Nagorno Karabakh Conflict - Law and War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Nagorno Karabakh Conflict - Law and War - Essay Example Second Geneva Convention 1949 is composed of 63 articles and mainly provides protection for those sick, wounded and shipwrecked soldiers who are involved in fighting war at sea. The Third Geneva Convention 1949 concentrates on war prisoners and has 143 articles. The category of the prisoners and their places of captivity are more precisely mentioned in the articles. Their financial assets and legal proceedings against them are also considered. The articles also state that the prisoners should be given civilised treatment and they should be given proper medical aid. The Fourth Geneva Convention 1949 deals with civilians although they are not involved in wartime activities. It has 159 articles and they were adopted after the World War II when it was seen that absence of such convention had disastrous effects on the civilians. It deals with protection of civilians against the consequences of wars. It distinguishes between foreigners on territories belonging to parties involved in war an d civilians in territories occupied during war. It also has a special clause for civilian interns. There is a common Article 3 which specifically deals with non-international armed conflicts that take place within the boundary of states. Such conflicts cover â€Å"traditional civil wars and internal armed conflicts†. This article states that all hostages should be treated in humane manner and prohibits murder and torture of the hostages. The â€Å"sick, wounded and shipwrecked† should be given proper medical aid. The Articles provides rights to the ICRC to help the parties in conflict (â€Å"The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols†).... The â€Å"sick, wounded and shipwrecked† should be given proper medical aid. The Articles provides rights to the ICRC to help the parties in conflict (â€Å"The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols†). The major portion of IHL is stated in the Geneva Conventions. There are some other agreements:- 1) protection of cultural property, 2) prohibition of use of weapons in armed conflicts that can cause harm to civilians, unnecessary suffering or long lasting damage to environment, 3) prohibition of children from getting involved in armed conflicts. This law also introduced several identifiable symbols and one common example is the Red Cross. There have been innumerous violations of IHL and one major example is the Nagorno- Karabakh Conflict (â€Å"What is International Humanitarian Law?† 2) International Criminal Law is formed to prohibit atrocities on people and such perpetrators will face legal proceedings. This law can be distinguished according to the acts of atrocities. The offensive conducts may be international or transnational. International crimes include thread against world security, genocide and war crimes. Transnational crimes include drug trafficking and terrorism among other crimes (Partin). Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Since early 1988, the area of Nagorno-Karabakh has been in dispute and been the cause of major conflicts between the South Caucasian nations of Azerbajian and Armenia. Throughout the conflict there have been thousands of deaths and even more refugees. A portion of over 14 percent of the area has been occupied by the Armenian forces after evicting all the Azeri population. The conflict is considered as internal or