Protection of Children in Armed Conflicts from the Perspective of Islamic Jurisprudence and International Humanitarian Law, with a Focus on the War Crime of the Minab School

Eftekhar Daneshpour

Authors

Eftekhar Daneshpour Assistant Professor, Department of Jurisprudence and Imamiyya Law, Faculty of Jurisprudence and Law, International University of Islamic Denominations, Tehran, Iran https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5472-1468

Keywords:

Protection of Children, Armed Conflicts, War Crime, Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Principle of Distinction, Principle of Proportionality

Abstract

Protection of children during war and armed conflicts constitutes one of the fundamental principles of both the Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This study employs a descriptive‑analytical method and draws upon authoritative jurisprudential sources and international legal instruments to conduct a comparative analysis of the protection of children in armed conflicts. It subsequently examines the attack on the Minab School in light of these legal and jurisprudential standards. The findings demonstrate that the normative frameworks of both the Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence and International Humanitarian Law are founded upon the principle of inherent human dignity. Moreover, Islamic teachings had emphasized the observance of the principles of Distinction, Proportionality, and Limitation in armed conflicts centuries before the adoption of the Geneva Conventions. Accordingly, the killing of children in the attack on the Minab School constitutes conduct that is prosecutable as a war crime under the legal foundations and evidentiary principles of both legal systems. The convergence of these normative frameworks therefore provides the legal basis for judicial proceedings and the pursuit of legal accountability before national and international courts.

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