Russia-Ukraine conflict shines light on human shields: What is this inhumane practice and is it punishable by law?

As the Russian offensive enters its second week, Indian students in Ukraine are struggling to escape the conflict and violence. Amid this dire situation, Russia on Wednesday said its military was doing everything possible to ensure the safe removal of Indians from the “war zone” but claimed that the Ukrainians were holding a group of Indian students hostage to use them as human shield. According to news agency PTI, Vladimir Putin provided this information to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a phone call on Wednesday. We take a look at what is a human shield, and how this inhuman practice has been adopted in the past. What’s a human shield? The term “human shields” means the presence of civilians or the movement of civilian population — whether voluntary or involuntary — used in order to shield military objectives from attack, or to shield, favor or impede military operations. The use of ‘human shields’ is forbidden by Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions. Moreover, the practice of using human shields is punishable as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. Despite this, there are several examples of human shields being used by both state and non-state actors even in the 21st century. Historical records show that the use of civilians as a way to discourage enemy fire can be traced as far back as the conquests of Genghis Khan in the early 13th century through to the 2 World Wars. The Wire reports that military historians have reported the use of human shields to the American Civil War, and is now an established part of warfare around the world. Voluntary or coerced Civilians acting as human shields can be divided into three categories — voluntary {those who shield military targets of their own free will}, unknowing {civilians who have neither volunteered nor been coerced into serving as human shields, but are located near a legitimate military target} or involuntary {civilians or hostages who are coerced into shielding a military target}. American college student Rachel Corrie is one of the most famous examples of a voluntary human shield. A peace activist, she was killed while trying to stop an Israeli army bulldozer demolish a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip in 2003. Corrie had been with some eight other activists from the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement {ISM} acting as human shields in an effort to stop the demolition in the Rafah refugee camp. The Israeli authorities said at the time that demolitions were necessary because Palestinian gunmen used the structures as cover to shoot at their troops patrolling in the area, or to conceal arms-smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. But what of the involuntary human shield, employed by militants, political rulers and army personnel alike? It has been often noted that weaker armies employ human shields as a method of warfare designed to counter attacks against which they cannot effectively defend using the weaponry and forces at their disposal. Michael N Schmitt, an expert on the matter, has maintained that an involuntary human shield becomes an instrument of war. A very famous example of a human shield could be that of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam {LTTE} using fleeing citizens as human shields. Infamous examples of human shields A very tragic instance of using human shields emerges from Pakistan in 2007. After overrunning the Lal Masjid complex in Islamabad, the Pakistan Army reported that the terrorists, led by the brothers Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid, who had taken over the buildings, were using women and children as human shields. In 1990, Iraqi soldiers on the orders of Saddam Hussein held hundreds of citizens of Western countries as human shields in an attempt to deter nations from participating in military operations against the country. A number of these hostages were filmed meeting Hussein, and kept with him to deter any targeted attacks, whilst others were held in or near military and industrial targets. In the Syrian civil war, the Bashar al-Assad government, rebel forces and Islamic State have all been accused of violating the human rights of civilians and captured combatants. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that the Syrian Army put children and the elderly in front as soldiers marched into towns. There are also allegations of Israel using human shields. One of Israel’s most influential media outlets, Haaretz, has reported that Israeli officials have often used Hamas as a shield against accusations that it’s killing civilians in Gaza. In 2004, in the middle of the Second Intifada (2000-05), Israeli human rights activists accused police in the West Bank village of Bidou of tying a 13-year-old Palestinian boy named Mohammed Badwan to a vehicle, apparently to stop protesters from throwing stones at it. In 2016, it was reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant used tens of thousands of people as “human shields” in and around Mosul. UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani had said then: “ISIL’s depraved, cowardly strategy is to attempt to use the presence of civilian hostages to render certain points, areas, or military forces immune from military operations – effectively using tens of thousands of women, men and children as human shields.” Human shields being used in Russia-Ukraine conflict? On Wednesday, the Russian Embassy in India alleged that a group of Indian students were taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces in order to use them as a human shield. The embassy alleged that the Ukrainian forces were using every possible way to prevent them from leaving for Russia. “According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkiv who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod,” a Russian military spokesperson said at a briefing. Meanwhile, in the subsequent tweet, the Embassy said that the Russian Side, in particular, was trying to organize an urgent evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkiv through the humanitarian corridor along the shortest route to Russia.

Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens. And send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do. https://t.co/ogkgjQ01fo

— Russia in India 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbIndia) March 2, 2022

In a later tweet, the embassy added, “In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place.”

In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place. https://t.co/ogkgjPZtpQ

— Russia in India 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbIndia) March 2, 2022

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Reacting to the allegations, the government of Ukraine said it stood ready to assist foreign students in relocating from Kharkiv but demanded Russia to commit to a ceasefire. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine took to Twitter and appealed to the Asian countries including, India, Pakistan and China to appeal to the Russian government to allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.