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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ETHIOPIA: Troops trained in war-time human rights

ADDIS ABABA, 16 May 2003 (IRIN) - Ethiopian troops have undergone human rights training for the battlefield, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday.

Commanding officers from Ethiopia’s ground forces have just completed the first course on the law of war, it said.

The 38 officers, from the Awassa Military Corps and Legal and Training Departments, were praised for reaching a “milestone” in human rights law for Ethiopian troops.

The law of armed conflict (LOAC), while not prohibiting war, spells out “a balance between military necessity and the demands of humanity", the ICRC said in a statement.

“It requires belligerents to maintain a degree of humanity on the battlefield – to avoid harming non-combatants, for instance – and imposes limitations on means and methods of warfare,” the statement added.

Ethiopia has recently emerged from a bitter two-year border war with neighbouring Eritrea.

Corps commander General Abraha Wolde Mariam highlighted the importance of professionalism in the armed forces.

“Knowledge of LOAC and its full integration into all levels of command are an essential part of this,” he said.

Alain Aeschlimann, head of the ICRC in Ethiopia, said the 10-day course, held in the provincial town of Awassa, was “a milestone in the integration of international humanitarian law into the Ethiopian Ground Forces".

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Human Rights

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