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12 - Protection of Medical and Humanitarian Personnel

from Part II - Specific Protection of Certain High-Risk Groups

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

Stuart Casey-Maslen  and
Tobias Vestner
Stuart Casey-Maslen
Affiliation:
University of Pretoria
Tobias Vestner
Affiliation:
Geneva Centre for Security Policy
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Summary

Medical personnel are granted special protection under international humanitarian law (IHL). Military medics in an international armed conflict are non-combatants, not civilians, while civilian medical personnel are protected first and foremost as civilians. There is also specific protection afforded to other humanitarian personnel engaged in impartial humanitarian action. Attacking medical personnel (or medical facilities) or attacking humanitarian personnel engaged in their duties during a situation of armed conflict is a war crime, as the chapter explains.

Keywords

Protectionmedical personnelhumanitarian personnelwar crime
Type
Chapter
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International Law and Policy on the Protection of Civilians , pp. 145 - 150
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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