Indian Army team wins international humanitarian law competition

NEW DELHI - An Indian Army team has won an international humanitarian law competition organised in Switzerland, an official said Sunday.

Teams from nine countries participated in the competition aimed at assessing the capability of mid-level army officials to take decisions, keeping in mind the norms of international humanitarian law, which encompasses human rights during peacetime and conflict situation.

“The competition had various domains like legality of waging a war, permissible means and methods of war fighting and human rights issues. The Indian Army team has bagged the first prize,” a senior Indian Army official said.

The competition, held in November, was hosted by the Swiss ministries of defence and foreign affairs. Armies from various countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Algeria, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Tunisia participated in it.

The internal security situation in the country warrants that the army officials are well versed with human rights.

“The aim was to assess the decision-making capability of the army officers in trying situations while adhering to the norms of international humanitarian law,” the official added.

The team comprised Colonel S.C. Sharan, Colonel P.K. Khurana, Colonel A. Saha and Major Ajeen Kumar.

The official added: “One of the major challenges in countering terror is that security forces, on the one hand, have to preserve the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation and give a sense of security to the people. On the other hand, in the process of combating terrorism, they also run the risk of being dubbed as authoritarian and repressive.”

The twin ethics of “minimum use of force” and “good faith” during operations are the touchstones of international humanitarian law.