Failing to protect civilians in times of war

History teaches us that wars kill more civilians than soldiers. The late great Afro-Beat legend and human rights activist, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, distinguished between VIPs’ and PIVs’. The former are Very Important Persons (VIP) who run governments and start wars which invariably they don’t suffer the effects of, while the latter are the Poor Innocent Victims (PIV) who don’t start wars, fight wars, or support the war but suffer the consequences!

In the past year unjustifiable numbers of PIVs’ have died in armed conflicts worldwide. In Ukraine, Palestine, Myanmar, Nigeria and large swathes of the Middle East PIVs’ have been treated without dignity, deprived of their basic human rights, and slaughtered in their homes or while going about their legal business.

Protection of civilian populations during times of armed conflict is a basic humanitarian law which makes it abundantly clear that those not taking a direct part in the fighting, who are neither responsible for the war, nor support the death and destruction must on no account be harmed. Of course, it’s not possible to stop all tragedies from taking place, because they are usually the result of mistakes of targeting wrong locations.

In Nigeria in 2017 the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) “mistakenly” dropped two bombs on Rann, Borno State which killed 236 civilians. On Dec 3rd, 2023 NAF once again “mistakenly” bombed women and children celebrating Maulud in Tudun Biri Village in Kaduna State. Despite the fact that none of the families of victims has been compensated and no explanation given, the National Security Adviser has advised Nigerians to “move on”! This sounds ridiculously close to telling us that such occurrences are assured to repeat themselves in the future! Lamentably the affected families will not even have the satisfaction of knowing that someone was held responsible and punished for the “mistake” that caused them untold suffering.

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Under humanitarian laws, the civilian population is supposed to be protected from the dangers arising from, military operations. Attacks must be limited to military objectives whose destruction offers a definite military objective, and all civilians not taking part in the hostilities must be treated humanely. These PIVs’ are entitled to their respect, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions, their manners and their customs. Simply put the basic needs of non-combatants have to be respected in times of armed conflict.

While in Nigeria the killings have been avoidable mistakes, the Israeli military actions against Hamas constitute the quite deliberate killing of more than 18,000 Palestinians. Such indiscriminate attacks striking both military objectives and civilians without distinction must be internationally condemned. In refusing to denounce and censure the callous and intentional slaughter of civilians by a national government, the USA has proved that they are not fit and proper to preside over world affairs.

Many commentators assert the USA has lost its “moral right” to lead the world, while others point out that they never had it in the first place! The inescapable truth is that the USA is a nation born out of genocide, slavery, racism and uncompassionate governance.

White colonialists slaughtered the indigenous population, appropriated their land and mineral resources, brought in African slaves to develop the place with unpaid labour, and inserted racism into their constitution.

The USA has never acted in a compassionate manner towards those who are not white-skinned. Their unwavering support for the Israeli genocide of Palestinians reveals their lack of basic humanity and is a clear statement that Justice and equality are set aside when their interests are at stake. It’s immoral for the USA to place obstacles in the way of humanitarian assistance for civilian populations.

Vetoing a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza indicates America’s total disregard for humanitarian law and highlights their duplicity in the international arena.

Pretending to be the bastion of democracy and promoter of human rights, the USA is far more interested in enforcing the so-called “rights of homosexuals” than the rights of innocent Palestinians! While condemning Russia’s actions in the Ukraine, they wholeheartedly support the murderous Israeli campaign against Palestinians. It is hogwash for the USA to describe what is happening in Ukraine as genocide, but refer to the Israeli slaughter of Palestinian women and children as “self-defense”.

Reacting to their veto of the UNSC draft resolution for an immediate ceasefire and end to the slaughter in Gaza, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General said the USA has displayed a callous disregard for civilian suffering in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.  There is no justification for continuing to block meaningful action to alleviate the suffering. By failing to vote in support of a ceasefire it’s clear that the USA and the United Kingdom (UK) are out of touch with the rest of the world. Instead of supporting international law they unashamedly support Israeli genocidal actions against many for the actions of a few!

While the Hamas attack was condemnable, two wrongs do not make a right. Objecting to the fact that the UNSC draft proposal didn’t specifically condemn Hamas, means not supporting law or justice but supporting unrestrained vengeance. The worldwide continuing violations of humanitarian law can only be stopped when those like the USA and the UK responsible for upholding it take concrete measures. To paraphrase William Penn “Right is right even if America is against it!  And wrong is wrong even if America supports it!