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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ETHIOPIA: Army legal experts undergo human rights training

ADDIS ABABA, 10 November 2003 (IRIN) - Legal experts for the Ethiopian armed forces have undergone key training on the law of war, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Sunday.

Robert Zimmermann, deputy head of the ICRC, said the military legal advisors played a vital role in planning armed operations and offering support to commanders. It was the first time that legal advisors of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces had undergone a specialised course in the Law of Armed Conflict (LoAC).

"The legal advisors to the commanders have a key role in planning military operations," Zimmermann said in a statement released by the ICRC. "Their advice can only lead to the full application of those rules which govern the conduct of hostilities and the protection of people who are no longer taking part in the conflict," he said.

The LoAC, while not prohibiting war, rather spells out a balance between military necessity and the demands of humanity. It requires combatants maintain a degree of humanity on the battlefield to avoid harming non-combatants, and imposes limitations on means and methods of warfare.

Some 25 legal advisors took part in the five-day course in the capital Addis Ababa. Topics included examples of "grave breaches" of international humanitarian law in past conflicts such as those in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The legal advisors were also taught rules surrounding the "conduct of military operations" and the role of legal advisors in the armed forces.

General Alamu Ayele, of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, said the training helped "broaden and consolidate" their knowledge on international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile, the ICRC announced that 77 Eritrean civilians were repatriated from Ethiopia to Eritrea on Friday. Among them were four children who were reunited with their families. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a two-year border war which ended with a peace deal signed in December 2000 and the setting-up of an independent boundary commission to settle the border dispute.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Human Rights

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