Human Rights in Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law*

This chapter discusses humanitarian law, one of the principal historic sources of human rights. It considers not only the essence of human rights in armed conflict and the interplay of human rights in peacetime and wartime, but also the problems of enforceability and supervision and, in this context, the role of reciprocity. It argues that certain crucial human rights provisions included in instruments pertaining to armed conflict are more advanced, specific, and elaborate than those of the general instruments such as the Political Covenant. Teaching suggestions, syllabus, and bibliographies are provided at the end of the chapter.