On the 19th of October 2023.

I attend the said symposium the “International Humanitarian Law

Symposium” at the International Convention Center, Mindanao State University, Marawi City.

In the program, all of the shown documents was quite interesting to learn, though as a student who’s
not into politics its really hard to keep up on the discussions of the speakers.

“EVEN THE WARS HAVE LIMIT”. In that sentence, it provoke my attention. Not because you are obliged
for fighting for your country, you don’t have to kill those innocent people who cannot fight for their
selves. It was mentioned in the symposium that if you saw those innocent people wounded or sick then
you must take care of them even they were your prisoners, because they are not part of the conflicts,
they are civilians who doing their best to be out of that war.

During the symposium, Prof. Alinor Datumanong have mentioned the difference of IHL and the IHRL. And
it really bring a lot of lessons for us, since I am one of those Ignorant people who also thought that the
IHL was a Human Rights. Prof. Alinor said that the International Humanitarian Law or Law of war is only
used when there is war, Only in times of armed conflict, Use of lothal force permilled by military
necessity, Absolutely non-derogable, while International Human Rights Law is used when there is no war
or applied even there is a war, Protects human dignity, Permits derogation of some rights during public
emergency.

The IHL have some principle also. First we have the Protection, which we need to protect the people that
involve to the war, means those civilians. The protection must be given to them. Why? Because they are
all innocent people who don’t know what is going on in that war and they don’t know where they were
going. The Limitation, from the word limit itself that not because you are in the middle of the firing then
its not necessary to flatten the area or bomb the houses, the buildings, the shelters of the citizen of that
place because it will the affect the civilians, you only must focus on the said target, only to the enemy,
and you are not able to touch any of the properties of people on that area. And a military or the fighter
must known when and how to target their enemy in order also to make sure that there’s no innocent
people will he included in the time of firing, and lastly the Distinction, we must know what we should
avoid during war. A military should wear uniform or any thing that will describe them as one.

Those people who are part of the war are called Combatants, they are the Armed Forces. During war
also, they were people who are with the armed forces, such as the doctors, the nurses so that they can
cure those injured armies. And there is also people who provides their needs such as foods so that they
have a support to their stomach.

In the whole symposium discussed that in the war, the only mission there is to win your country or to
surrender it to the enemy.