CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS ON THE CONDUCT OF HOSTILITIES AND CIVILIAN HARM MITIGATION UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

Abstract

Abstract

Armed conflicts inevitably place civilians at risk, making the regulation of the conduct of hostilities under International Humanitarian Law crucial, more particularly, in exploring how Nigeria has approached these obligations in its counterinsurgency operations against Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province. The implication of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution requiring armed forces to separating civilians from combatants, ensuring avoidance of excessive harm, as well as conducting feasible steps in protection of non-combatants. Furthermore, there are other legal duties, inclusive of emerging civilian harm mitigation practices such as collateral damage estimation, casualty tracking, and reparations. Against this backdrop, the authors argued the need for Nigeria to recognize the associated obligations in the midst of serious gaps in both law and practice. The paper therefore maintained that the incomplete domestication of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, the difficulties of fighting asymmetrical warfare, limited access to advanced intelligence and technology, weak accountability mechanisms, and the absence of transparent reporting on civilian casualties remained glaringly inevitable. The authors concluded that these shortcomings remained the challenges which often-times continue to confront the protection of communities as well as promoting the erosion of public trust in conduct of military operations.