CYIL Vol. 7, 2016

CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ ISLAMIC STATE, AN ACTOR THREATENING PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST to Chapter VII of the Resolution 2170 of 2014, strongly condemns the terrorist acts of ISIL and their violent extremist ideology and the continued, large scale, systematic, and extended abuse of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law . As international humanitarian law is concerned, violent acts and the threat of their use where their aim is to terrorize civilian populations are forbidden. 35 Concerning the question of whether these groups are international terrorist organizations, Bílková says that “International humanitarian law contains a rather autonomous regulation of terrorism/terror. This regulation is applied exclusively during armed conflicts and in some respects differs from the regulation valid during the time of peace. Ius in bello forbids terrorist measures, acts of terror even as separate acts – taking of hostages. That means that even during the armed conflict violent threatening of civilian population can represent a war crime, and the terrorist can be punished. Both a terrorist group and a state can commit the act of terrorism/terror.” 36 The Islamic state has breached international humanitarian law in many cases. Among these belong the executions of hostages and other cases of killing committed by the Islamic state. The Islamic state militants are said to have shot 300 people who worked for the Iraqi Electorial Commission of Iraq in Mosul in August 2015. 37 Another serious breach of the rules of humanitarian law is also the use of forbidden weapons, among which belong chemical weapons. Some sources claim that the militants of the Islamic state used a chemical substance called sulfur mustard (yperite) near Kirkuk, the metropolis of Iraqi Kurdistan in August 2015. The use of this chemical substance was confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). 38 Another issue is the position of individuals – terrorists , as the combatants of the Islamic state are viewed as terrorists who operate on the territory of Iraq and Syria. And whether they should be considered as combatants who are protected by the rules of international humanitarian law or not. From the point of view of the four features of irregular armed forces as defined by the Geneva Convention of 1949, we could state that the fighters of the Islamic state are marked, they have officers and openly carry their arms; however they do not fight in accordance with the rules of international humanitarian law – on the contrary, they grossly violate these rules. They have the character of illegal combatants, because they do not act according to the rules of the law of war . However, they cannot be considered civilians, because they are actively involved in the fight against individual states. Vogel 39 describes terrorists as illegal combatants or 35 Art. 13. para. 2, of the Additional Protocol II (1977) and Art. 51, para. 2, of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (1949). 36 BÍLKOVÁ, Veronika. Boj proti terorismu z pohledu ochrany lidských práv. Plzeň: Vyd. a nakl. A. Čeněk, 2014, p. 66. 37 Islámský stát údajně zavraždil 300 členů irácké volební komise. Právo 11. 8. 2015. 38 Islamisté v iráckém Irbílu podle všeho použili yperit. Právo 16. 2. 2016. 39 VOGEL, R. J. Drone Warfare and the Law of Armed Conflict. 39 Den. J. INT’L. and POL’Y 101 , 104 (2010-11), p. 119.

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