Djibouti
Practice Relating to Rule 1. The Principle of Distinction between Civilians and Combatants
Section C. Attacks against civilians
Djibouti’s Manual on International Humanitarian Law (2004) states: “Civilians: Respect them.”
The manual also states that “in armed conflict, the civilian population benefits from an immunity which should shield them as much as possible from the effects of war.”
In 2010, in the History and Geography Textbook for 8th Grade, Djibouti’s Ministry of National Education and Higher Education, in a section on “Distinction” and under the heading “Basic rules of IHL”, stated: “It is prohibited to attack civilians.”
In an exercise asking students to identify IHL violations, the ministry provided the following example:
[A former combatant reports:] “We ended up attacking entire families. What prompted us was that they have done the same to our people; they have killed babies as young as three months old.”
In 2011, in the History and Geography Textbook for 9th Grade, Djibouti’s Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training, under the heading “[O]ffences related to violations of humanitarian law”, listed: “[i]ntentionally directing attacks against the civilian population”.