social networks. Households are left without breadwinners, the livelihoods of individuals are threatened and the safety of communities and the human rights of individuals are not preserved. Aside from the physical and emotional trauma of these oppressive and deliberate actions, such events have long lasting effects upon the ability of these communities to recover in the wake of armed conflict.2 Existing international legal literature recognizes that parties to armed conflicts and individual combatants are legally required not only to refrain from deliberately attacking non-combatants and civilian objects, but also to take care to ensure (to the extent feasible) that such persons are not killed or injured, and such objects not destroyed or damaged, by accident or incidentally during military operations. This study will therefore discuss the conventional and customary international humanitarian law (law of armed conflicts). The study will give a legal definition of armed conflicts, it will also discuss the types of armed conflicts as defined by the laws of armed conflicts and will provide the different laws that regulate armed conflicts for example the four Geneva convention and the two additional protocols and others. The study will then focus on the effects of armed conflicts on humanity, it should be noted that the women and children are the categories of people mostly affected by armed conflicts and therefore the study will discuss ways in which the children, women and other protected persons are continuing to be affected by armed conflicts and discuss the mechanisms put in place by the international community to minimize effects of armed conflicts on women, children and other protected persons under international humanitarian law, the chapter will discuss the principles set forth by the international humanitarian law to protect civilian objects and others who have ceased to take part in armed conflicts like the wounded, the sick and the prisoners of war (POW).