The Protecting Power System in International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

·         Conclusion :

We concluded through this research that despite the important and effective services that the

 protecting power can provide as an international mechanism for the application of international humanitarian law, but that carrying out its work in order to achieve this end faces many difficulties that would paralyze its work and in order to make this system more effective We came up with these recommendations: * The Powers, for the purpose of facilitating the designation of work and the appointment of the Protecting Powers, shall prepare and be in peacetime, persons qualified to perform the duties of delegates of the Protecting Powers. * In order for the parties to the conflict to accept the Protecting Power, the international community must abide by impartiality and that acceptance of the designation of the Protecting Power does not affect the legal status of the parties or the status of the occupied territory, so that each party retains its legal status. * The continuation of diplomatic relations between the two parties to the conflict should not be an obstacle to the appointment of a protecting power, especially if the protection required and established in the Geneva Conventions and the First Protocol is not available within the framework of diplomatic relations. * That the regime of the Protecting Power is mandatory and not subject to the consent and will of the parties to the conflict. Suggestions for the Effectiveness of the Protecting Power System: We also list the suggestions submitted by the expert meetings organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross in order to improve compliance with international humanitarian law, which were submitted to the Twenty-eighth International Conference of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in Geneva in December 2004 AD, which stated the following: A - Improving knowledge of the possibility of seeking assistance from the Protecting Power. b- Preparing a list of neutral countries willing to assume the role of a protector state and capable of doing so. C- Proposing the designation of a single joint protecting power for all the parties to the conflict. d- Assigning the Protecting Power the task of referring the alleged grave breaches and other grave breaches to the International Humanitarian Committee to investigate the facts and eliminate the conditions for consensus and initiative on the part of the parties to the conflict. The participants also suggested that the ICRC be more willing to accept the role of an alternative protecting power, or that the ICRC assume this role automatically. Article 5: Designation of the Protecting Powers and their substitutes 1 - It shall be the duty of the parties to the conflict to work, from the beginning of that conflict, to ensure the respect and implementation of the Conventions and this Annex “Protocol” by applying the system of the Protecting Powers, especially with regard to the appointment and acceptance of these Protecting Powers in accordance with the following paragraphs. The Protecting Powers are charged with looking after the interests of the parties to the conflict. 2 Each of the Parties to the conflict shall designate without delay a Protecting Power from the beginning of the situation referred to in Article I, with a view to applying the Conventions and this Annex to the “Protocol” and also, without delay, for the same purposes, the activity of the Protecting Power designated by the adverse Party and which has been accepted by the Party. himself as this. 3 - If a Protecting Power has not been appointed or accepted from the beginning of the situation referred to in Article 1, the International Committee of the Red Cross shall offer its good offices to the Parties to the conflict in order to designate without delay a Protecting Power to which the Parties to the conflict agree, without prejudice to the right of any other impartial humanitarian organization to do the same task. For this purpose, the Committee may request in particular each party to submit to it a list of at least five countries that this party believes can be accepted to act in its name as a protecting power to the opponent, and it asks all the opposing parties to submit a list of at least five countries that it satisfies.As a protectorate state for the other party, these lists must be submitted to the committee during the two weeks following the receipt of the request. The committee compares the two lists and works to obtain the approval of any country whose name is mentioned in both lists. 4 The Parties to the conflict shall, if, despite the foregoing, not appoint a Protecting Power, accept without delay the offer which the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other organization with all guarantees of impartiality and efficacy may make, to act as a substitute after the necessary consultations with these Parties and taking into account the The results of these consultations. The performance of such a substitute is subject to the consent of the parties to the dispute. These Parties shall make every effort to facilitate the work of the substitute in carrying out his mission in accordance with the Conventions and this Annex "Protocol". 5- The appointment and acceptance of the Protecting Powers for the purposes of implementing the Conventions and this Annex “Protocol” shall not affect the legal status of the parties to the conflict or the legal status of any territory whatsoever, including the occupied territory, in accordance with Article 4. 6- Maintaining diplomatic relations between the parties to the conflict or assigning a third country to look after the interests of one of the parties and the interests of its nationals in accordance with the rules of international law relating to diplomatic relations does not preclude the appointment of the Protecting Powers for the implementation of the agreements and this Annex “Protocol”. 7. The term Protecting Power, whenever referred to in this Annex, includes the alternative “Protocol