A country’s military brazenly bombs health facilities, and livestreams acts of genocide. Another breaks the UN Charter by invading its neighbour in a war of aggression.
It’s clear that the world’s rules-based multilateral systems and structures of international law are not working.
“Humanitarian law has become a term of art, a term that only sets the rules: This is when you can kill and when you cannot kill,” says Michael Addo, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, and an expert in international human rights law and international business policy.
Humanitarian law says hospitals must not be attacked, and medical staff and the wounded must be protected. But states and militaries manipulate exceptions to justify their actions – such as when Israel has bombed hospitals in Gaza, claiming that Hamas uses human shields.
“These exceptions become the playground of military lawyers,” says Neve Gordon, a professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London.
Oona Hathaway, a professor of international law at Yale Law School, says the world has robust rules compared to earlier conflicts.
“They’re certainly not living up to their promise,” she says. “The struggle for international lawyers is do we just throw it out? Do we give up, given that we’re facing over 60,000 civilians killed in Palestine, tens of thousands killed in Sudan, many thousands killed in Ukraine… And yet what looking at history teaches us is that things could be far worse. I don’t think that’s a comfort, but it is a reality.”
What can countries, communities, and citizens do?
On the latest episode of the Rethinking Humanitarianism podcast, Addo, Gordon, and Hathaway take a critical look at the systems and structure of international laws and norms. They discuss what it would take to move forward – from decentralised ways of enforcing criminal law, to including non-state actors, to erasing the legal loopholes used to justify violence.
Guests:
Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, and a fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences. He has written extensively about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the bombing of healthcare facilities, and coined the term “medical lawfare”.
Oona Hathaway, professor of international law at Yale Law School who has been a member of the Advisory Committee on International Law for the legal adviser at the US Department of State since 2005, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 2011. She is working on a book titled “War Unbound: Gaza, Ukraine, and the Breakdown of International Law”.
Michael Addo, law professor at the University of Notre Dame and lawyer with expertise in international human rights law and international business policy. The UN Human Rights Council appointed him in 2011 to join its Working Group on Business and Human Rights, which he currently chairs.
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