ICRC Pakistan Holds Regional Training Course on Islam and IHL
From 21-24 June 2022, the Pakistan Delegation of the ICRC organized its annual four-day Regional Training Course on Islam and IHL in Islamabad. 31 professors of Islamic Studies from around the country, Afghanistan and Bangladesh attended. During the course major themes of IHL and its correspondence in Islamic Law, Siyar, were discussed by renowned experts of the subject, such as Dr Muhammad Munir (author of "Islamic Law of War and Peace") and Dr Muhammad Mushtaq (author of "Jihad, Muzahimat aur Baghawat").
Participants were divided into several groups and worked on related case studies, which ignited a lively debate on the issues of protection during war and situations of violence. Among the topics covered were "Introduction to IHL", "Introduction to Islamic Law of Siyar", "Protected Persons and Objects During War under Islam and IHL", "Commander's Responsibility", "Enforcement of IHL", "IHL and IHRL" and "Protection of Cultural Property in Islam and IHL".
Generally, the professors concluded that the basic principles of IHL are much indebted to Islamic Law as the former has an intellectual history of more than a thousand years. The resource persons also dispelled the impression that the main body of IHL, i.e. the Geneva Conventions and its Additional Protocols, are purely Western content, but that Muslim diplomats played an active part in laying the groundworks for those conventions.