2006, a year of progress in international humanitarian law

Like every year, 2006 was a year full of events pertaining to international humanitarian law, including the war in Lebanon, the continuing Darfur crisis, the investigations into secret detention and transfers of suspected terrorists by the CIA abroad and « special » interrogation techniques in various US detention centres, the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein, the crisis in Somalia, the death of Augusto Pinochet, the surrender of former Liberian president Charles Taylor to the Special Court for Sierra-Leone, the crises over the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Corea, etc.. It is impossible to describe all the important events of the past year in this foreword. We have chosen only some of them.

The trial of Saddam Hussein offered an opportunity for international justice to prevail and for underligning the importance of repressing crimes against humanity. This opportunity was largely squandered due to the refusal to have the ex-dictator tried by an international tribunal and due to the way his trial was organised and conducted before an Iraqi court. The appointment and dismissal of judges by the – obviously anti-Saddam – government, the intimidation and even murders of some of Saddam’s attorneys and some proceedings without the presence of the accused’s attorneys did not guarantee a fair trial. The furtive execution on the eve of the year, in a cellar, by a number of masked executioners shouting insults to the condemned dictator hardly reflected an image of justice. Rather, this was a missed occasion to show the world that that justice is more than vengeance.

In contrast, the International Criminal Court did not disappoint in 2006. In March, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, presumed leader of the Congolease « Patriots Union », movement that enroled children aged less than 15 to participate in armed hostilities, was handed over by the DRC autorities and became the first accused to be transfered to the Court. Meanwhile, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo elections raised hope that the hostilities will end.

2006 also marked another milestone for international humanitarian law as the 1949 Geneva Conventions obtained universal ratification. Nevertheless respect for international humanitarian law by armed forces and other mission personnel in operations commanded by the UN and other international organizations remains a challenge. The 1999 UN Secretary-General Bulletin on Observance by United Nations Forces of International Humanitarian Law was a step forward in this respect but an insufficiant one. At the eave of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the two Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions and following these conventions’ universality and the publication of the ICRC supported study on customary international humanitarian law, the UN should set out more extensively the international humanitarian law obligations of UNled forces. Similarly, 40 years after the adoption of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights it is high time that the UN takes appropriate action to set out the human rights standards to which its personnel is bound. Both appeals may be extended to other international organizations.

Weapons were also a topic in 2006. In particular, recent armed conflicts have illustrated the devastating effects of cluster munitions. In 2006, the Belgian parliament approved an Act banning cluster munitions by forbidding their possession, production, stockpiling, sale, transfer, importation and exportation, thereby taking a lead as it did earlier in respect of anti-personnel mines

… a year of scientific activities

In 2006, the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War celebrated its 50th anniversary. Created in 1956 after the failed attempt to create a European Defence Community, this « meeting point » of specialists has multiplied its scientific activities troughout the years: congresses, seminars for legals advisers, recommendations, publications, etc. Its ongoing efforts have been recognised by the granting of the consultative status at the UN. A short history of the Society is published at the end of this Review.

The XVIIth triennial congress of the Society was also organized this year and was attended by more than 200 participants from over 40 countries. The congress was held at the invitation of the Dutch National Group in Scheveningen from 16 to 21 May 2006 and dealt with The Rule of Law in Peace Operations. The proceedings of this congress are published partly in this Volume of the Review, and partly in the Recueil XVII of the International Society (forthcoming early 2007).

Also, the Belgian Centre for Military Law and the Law of War, together with the universities of Brussels (ULB) and Leuven (KUL), the Belgian Red Cross, the Belgian Interministerial Commission for Humanitarian Law and the International Association for Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research organised an international conference in Brussels on 12 and 13 Octobre 2006 about private security companies in situations of disturbances or armed conflicts (the socalled « private contractors »). The proceedings of this conference will be published in the Review 2007.

… and of changes for the Military Law and the Law of War Review

The Review’s scientific quality was recognised in 2005, when the Review was granted a valuable scientific « ranking » in the evaluation of Dutch-language and bilingual Belgian law journals by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) and was one of the 20 best ranked law journals of the 68 screened journals. However, there is still room for improvement and the editorial office of the Review has initiated a number of innovations in order to improve the Review’s quality and ranking in Belgium and abroad, including resort to peer reviewers.

Furthermore, as of 1 January 2007, Mr. Frederik Naert, legal advisor at the Directorate General Legal Support and Mediation of the Belgian Ministry of Defense, who is also associated to the Institute for International Law at the University of Leuven (KUL) as a Ph. D. Student and who has been the Director of the Society’s Documentation Centre, will become the new Director of the Review. The undersigned director will partly continue to assume the direction of the Review as Vice-Director and will assume the direction of the Society’s Documentation Centre.

We thank you for your confidence and we hope that we will continue to enjoy it in 2007 !