IHL Law

INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

International Humanitarian Law is the set of international treaties customary rules that, in times of armed conflict, defend people who are not or are no longer taking part in hostilities and restricts the use of means end methods of war.
The State of Mauritius is party to most of the IHL instruments though it is a peaceful country and outside the arm conflict regions. The list of IHL instruments to which Mauritius is party is as follows:

SN	List of conventions signed or ratified by the State of Mauritius	Date signed/ratified by Mauritius
A1	The four Geneva Conventios and their Protocol 1949 Geneva Convention 1 for the Amelioration of the conditions of the Wounded and Sick in the Armed Forces in the Field	Ratified on 18 August 1970
A2	1949 Geneva Convention II for the Amelioration of the condition of the Wounded and Sick and Shipwrecked members of the Armed Forces at Sea	Ratified on 18 August 1970
A3	1949 Geneva Convention III relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War	Ratified on 18 August 1970
A4	1949 Geneva Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War	Ratified on 18 August 1970
A5	1977 Protocol I – Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict	Ratified on 22 March 1982
A6	1977 Protocol II – Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts	Ratified on 22 March 1982
A7	Final Act of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1974-1977	Signed on 10 June 1977
B	The Biological Weapons Convention 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction	Ratified on 7 August 1972
C	Chemical Weapons Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production Stock-piling and Use of chemical Weapons and their Destruction	Ratified on 9 February 1993
D1	1925, Geneva Protocol on Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare	Acceded on 12 March 1968
D2	1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain conventional Weapons (CCW) which may deem to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects	Acceded on 6 May 1996
D3	1980 Protocol I on the Non- Detectable Fragments	Acceded on 6 May 1996
D4	1980 Protocol II on the Prohibitions and Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-traps and other Devices	Acceded on 6 May 1996
D5	Amended Protocol II on the Prohibitions and Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-traps and other Devices (1996)	Ratified on 02 November 2018
D6	1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction	Acceded on 3 December 1997
D7	1980 Protocol III on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons	Ratified on 6 May 1996
D8	1995 Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons	Ratified on 6 May 1996
D9	Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War	Ratified on 02 November 2018
D10	2008, Convention on Cluster Munitions	Ratified on 01 October 2015
E	Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict	Ratified on 22 September 2006
F1	The Rome Statute 1998 Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court	Ratified on 5 March 2002
F2	Amendment to the Statute of the International Criminal Court	Ratified on 05 September 2013
G1	Convention on the Rights of the Child	Ratified on 26 July 1990
G2	The Optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict	Ratified on 12 February 2009
H1	Arms Trade Treaty	Ratified on 23 July 2015
H2	1948, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide	Acceded on 08 July 2019
H3	1976, Convention on the Prohibition of military or any hostile use of environmental modification techniques (ENMOD)	Acceded on 09 December 1992

The Human Rights Division is responsible for, inter alia, to advise and assist Government, through the International Humanitarian Law Committee in:

(i) implementing and spreading knowledge of International Humanitarian Law Instruments to which Mauritius is a party;
(ii) ensuring that the existing legislations are in compliance with IHL instruments;
(iii) reviewing the accession to further IHL instruments; and
(iv) supporting government initiatives to develop and enhance respect of IHL at regional and international level.

The Human Rights Division is also the focal point for various IHL instruments including Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and it ensures coordination with all stakeholders to fulfill the state obligations.

International Humanitarian Law Committee of Mauritius

The International Humanitarian Law Committee of Mauritius is established under the aegis of the Human Rights Division and comprises the following Ministries/Departments:

a) Head of Human Rights Division and/or his/her representative;
b) a representative of the Prime Minister's Office (Defence and Home Affairs Division);
c) a representative of the Mauritius Fire Rescue Service;
d) a representative of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare;
e) Commissioner of Police or his/her representative;
f) Solicitor-General or his/her representative;
g) Financial Secretary or his/her representative;
h) Secretary for Foreign Affairs and his/her representative;
i) a representative of the Ministry responsible for Social Security and National Solidarity;
j) a representative of the Ministry responsible for Health and Wellness;
k) a representative of the Ministry responsible for Education. Tertiary Education, Science and Technology;
l) a representative of the Ministry responsible for Arts and Cultural Heritage;
m) Director-General of the Mauritius Red Cross Society or his/her representative;
n) a representative of the Ministry responsible for Local Government, Disaster and Risk Management;
o) a representative of the Ministry responsible for Environment and Climate Change;
p) a representative of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre; and
q) a Secretary to the Committee to be designated by the Human Rights Division.

The Human Rights Division also engages actively with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Mauritius Red Cross Societies to increase awareness and promotion of the International Humanitarian Law instruments.

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IHL Law