Civilian Objects in International Humanitarian Law

The fires of war do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, nor between civilian objects and military targets. The fires of war consume everything relentlessly and mercilessly. This has led the international community to strive to establish legal rules that provide protection for civilians through international humanitarian law, especially after the widespread destruction and devastation witnessed by the world following World War II (1939–1945), and its catastrophic effects, which left over 60 million dead, most of them civilians, in addition to numerous crimes committed against them, such as forced displacement, migration, refuge, destruction of their property, and the infrastructure of their countries without distinguishing between civilian objects and military targets.

Human history recalls that the 1868 St. Petersburg Declaration was the first international document to refer to the principle of distinguishing between military and civilian targets, noting that the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 explicitly referred to the protection of civilian objects before addressing the protection of civilians themselves.

Subsequently, international efforts culminated in the adoption of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which concerns the protection of civilians during armed conflicts, and is considered the first international treaty specifically for the protection of civilians in armed conflicts. A civilian is defined as anyone who does not participate in or fight in hostilities, and in case of doubt as to whether a person is civilian or military, the civilian status prevails. This civilian status extends to civilian objects, including citizens’ homes, places of worship, hospitals, schools, universities, museums, cultural, artistic, and historical sites, dams, bridges, water and electricity stations, markets, shops, civilian airports, metro stations, transportation, banks, diplomatic missions, and other locations that are not military objectives.

It is important to note that these sites may lose their protection if used for military purposes.

International humanitarian law also stipulates the protection of the natural environment due to the severe and long-term damage that war causes to it. Therefore, it prohibits the contamination of water reservoirs and channels to poison civilians, agricultural lands, or livestock. The 1907 Hague Convention, in Article 23, also prohibits the use of poison or poisoned weapons and the burning of crops.

Due to the gravity of these actions, international humanitarian law considers anyone committing them to be a war criminal. The International Criminal Court has classified attacks on civilian objects as a crime of war, as stated in Article 8 of its Statute, paragraph 2, clause 4, which is a crime that is not subject to statute of limitations, and the perpetrator cannot benefit from an amnesty.

In contrast, international humanitarian law seeks to alleviate the suffering of civilians by providing protection for them and for objects essential to their lives and livelihoods, which the conflicting parties must take all necessary measures to avoid targeting during military operations.

Article 52 of the 1977 Additional Protocol outlines the general protection of civilian objects, prohibiting all types of military attacks on them. It also prohibits any act that would endanger the lives of civilians, as well as the use of starvation, blocking food, humanitarian aid, or relief from reaching civilians as a military tactic.

The 1954 Hague Convention came to obligate parties involved in conflicts to refrain from targeting civilian objects, especially cultural ones, and prohibited using them for military purposes, as well as protecting these objects from theft, looting, or destruction. This protection was in response to events during World War II when numerous cultural properties were destroyed as a means to instill terror and humiliate civilians. The 1999 Protocol II to the Hague Convention of 1954 further strengthened the protection of cultural objects.

All of the above forms a legal international basis that demonstrates the attention of international humanitarian law to civilian objects. In practice, regarding the actions of the terrorist militias, they have committed heinous acts against civilian objects, which have been documented and published across various media platforms. Attorney General and Chairman of the National Committee for Militia Violations, Mr. Al-Fateh Taifour, stated that the militias committed numerous violations, including looting and occupying citizens’ homes and property, looting 126 banks, destroying 5 museums, looting stores of the Gezira Project, poisoning 700 civilians in the Al-Hilaliya area, and killing many livestock by poisoning water. They used starvation as a weapon against civilians, preventing them from farming, and targeted hospitals across Khartoum and Darfur states. Dialysis centers were targeted with missiles and heavy weapons, leading to the shutdown of 259 hospitals. Approximately 16,000 students from various educational levels were prevented from continuing their studies, and nearly 10,000 children were forcibly recruited and used as human shields.

The militias also destroyed 90% of the industrial infrastructure, attacked newspapers, television and radio stations, news agencies, and six civilian airports in various states.

All these attacks are documented, and the authorities have concrete evidence of their occurrence, requiring accountability and classification of these militias as a terrorist group committing war crimes.