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Article Title: Duty of State to Enforce International Humanitarian Law Vis-a-Vis Duty to Protect Interest of its Nationals
by Elizabeth Ama Oji and M. V. C. Ozioko

Abstract:
The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials of World War II cases remained for half a century the major instances of criminal prosecution of offenders against fundamental norms of international humanitarian law (IHL). Atrocities in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, etc shocked the conscience of people everywhere triggering within a short span of time, several major legal developments: the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the special court for Sierra Leone, and the adoption of the statute of the International Criminal Count in July 1998. Most of these prosecutions were for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. When states adopt and become parties to international treaties, they also undertake to enforce them. Principally, the norms of international humanitarian law are addressed to states, and it behooves on states to enforce it. States are required to respect and ensure respect for IHL. States must therefore, where necessary, enforce IHL against its nationals/soldiers as part of their duty towards international law. Yet states must also ensure that their soldiers are protected from punitive prescription arising from apparent breaches of IHL. In this paper, we adopt the doctrinal research method which is a legal research approach. The purpose of this research is to bring out the seeming conflict between the duties of States to respect IHL by implementing same, even against its nationals and that of protecting their nationals from being unduly exposed to international criminal prosecutions for breaches of IHL. The research is significant as it shows that where States are conscious of their duties towards international law, and discharge them, the seeming conflict may not necessarily arise. The potential impact of this research is that it presents to states, how they can prevent and resolve conflict of interests in the implementation of IHL

Keywords: states, duty, enforcement, international humanitarian law (IHL), nationals and conflict

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