[Proposal] Standards of Warfare Act

The Stan Yera wishes to put forward the following proposal for discussion amongst members of the International Association of Nations. For ease of discussion, clauses shall be referred to by their respective Article, a period, and then the clause number (e.g. I.3, III.1, etc.)

Preamble

When two or more states come to war with each other, it is necessary to prevent undue suffering from any belligerent or neutral party, caused by any other party.

Therefore, the acts and arms of warfare shall be regulated, and those that inflict undue civilian or military suffering as a result of their design shall be restricted or prohibited in warfare.

Article I

This article shall define terms used in the Standards of Warfare Act (hereafter SoW)

1. Warfare - the period during which hostilities between two (2) or more states occurs.
2. Device of War - any weapon, munition, ordnance, or device used for the express purpose of harm during periods of warfare.
3. Acts of War - any action taken before, during, or after the conclusion of hostilities between two or more belligerent states through use of military resources against another state
4. Civilian - any noncombatant individual.

Article II

This article shall define Devices of War that shall be restricted or prohibited to prevent undue suffering.

1. The use of biological agents, including bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic organisms as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
2. The use of dirty bombs, a type of ordnance that combines radioactive material and conventional explosives to irradiate areas as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
3. The use of munitions designed to expand or fragment upon entering a body as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
4. The use of mines designed to maim or mutilate personnel or civilians as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
5. The use of chemical agents designed to maim or mutilate personnel or civilians as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
6. The use of cluster munitions designed to scatter explosive bomblets over an area in any manner is prohibited

Article III

This article shall define Acts of War that shall be restricted or prohibited to prevent undue suffering.

1. The act of genocide or mass killing of civilians or military personnel after their surrender to an opposing force in any manner is prohibited
2. The express targeting of civilians during periods of warfare by military forces in any manner is prohibited
3. The act of ignoring a request for surrender by any belligerent state by their opposing force in any manner is prohibited
3. Should a belligerent request to surrender, then it is prohibited for the opposing belligerent to ignore that request.
4. The act of coercion of civilians into taking up combatant roles in any manner is prohibited (this excludes any Draft System targeted at a state's own citizens)

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The Toliman delegation notes and supports the general message of the proposal and agrees with much of it. The only change we would suggest would be to perhaps consider changing instances of 'nation', despite this being the Council of Nations, to either 'states' or another similar word which would reflect non-national entities involved in conflicts such as civil wars or separatist conflicts.

Xentherida would like to propose an amendment to Article III.3; instead of "The act of ignoring a request for surrender by any belligerent nation by their opposing force in any manner is prohibited." we would like to amend it to read, "Should a belligerent request to surrender, then it is prohibited for the opposing belligerent(s) to ignore that request."

We feel this is because the original statement may be read the wrong way: for instance, in a conflict, belligerent A requests that belligerent B must surrender, and A would argue that it is prohibited for B to refuse the request for B to surrender.

The Goyanean delegation agrees with the Xentheridian amendments to the proposal.

Proposed amendments have been duly noted and are recorded into the document.

Regis Giquel, the Sil Dorsettian representative, stood up and proposed an amendment of their own to the Standards of Warfare Act.

"The Principality of Sil Dorsett hereby proposes an amendment to Article II, adding a prohibition of the use of explosive weapons that release smaller explosive bomblets over a wide area, also known as cluster munitions. The danger presented by these weapons to civilian populations for decades following a conflict, primarily from unexploded bomblets, is unacceptable. These weapons must be done away with!"

Text of the Cluster Munitions Amendment:

Article II of the Standards of Warfare Act is amended to add the following clause:

6. The use of cluster munitions designed to scatter explosive bomblets over an area in any manner is prohibited

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Elizabeth was at home and outside on the lawn doing yoga when her phone went off. Looking over to see who was calling, she saw it was one of her two aides maintaining her office at the International Association of Nations. She quickly unfolded herself from her current yoga position and answered her phone, "hello Alejandro, has the Council finally been reconvened with me needed back at the office?"

Alejandro: "No, no Senhora Vieyra... all is still quiet here. However, we do have the delegation from the Stan Yera putting forward yet another proposal. I've sent over a copy to your work email for you to look over."

Elizabeth: "Oh? I'm curious if the organization will finally get around to doing something."

As the phone call continues with the two discussing events happening at the Association, Elizabeth heads inside, boots up her laptop and brings up the PDF of the Yeran proposal. She reads through the articles and points put forward.

Elizabeth: "Huh... this might actually be something that will get consent and approval from the Prime Minister's and the Ministry. Give me fifteen minutes to write up my thoughts and I'll send it to you and Sofia to put forward on my behalf. I'll wrap things up here at home and head on back to the office sometime in the next few days."

Alejandro: "Sounds good. The two of us will make sure that you're office is neat and presentable for when you arrive."

Hanging up the phone, Elizabeth turns her attention back to the PDF and starts to compose her thoughts on the proposal. A little over fifteen minutes later, she has typed up her notes and sent it off to Alejandro and Sofia to put forward for her.

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While this proposal and its contents are sound and something that will very likely get the approval of the Prime Minister of Kalti and the Prime Minister of Andalucia, I must question why these articles were not incorporated into either the 'Charters to Prevent and Punish Wartime Misconduct; War Crimes Tribunal and Wartime Conduct' proposal or the 'Criminal Court of Eras' proposal. Both of these already deal with certain elements proposed here in the 'Standards of Warfare Act', namely genocide and the targeting of civilian populations. Why then must we have redundancy among the various proposals put forward to the International Association of Nations. Would it not be better to incorporate these articles into the proposed courts? This ends up working to everyone's advantage as one of the two court proposals will, at the end of the day, be responsible for overseeing and ensuring that all nations comply with the laws of this organization.

With regards to Article III, Section 4, I would like some clarification. The section in question is:

4. The act of coercion of civilians into taking up combatant roles in any manner is prohibited (this excludes any Draft System targeted at a state's own citizens)

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The Merilian League has been neutral since the mid 1800's and has avoided getting dragged into the numerous conflicts that seem to spring up around Eras on a daily basis. However, our government does have a contingency plan in place should the League ever come under attack from an outside force. Since we declared our neutrality, we have never once utilized this plan though it still exists and what it does is it allows the federal governments of Kalti and Andalucia to authorize all ammo depots across the nation to open their stocks to all citizens who have been trained by the armed forces. Essentially they are called upon by their government to defend their homeland. Please note that we do not classify this as a Draft System nor do we have a Draft System since we have mandatory conscription of two years for all citizens once they reach the age of eighteen. My question to you is this, does this plan violate the above mentioned point or no?

Does article 4 on the coercion of civillians prohibit the formation of Partisans?

"The representative from the Stan Yera can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the purpose of III.4 is to prevent militaries from forcing foreign civilians into service. Say for example when the Cogorian army landed in Scallendovia, they cannot force Scallendovian citizens into the Cogorian military," Regis said in response to the Cogorian representative's question.

"I do not believe that impacts convincing civilians to willingly form partisan armies. Pressuring someone using threats, however, I believe would be illegal. Perhaps the article could be rewritten to clarify this?"

To the Dorsettian's first statement regarding the addition of a clause, the Yeran delegation sees no problem with it, and shall edit it into the proposal as clause II.6

Standards of Warfare Act:

Article II

This article shall define Devices of War that shall be restricted or prohibited to prevent undue suffering.

1. The use of biological agents, including bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic organisms as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
2. The use of dirty bombs, a type of ordnance that combines radioactive material and conventional explosives to irradiate areas as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
3. The use of munitions designed to expand or fragment upon entering a body as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
4. The use of mines designed to maim or mutilate personnel or civilians as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
5. The use of chemical agents designed to maim or mutilate personnel or civilians as Devices of War in any manner is prohibited
6. The use of cluster munitions designed to scatter explosive bomblets over an area in any manner is prohibited

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To the Merilian delegation's statement regarding the apparent redundancy in terms from other proposals. I would note that yes, while the prohibition of genocide and attacking civilians is prohibited by both the Merilian CCE proposal and the Yeran WCT proposal, it would ultimately be better suited to be included in an act such as this, as both are war crimes, which this Proposal addresses specifically. Furthermore, by keeping this Act separate from an International Judiciary, it would be easier to pass than having to wade through back-and-forth over the minutiae of said judiciary's operations, as we have seen with both the CCE and WCT, and therefore sets a baseline upon which a future judiciary may act. I hope this clarifies our intent in this section.

To your statement regarding III.4, your inference is correct. Your governments are not coercing their citizens into service, and are instead offering them the ability to defend their country voluntarily. Unless by opening the ammo depots, you also force every citizen in ownership of a firearm out to go and collect munitions from the depots, but I suspect that you do not.

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To address the Cogorian and Dorsettian concerns over III.4, the Dorsettian understanding is correct. We would have assumed coercion, which refers to persuasion through threats and force specifically, had been clear enough, but would be open to restructuring of the clause to better clarify this point.

Although the Mouxordian delegation vehemently abhors the use of a standing fighting force to resolve international issues, we agree that all precautions must be taken to ensure the preservation of the peoples (and species) of the world and their properties. It is with the authority invested in us by the IAN that we motion to vote in favor of and forward the proposal to a status of official resolution and implementation into international law under the IAN.