By
LEUT Aaron Matzkows
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Hornets
leave the flightline for night operations at the height
of Operation Falconer last year.
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Photo
by WO2 Al Green
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AIR
Force commanders needed a working knowledge of the law in operational
circumstances, CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston has told a major
seminar.
He was addressing the annual Solferino Seminar last month, organised
by the International Humanitarian Law Department of the Australian
Red Cross in Canberra
AIRMSHL Houston used the occasion to launch the second edition
of the handbook Operations Law for RAAF Commanders.
The second edition has been prepared because of major changes
in international and national environments since the first was
published.
“The global security situation is now less certain, international
as well as domestic law has evolved and the Air Force itself has
changed and adapted to these new demands,” AIRMSHL Houston stated
in the book’s foreword. “At a time when observance of operations
law has become a critical and underpinning feature of all Air
Force members’ duties, becoming well informed of the law also
becomes every member’s responsibility.”
While the publication was not a substitute for the specialist
legal officer, it provided the basic knowledge vital to commanders
to be able to conduct or be prepared to conduct operations.
“In an environment of rapid legal development and increasing scrutiny
from the Government, media and the community, this publication
is a timely and necessary addition to every commander’s reference
collection,” AIRMSHL Houston said.
Addressing the seminar, AIRMSHL Houston said while it remained
the objective of all commanders to win, there must be and were
limits to the means and methods used.
“Commanders are expected to be aware of their legal obligation
to prevent unnecessary injury and suffering and to alleviate as
much as possible the calamities of war,” he said.
“The Law of Armed Conflict not only regulates the conduct of nations,
but also governs the behaviour, and conduct, of individual combatants
and non-combatants during times of armed conflict.
“Specifically, a commander will be held accountable if an order
is given to a subordinate to commit a breach of the Law of Armed
Conflict or if they know a breach is occurring and fail to intervene.
“A commander is also liable for prosecution if they fail to act
to prevent a breach of the Law of Armed Conflict that they should
have known about.”
AIRMSHL Houston said that in last year’s conflict in Iraq, to
support its 14 Hornets, Australia posted 46 people to the Combined
Air Operations Centre and six legal officers at the tactical level
to ensure targets assigned to the ADF were appropriate and lawful.
A further four legal officers worked at the operational level.
“During Operation Falconer, Australian pilots could, and did,
abort missions to avoid the risk of unintended casualties if their
target could not be clearly identified from the air,” he said.
He said the choice of weapons also could play an important part
in complying with the Law of Armed Conflict.
“While other coalition members used both precisionguided munitions
and unguided bombs, RAAF Hornets used only precision-guided weapons
... either the 500lb Guided Bomb Unit 12 or 2000lb Guided Bomb
Unit 10.
“It’s a command decision as to which weapon to use. And while
many factors are relevant to the choice of weapon, this decision
will be guided by the basic principles of the Law of Armed Conflict
... military necessity, unnecessary suffering and proportionality.”
What’s
in the name
THE
Solferino Seminar, organised and sponsored by the International
Humanitarian Law Department of the Red Cross in Canberra, is named
after the Battle of Solferino.
On June 24, 1859, a combined French and Piedmontese army fought
Austrian Empire forces in northern Italy during the Austro- French
war.
The two armies, totalling 270,000 men, battled for 16 hours. Casualties
amounted to 40,000, with both sides shooting and bayoneting the
wounded.
Swiss businessman Jean Henri Dunant witnessed the carnage and
later wrote a pamphlet, A Memory of Solferino, in which he called
for an international network of volunteer relief agencies. The
Swiss Government, at his urging, called an international conference
in 1863 to discuss how to implement his recommendations.
The conference led directly to the Geneva Convention on the rules
of war and to Dunant’s foundation of the International Red Cross.
