Djibouti
Practice Relating to Rule 1. The Principle of Distinction between Civilians and Combatants
Djibouti’s Manual on International Humanitarian Law (2004) states that IHL “has several principles [one of which is] … distinction: the obligation to always distinguish between combatants and the civilian population”.
In 2010, in the History and Geography Textbook for 8th Grade, Djibouti’s Ministry of National Education and Higher Education stated: “The [Additional] Protocols of 1977 reaffirmed and spelled out in detail … [the principle] of distinction: ‘(…) [P]arties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants …’ (art. 45, Protocol I, see also art. 13, Protocol II).”
The ministry further stated: “When parties to the armed conflict plan or launch an attack, they shall distinguish between the civilian population and combatants … According to Article 48 of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.”
Djibouti’s Manual on International Humanitarian Law (2004) states under the heading “Rules of Combat”: “Fight only combatants.”
In 2011, in the History and Geography Textbook for 9th Grade, Djibouti’s Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training, under the heading “Codes and wisdom”, stated: “Kill only those who are armed and only during a conflict.”
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”.