{"id":121080,"date":"2025-09-30T17:08:44","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/uncategorized-ms\/the-geneva-conventions-at-sea-civilian-protection-and-the-global-sumud-flotilla\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:13:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T03:13:16","slug":"the-geneva-conventions-at-sea-civilian-protection-and-the-global-sumud-flotilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/berita\/in-our-words-ms\/the-geneva-conventions-at-sea-civilian-protection-and-the-global-sumud-flotilla\/","title":{"rendered":"The Geneva Conventions at Sea: Civilian Protection and the Global \u201cSumud\u201d Flotilla"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start\" style=\"max-width:1216.8px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_4 1_4 fusion-flex-column\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-person person fusion-person-left fusion-person-1 fusion-person-icon-top\"><style>.fusion-person-1 .imageframe-liftup:before{-webkit-border-radius:6px;-moz-border-radius:6px;border-radius:6px;<\/style><div class=\"person-shortcode-image-wrapper imageframe-liftup\"><div class=\"person-image-container dropshadow person-rounded-overflow\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius:6px;-moz-border-radius:6px;border-radius:6px;border:0px solid #f6f6f6;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);-webkit-border-radius:6px;-moz-border-radius:6px;border-radius:6px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"person-img img-responsive wp-image-99386\" width=\"162\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dr-rodziana.png\" alt=\"Associate Professor Dr. Rodziana Mohamed Razali\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"person-desc\"><div class=\"person-author\"><div class=\"person-author-wrapper\"><span class=\"person-name\">Associate Professor Dr. Rodziana Mohamed Razali<\/span><span class=\"person-title\">Lecturer of Faculty Syariah and Law<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"person-content fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:25% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 7.68%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 7.68%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:25% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 7.68%;margin-left : 7.68%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}<\/style><\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-1{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}<\/style><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-2 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start\" style=\"max-width:1216.8px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur boats carry bread, not bombs.\u201d This phrase, once painted on the side of a Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship, captures a simple truth: civilians trying to bring relief into a besieged territory are not combatants. Yet in a world where international law often feels fragile, many ask whether the Geneva Conventions or international law in general still matter. The answer is yes. The Geneva Conventions remain the backbone of the modern law of war, designed precisely for situations where civilians risk being crushed between state power and humanitarian need. Alongside them, other instruments of international law \u2014 such as the Additional Protocols, the UN Charter, customary rules on the conduct of hostilities, and codifications like the San Remo Manual \u2014 reinforce the same commitment to protecting civilians and regulating the use of force.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The enduring promise of the Geneva Conventions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Adopted in the ruins of the Second World War, the 1949 Geneva Conventions codified the idea that humanity does not end at the water\u2019s edge or at the outbreak of war. The Fourth Geneva Convention (GC IV) and its later Additional Protocol I (API) extend protection to civilians and require access to essential supplies. Article 59 GC IV obliges an occupying power to agree to relief schemes \u201cif the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is inadequately supplied,\u201d while API article 70 repeats this and adds that consent \u201cshall not be arbitrarily withheld.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Civilian protection at sea<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At sea, these protections are spelled out in the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea (1994). It recognises that a belligerent may enforce a lawful blockade but may not starve civilians, arbitrarily block relief, or attack humanitarian personnel and objects. Civilians on humanitarian ships remain protected \u201cunless and for such time\u201d as they take a direct part in hostilities (API art. 51(3)).<\/p>\n<p>This is why the civilian character of a flotilla matters. Transparent cargo lists, neutral observers, and non-violent conduct strengthen its protection. Conversely, if passengers use weapons against boarding forces, they risk losing that protection \u201cfor such time\u201d as they participate directly in hostilities\u2014though even then, Israel would remain bound by necessity and proportionality, and once the threat subsides, detainees revert to civilian status with full guarantees of humane treatment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Approaching Gaza: yellow and red zones<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The waters off Gaza are not legally divided into \u201cyellow\u201d and \u201cred\u201d zones under treaty law, but Israel has long operationalised such categories. The \u201cyellow zone\u201d typically designates waters where vessels are warned to stop and may be hailed, inspected, or diverted. The \u201cred zone\u201d is treated as an exclusion area, often enforced with heightened naval presence and, at times, live fire.<\/p>\n<p>From an international law perspective, these zones do not themselves create new legal categories; they are unilateral enforcement measures within a declared blockade. Their enforcement remains subject to the same international legal limits. On the high seas, the default principle is <strong>freedom of navigation<\/strong> for all vessels under Article 87 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This means that interception, visit, or search by a belligerent is not a general entitlement but a<strong> narrow exception<\/strong> that arises only in the context of a lawful blockade. But its conduct must remain tethered to the rules of IHL and the law of the sea.<\/p>\n<p>However, it must be stressed that the UN Human Rights Council\u2019s 2010 fact-finding mission judged both the blockade of Gaza and the Mavi Marmara raid to be unlawful \u2014 a conclusion consistently affirmed by a range of international organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and multiple UN Special Rapporteurs. It follows that where a blockade is unlawful, the derivative rights of visit, search, diversion, and interception cannot lawfully be exercised at all. \u00a0Even if one assumes, for the sake of argument, that a blockade was lawful, international humanitarian law strictly limits such powers in respect of humanitarian vessels, prohibiting arbitrary interference with relief consignments and requiring consent for humanitarian relief to be given and not to be withheld arbitrarily.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hypothetical scenarios: Peaceful, passive, armed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If the Global Sumud Flotilla submits to boarding, Israel may board and divert it but must use minimal force, treat passengers humanely, and expedite delivery of legitimate aid. If passengers refuse to disembark but remain non-violent, Israel may use non-lethal measures but still owes a duty of care and must not employ disproportionate force. In other words, the obligation of <strong>necessity and proportionality<\/strong> remains absolute, and lethal force against unarmed civilians who are merely passively resisting would be unlawful. If flotilla participants use weapons, they lose civilian protection \u201cfor such time\u201d as they fight, but Israel remains bound by necessity and proportionality. The aim is enforcement, not punishment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>The enduring significance of IHL<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At a time when many despair of international law\u2019s relevance, the Geneva Conventions offer a counter-narrative. Together with other key instruments of international law, they are not a utopian code, but a floor of minimum protection hammered out from the experience of total war. They do not prevent all suffering, but they provide clear red lines that states and non-state actors can be judged against.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur boats carry bread, not bombs\u201d is more than a slogan. It encapsulates the legal status of the Global Sumud Flotilla as a civilian humanitarian operation. International law imposes strict duties on Israel to allow essential relief and to protect civilians at sea. The Geneva Conventions and other related instruments of international law, far from obsolete, remain a living promise that even in the darkest waters, the law continues to see and protects the vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p><em>The author would also like to record her sincere thanks to the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS), National University of Singapore (NUS) for hosting her as a guest researcher and speaker in conjunction with the launch of Statelessness in Asia, published by Cambridge University Press, from 24 September to 1 October 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Source of picture: Global Sumud Flotilla<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-1{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;}.fusion-builder-column-1 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 1.92%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 1.92%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-1{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-1 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-1{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-1 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}<\/style><\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-2{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}<\/style><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":121034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[297],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121081,"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121080\/revisions\/121081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usim.edu.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}