Jan 4, 20245 min read

HUMANS ABOUND or GIVEN THE ACTIONS ON THE OTHER SIDE

FADE IN:

1 EXT. BUSY DOWNTOWN STREET - LATE AFTERNOON

Walking down a crowded sidewalk on a busy street full of shops and cafes. A man and a woman are seen across the street, sitting at an otherwise empty cafe patio.

CUT TO:

2 EXT. CAFE PATIO - LATE AFTERNOON

The pair, who are both middle aged professionals and look like brother and sister, sit in front of their own empty plate and half-drunk latte. They're found to be in the middle of a heated discussion.

HAMZA

But they can’t strike civilians or areas with civilians in them.

GENNA

It’s true that the civilian population broadly, and any individual of course, is protected under international humanitarian law, howev—

HAMZA

That’s right!

GENNA

However, as you can imagine, without obvious caveats and exceptions any rule can and most certainly would be abused. So these same laws exist to address all those abuses.

HAMZA

So, like what?

GENNA

Uh, well, for example, the presence of a civilian can never be used to render a location immune from military operations. Nor can they be used to favour, impede, or shield military operations. And that just makes sense. Right?

HAMZA

Perhaps.

GENNA

Well, otherwise you would just stand someone there, in plain clothes. Right? On every militarily significant access point or piece of infrastructure, I mean. And then cry foul if any harm comes to them. And, of course, we have video of officials stating their strategy to place civilians in the way and claiming this as some kind of clever, off-book checkmate.

HAMZA

I suppose.

GENNA

Too, civilians are protected, as they should be, but only up until the moment they participate in hostilities.

HAMZA

Right. But I guess the definition of “participation” would be broad and vague.

GENNA

Yes. As necessary. You can’t travel across town seeking out enemy troops, lob a Molotov cocktail, and then turn around, throw up your arms, and claim protected status when your victim decides you're a legitimate target.

HAMZA

Obviously.

GENNA

But, for example, is a civilian wearing a press badge, one who embedded with troops and flying a personal drone, reporting enemy positions or movements, say, closer to being a neutral observer or an active participant?

HAMZA

So that seems clear, too.

GENNA

What?

HAMZA

They’re a participant.

GENNA

Right. But what about the same person and media content merely being shared live online, or nearly so, posted somewhere as soon as the camera’s card is downloaded? Or what about the same being used explicitly for government or military or militant propaganda purposes and not as anything of journalistic value in any recognized media outlet?

HAMZA

So it gets complicated fast.

GENNA

Sure does.

HAMZA

But what about hospitals and civilian infrastructure?

GENNA

Or schools or places of worship or apartment buildings, etc?

HAMZA

Yeah, they’re attacking them all.

GENNA

Well, we all know locations dedicated to civilian purposes, like hospitals or churches, are often large or tall structures at the center of a community, making them very attractive for military purposes, everything from communications and reconnaissance to troop assembly and weapons storage. But once those places are determined to be contributing, really to any degree, to military action they cease being out of bounds.

HAMZA

But if the whole combat zone is a city, then what?

GENNA

Civilian infrastructure cannot be used for military purposes. It’s that simple. And, obviously, fault is with those rendering them in-play, so to spea—

HAMZA

But surely hospitals are different. Combatants can be taken to hospital and are meant to be safe there. Are they not? Surely. And he's likely to arrive in uniform and armed, too.

GENNA

Well, he is protected and is also unlikely to be “contributing to military action.”

HAMZA

But they attacked hospitals!

GENNA

Hospitals and their staff are required to be strictly neutr—

HAMZA

You can't attack a hospital.

GENNA

Hospitals and their staff and patients must stand clearly outside any conflict. So, the moment they shelter able-bodied combatants or fugitives or acts as a meeting place for troops or become an observation post or someone stores ammunition or communications equipment there, or anything of the sort, the hospital forfeits their immunity. Because their presence imperils not just the staff and the hospital but also the whole community, doctors, nurses, and administrators, as a result, tend to be diligent and aggressive about keeping armed people away.

HAMZA

But they've also blocked humanitarian aid, medical supplies, food and water.

GENNA

It’s true that parties to a conflict must allow the free passage of all consignments of medical and hospital stores, essential foodstuffs, and clothing. They’re even obliged to permit transport of anything necessary for religious worship.

HAMZA

Okay, but they haven’t done that.

GENNA

Well, all of that is conditional, of course.

HAMZA

Conditional on what?

GENNA

Well, no one is required to allow transport of any consignments they have reason to fear could be diverted from their intended recipients. Obviously.

HAMZA

I guess that makes sense. But that also seems like a low bar.

GENNA

It is. Which is why essentials are often moved through war zones by recognized aid organizations.

HAMZA

Right.

GENNA

Oh, and parties are not required to grant any goods that could create a military or economic advantage to the enemy. Again, that seems both reasonable and obvious: one is not required to actively aid the party they're at war with. Nor are they—

HAMZA

But that makes it seem like what we’re seeing, if not perfectly legitimate, is very likely to be legally defensible. I mean, given the actions on the other side.

GENNA

Given the actions on the other side, actions that clearly nullify so much of the law that would otherwise protect them and the broader population.

HAMZA

Right. Everyone has obligations.

GENNA

They do. But even without these violations we’ve all seen such a wild and unrelenting profusion of formal proclamations of genocidal intent on the other side — literally endless and spread evenly, a mile deep, over the last century by just about everyone in leadership positions of any kind and across all media, written and oral. No one could have missed all that without intention. But not just intention, we're talking about significant sustained effort to avoid it.

HAMZA

Well, I would say neither side is populated only by saints.

GENNA

Though I would never imply that the parties involved are similar at all, it is true: humans abound.

ZOOM OUT AND PAN:

3 EXT. BUSY DOWNTOWN STREET - LATE AFTERNOON

A bustling sidewalk is revisited, along with the crowded street, out to a busy city.

FADE OUT: