International mechanisms for the protection of the right to life in armed conflicts

Abstract

The article is devoted to the actual topic of international mechanisms for the protection of the right to life in international and non-international armed conflicts.

The increase in the number of armed conflicts in the world and, with them, violations of the right to life of the people, necessitates a generalization of the normative theory and practice of international bodies that promote and protect the fundamental right to life. That is why the article reveals, compares and generalizes the normative, theoretical and practical tools within the international mechanisms of protecting the right to life in conditions of military confrontation.

The regulatory framework of the article is based on the IHL, in particular: the Geneva Conventions (1949) and the two Additional Protocols thereto, the Hague Conventions (1907), customary norms, etc., as well as international human rights instruments, in particular: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the two Optional Protocols thereto, and regional acts: the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950), the American Convention on Human Rights (1969), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981), the Arab Charter on Human Rights (2008), etc.

The most problematic issues in the article that arise during armed conflicts and which relate to the lawful use of force against warriors, the lawfulness of the deaths of civilians during an attack on military purposes (collateral damage), precautionary measures, which must be taken by States using lethal force, the obligation of States to investigate every death case, etc. will be considered in the light of the activities of the UN Human Rights Committee, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and European Court of Human Rights, whose practice in this area is represented the most versatile, widely and thoroughly.