China Urges Compliance With International Humanitarian Law

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 06, 2001

China Urges Compliance With International Humanitarian Law

Sha Zukang, Chinese delegate and ambassador to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva, urged Wednesday all parties involved in the conflict in the Middle East to restrain and stop violence against civilians to prevent any further deterioration of the situation.

Sha, also delegate of China to other international organizations in Switzerland, made the call at the conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention which was held in Geneva on Wednesday.

China Opposes Terrorism

He said, "We oppose any form of terrorism and are gravely concerned and worried about large civilian casualties caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

He emphasized that "The Chinese government always believes that each and every High Contracting Party has an unshakable legal obligation to respect and comply with international humanitarian law by protecting the legitimate rights and interests of victims of war as well as civilians."

Conflict Parties Should Comply with the Law

"It is hoped that all parties to the conflict will effectively respect and comply with relevant provisions of the Convention as well as the basic principles of international law," said the Chinese ambassador.

He said China has supported the proposal by the League of Arab States that a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention be reconvened.

Efforts to Realize Peace

Sha urged all sides to take effective steps to reopen negotiations and make efforts to achieve a negotiated political settlement at an early date, thus contributing to the realization of peace in the region.

The conference, attended by 122 participants, issued a declaration reaffirming the applicability of the Fourth Geneva convention to the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

International Humanitarian Law

International humanitarian law forms a major part of public international law and comprises the rules which, in times of armed conflict, seek to protect persons who are not or are no longer taking part in the hostilities, and to restrict the methods and means of warfare employed.

International humanitarian law (IHL) �C also known as the law of armed conflicts or law of war, has two separate branches:

the law of Geneva , or humanitarian law proper, which is designed to safeguard military personnel who are not or no longer taking part in the fighting and persons not actively involved in hostilities, particularly civilians;

the law of The Hague or the law or war, which establishes the rights and obligations of belligerents in the conduct of military operations, and limits the means of harming the enemy.

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