TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREAMBLE
PART I:
SCOPE OF THIS PROTOCOL
Article 1 - Material field of application
Article 2 - Personal
field of application
Article 3 - Non-intervention
PART II:
HUMANE TREATMENT
Article 4 - Fundamental guarantees
Article 5 - Persons whose
liberty has been restricted
Article 6 - Penal prosecutions
PART III: WOUNDED, SICK AND SHIPWRECKED
Article 7 - Protection and care
Article 8 - Search
Article 9 -
Protection of medical and religious personnel
Article 10 - General
protection of medical duties
Article 11 - Protection of medical units
and transports
Article 12 - The distinctive emblem
PART IV:
CIVILIAN POPULATION
Article 13 - Protection of the civilian population
Article 14 -
Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian
population
Article 15 - Protection of works and installations
containing dangerous forces
Article 16 - Protection of cultural
objects and of places of worship
Article 17 - Prohibition of forced
movement of civilians
Article 18 - Relief societies and relief
actions
PART V: FINAL
PROVISIONS
Article 19 - Dissemination
Article 20 - Signature
Article 21 -
Ratification
Article 22 - Accession
Article 23 - Entry into force
Article 24 - Amendment
Article 25 - Denunciation
Article 26 -
Notification
Article 27 - Registration
Article 28 - Authentic
texts
Preamble
The High Contracting Parties, Recalling that the humanitarian
principles enshrined in Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions
of 12 August 1949, constitute the foundation of respect for the
human person in cases of armed conflict not of an international
character,
Recalling furthermore that international instruments relating to
human rights offer a basic protection to the human person,
Emphasizing the need to ensure a better protection for the
victims of those armed conflicts,
Recalling that, in cases not covered by the law in force, the
human person remains under the protection of the principles of
humanity and the dictates or the public conscience,
Have agreed on the following:
Art 1. Material field of application
1. This Protocol, which develops and supplements Article 3 common
to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 without modifying its
existing conditions or application, shall apply to all armed
conflicts which are not covered by Article 1 of the Protocol
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating
to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts
(Protocol I) and which take place in the territory of a High
Contracting Party between its armed forces and dissident armed
forces or other organized armed groups which, under responsible
command, exercise such control over a part of its territory as to
enable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations
and to implement this Protocol.
2. This Protocol shall not apply to situations of internal
disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts
of violence and other acts of a similar nature, as not being armed
conflicts.
Art 2. Personal field of application
1. This Protocol shall be applied without any adverse distinction
founded on race, colour, sex, language, religion or belief,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth, birth
or other status, or on any other similar criteria (hereinafter
referred to as "adverse distinction") to all persons affected by an
armed conflict as defined in Article 1.
2. At the end of the armed conflict, all the persons who have
been deprived of their liberty or whose liberty has been restricted
for reasons related to such conflict, as well as those deprived of
their liberty or whose liberty is restricted after the conflict for
the same reasons, shall enjoy the protection of Articles 5 and 6
until the end of such deprivation or restriction of liberty.
Art 3.
Non-intervention
1. Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked for the purpose of
affecting the sovereignty of a State or the responsibility of the
government, by all legitimate means, to maintain or re-establish law
and order in the State or to defend the national unity and
territorial integrity of the State.
2. Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked as a justification
for intervening, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in
the armed conflict or in the internal or external affairs of the
High Contracting Party in the territory of which that conflict
occurs.
Part
II. Humane Treatment
Art 4 Fundamental guarantees
1. All persons who do not take a direct part or who have ceased
to take part in hostilities, whether or not their liberty has been
restricted, are entitled to respect for their person, honour and
convictions and religious practices. They shall in all circumstances
be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction. It is
prohibited to order that there shall be no survivors.
2. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the
following acts against the persons referred to in paragraph I are
and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever:
(a) violence to the life, health and physical or mental well-being
of persons, in particular murder as well as cruel treatment such as
torture, mutilation or any form of corporal punishment;
(b)
collective punishments;
(c) taking of hostages;
(d) acts of
terrorism;
(e) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular
humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution and
any form or indecent assault;
(f) slavery and the slave trade in
all their forms;
(g) pillage;
(h) threats to commit any or the
foregoing acts.
3. Children shall be
provided with the care and aid they require, and in particular:
(a) they shall receive an education, including religious and moral
education, in keeping with the wishes of their parents, or in the
absence of parents, of those responsible for their care;
(b) all
appropriate steps shall be taken to facilitate the reunion of
families temporarily separated;
(c) children who have not
attained the age of fifteen years shall neither be recruited in the
armed forces or groups nor allowed to take part in hostilities;
(d) the special protection provided by this Article to children who
have not attained the age of fifteen years shall remain applicable
to them if they take a direct part in hostilities despite the
provisions of subparagraph (c) and are captured;
(e) measures
shall be taken, if necessary, and whenever possible with the consent
of their parents or persons who by law or custom are primarily
responsible for their care, to remove children temporarily from the
area in which hostilities are taking place to a safer area within
the country and ensure that they are accompanied by persons
responsible for their safety and well-being.
Art 5. Persons whose liberty has been restricted
1. In addition to the provisions of Article 4 the following
provisions shall be respected as a minimum with regard to persons
deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict,
whether they are interned or detained;
(a) the wounded and the
sick shall be treated in accordance with Article 7;
(b) the
persons referred to in this paragraph shall, to the same extent as
the local civilian population, be provided with food and drinking
water and be afforded safeguards as regards health and hygiene and
protection against the rigours of the climate and the dangers of the
armed conflict;
(c) they shall be allowed to receive individual
or collective relief;
(d) they shall be allowed to practise their
religion and, if requested and appropriate, to receive spiritual
assistance from persons, such as chaplains, performing religious
functions;
(e) they shall, if made to work, have the benefit of
working conditions and safeguards similar to those enjoyed by the
local civilian population.
2. Those who are responsible for the internment or detention of
the persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall also, within the limits
of their capabilities, respect the following provisions relating to
such persons:
(a) except when men and women of a family are
accommodated together, women shall be held in quarters separated
from those of men and shall be under the immediate supervision of
women;
(b) they shall be allowed to send and receive letters and
cards, the number of which may be limited by competent authority if
it deems necessary;
(c) places of internment and detention shall
not be located close to the combat zone. The persons referred to in
paragraph 1 shall be evacuated when the places where they are
interned or detained become particularly exposed to danger arising
out of the armed conflict, if their evacuation can be carried out
under adequate conditions of safety;
(d) they shall have the
benefit of medical examinations;
(e) their physical or mental
health and integrity shall not be endangered by any unjustified act
or omission. Accordingly, it is prohibited to subject the persons
described in this Article to any medical procedure which is not
indicated by the state of health of the person concerned, and which
is not consistent with the generally accepted medical standards
applied to free persons under similar medical circumstances.
3. Persons who are not covered by paragraph 1 but whose liberty
has been restricted in any way whatsoever for reasons related to the
armed conflict shall be treated humanely in accordance with Article
4 and with paragraphs 1 (a), (c) and (d), and 2 (b) of this Article.
4. If it is decided to release persons deprived of their liberty,
necessary measures to ensure their safety shall be taken by those so
deciding.
Art 6. Penal prosecutions
1. This Article applies to the prosecution and punishment of
criminal offences related to the armed conflict.
2. No sentence shall be passed and no penalty shall be executed
on a person found guilty of an offence except pursuant to a
conviction pronounced by a court offering the essential guarantees
of independence and impartiality.
In particular:
(a) the
procedure shall provide for an accused to be informed without delay
of the particulars of the offence alleged against him and shall
afford the accused before and during his trial all necessary rights
and means of defence;
(b) no one shall be convicted of an offence
except on the basis of individual penal responsibility;
(c) no
one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any
act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under
the law, at the time when it was committed; nor shall a heavier
penalty be imposed than that which was applicable at the time when
the criminal offence was committed; if, after the commission of the
offence, provision is made by law for the imposition of a lighter
penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby;
(d) anyone charged
with an offence is presumed innocent until proved guilty according
to law;
(e) anyone charged with an offence shall have the right
to be tried in his presence;
(f) no one shall be compelled to
testify against himself or to confess guilt.
3. A convicted person shall be advised on conviction of his
judicial and other remedies and of the time-limits within which they
may be exercised.
4. The death penalty shall not be pronounced on persons who were
under the age of eighteen years at the time of the offence and shall
not be carried out on pregnant women or mothers of young children.
5. At the end of hostilities, the authorities in power shall
endeavour to grant the broadest possible amnesty to persons who have
participated in the armed conflict, or those deprived of their
liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict, whether they are
interned or detained.
Part III. Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked
Art 7. Protection and care
1. All the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, whether or not they
have taken part in the armed conflict, shall be respected and
protected.
2. In all circumstances they shall be treated humanely and shall
receive to the fullest extent practicable and with the least
possible delay, the medical care and attention required by their
condition. There shall be no distinction among them founded on any
grounds other than medical ones.
Art 8. Search
Whenever circumstances permit and particularly after an
engagement, all possible measures shall be taken, without delay, to
search for and collect the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, to protect
them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate
care, and to search for the dead, prevent their being despoiled, and
decently dispose of them.
Art 9. Protection of medical and religious personnel
1. Medical and religious personnel shall be respected and
protected and shall be granted all available help for the
performance of their duties. They shall not be compelled to carry
out tasks which are not compatible with their humanitarian mission.
2. In the performance of their duties medical personnel may not
be required to give priority to any person except on medical
grounds.
Art 10. General protection of medical duties
1. Under no circumstances shall any person be punished for having
carried out medical activities compatible with medical ethics,
regardless of the person benefiting therefrom.
2. Persons engaged in medical activities shall neither be
compelled to perform acts or to carry out work contrary to, nor be
compelled to refrain from acts required by, the rules of medical
ethics or other rules designed for the benefit of the wounded and
sick, or this Protocol.
3. The professional obligations of persons engaged in medical
activities regarding information which they may acquire concerning
the wounded and sick under their care shall, subject to national
law, be respected.
4. Subject to national law, no person engaged in medical
activities may be penalized in any way for refusing or failing to
give information concerning the wounded and sick who are, or who
have been, under his care.
Art 11. Protection of medical units and transports
1. Medical units and transports shall be respected and protected
at all times and shall not be the object of attack.
2. The protection to which medical units and transports are
entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit hostile
acts, outside their humanitarian function. Protection may, however,
cease only after a warning has been given, setting, whenever
appropriate, a reasonable time-limit, and after such warning has
remained unheeded.
Art 12. The distinctive emblem
Under the direction of the competent authority concerned, the
distinctive emblem of the red cross, red crescent or red lion and
sun on a white ground shall be displayed by medical and religious
personnel and medical units, and on medical transports. It shall be
respected in all circumstances. It shall not be used improperly.
Part
IV. Civilian Population
Art 13. Protection of the civilian population
1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy
general protection against the dangers arising from military
operations. To give effect to this protection, the following rules
shall be observed in all circumstances.
2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual
civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of
violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the
civilian population are prohibited.
3. Civilians shall enjoy the protection afforded by this part,
unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities.
Art 14. Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the
civilian population
Starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited. It
is therefore prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless
for that purpose, objects indispensable to the survival of the
civilian population such as food-stuffs, agricultural areas for the
production of food-stuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water
installations and supplies and irrigation works.
Art 15. Protection of works and installations containing dangerous
forces
Works or installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams,
dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made
the object of attack, even where these objects are military
objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces
and consequent severe losses among the civilian population.
Art 16. Protection of cultural objects and of places of worship
Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention for
the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
of 14 May 1954, it is prohibited to commit any acts of hostility
directed against historic monuments, works of art or places of
worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of
peoples, and to use them in support of the military effort.
Art 17. Prohibition of forced movement of civilians
1. The displacement of the civilian population shall not be
ordered for reasons related to the conflict unless the security of
the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand.
Should such displacements have to be carried out, all possible
measures shall be taken in order that the civilian population may be
received under satisfactory conditions of shelter, hygiene, health,
safety and nutrition.
2. Civilians shall not be compelled to leave their own territory
for reasons connected with the conflict.
Art 18. Relief societies and relief actions
1. Relief societies located in the territory of the High
Contracting Party, such as Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and
Sun) organizations may offer their services for the performance of
their traditional functions in relation to the victims of the armed
conflict. The civilian population may, even on its own initiative,
offer to collect and care for the wounded, sick and shipwrecked.
2. If the civilian population is suffering undue hardship owing
to a lack of the supplies essential for its survival, such as
food-stuffs and medical supplies, relief actions for the civilian
population which are of an exclusively humanitarian and impartial
nature and which are conducted without any adverse distinction shall
be undertaken subject to the consent of the High Contracting Party
concerned.
Part V.
Final Provisions
Art 19. Dissemination
This Protocol shall be disseminated as widely as possible.
Art 20. Signature
This Protocol shall be open for signature by the Parties to the
Conventions six months after the signing of the Final Act and will
remain open for a period of twelve months.
Art 21. Ratification
This Protocol shall be ratified as soon as possible. The
instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Swiss
Federal Council, depositary of the Conventions.
Art 22. Accession
This Protocol shall be open for accession by any Party to the
Conventions which has not signed it. The instruments of accession
shall be deposited with the depositary.
Art 23. Entry into force
1. This Protocol shall enter into force six months after two
instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited.
2. For each Party to the Conventions thereafter ratifying or
acceding to this Protocol, it shall enter into force six months
after the deposit by such Party of its instrument of ratification or
accession.
Art 24. Amendment
1. Any High Contracting Party may propose amendments to this
Protocol. The text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated
to the depositary which shall decide, after consultation with all
the High Contracting Parties and the International Committee of the
Red Cross, whether a conference should be convened to consider the
proposed amendment.
2. The depositary shall invite to that conference all the High
Contracting Parties as well as the Parties to the Conventions,
whether or not they are signatories of this Protocol.
Art 25. Denunciation
1. In case a High Contracting Party should denounce this
Protocol, the denunciation shall only take effect six months after
receipt of the instrument of denunciation. If, however, on the
expiry of six months, the denouncing Party is engaged in the
situation referred to in Article 1, the denunciation shall not take
effect before the end of the armed conflict. Persons who have been
deprived of liberty, or whose liberty has been restricted, for
reasons related to the conflict shall nevertheless continue to
benefit from the provisions of this Protocol until their final
release.
2. The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the
depositary, which shall transmit it to all the High Contracting
Parties.
Art 26. Notifications
The depositary shall inform the High Contracting Parties as well
as the Parties to the Conventions, whether or not they are
signatories of this Protocol, of:
(a) signatures affixed to this
Protocol and the deposit of instruments of ratification and
accession under Articles 21 and 22;
(b) the date of entry into
force of this Protocol under Article 23; and
(c) communications
and declarations received under Article 24.
Art 27. Registration
1. After its entry into force, this Protocol shall be transmitted
by the depositary to the Secretariat of the United Nations for
registration and publication, in accordance with Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations.
2. The depositary shall also inform the Secretariat of the United
Nations of all ratifications, accessions and denunciations received
by it with respect to this Protocol.
Art 28. - Authentic texts
The original of this Protocol, of which the Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic
shall be deposited with the depositary, which shall transmit
certified true copies thereof to all the Parties to the Conventions.
