Johannes Cajegas

1. What is International Humanitarian Law? International humanitarian law is a set of

rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It
protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts
the means and methods of warfare. International humanitarian law is also known as the
law of war or the law of armed conflict. 1
2. When does International Humanitarian Law apply? The law applies only once an
armed conflict has begun, and then equally to all parties regardless of the reasons for the
conflict or the question of who started the fighting. International humanitarian law is
applicable in international armed conflicts and internal armed conflicts. 2
3. When is there international armed conflict? all cases of declared war or of any
armed conflict that may arise between two or more high contracting parties, even if the
state of war is not recognized, the convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or
total occupation of the territory of a high contracting party even if the said occupation
meets with no armed resistance.3
4. When is there internationalized armed conflict? The situation of an
internationalized armed conflict can occur when a war occurs between two different
factions fighting internally but supported by two different states. The most visible
example of an internationalized armed conflict was the conflict in the Democratic
Republic of Congo in 1998 when the forces from Rwanda, Angola, Zimbabwe and
Uganda intervened to support various groups in the DRC.4
5. When is there internal armed conflict? armed conflicts that are non-international in
nature occurring in one of the High contracting parties5
6. Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of
the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the
following provisions:
(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down
their arms and those placed ' hors de combat ' by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in
all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or
faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with
respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
1

What is International Humanitarian Law, http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/legal-factsheet/humanitarian-law-factsheet.htm? (last accessed January 3, 2013)

2
When does IHL apply? https://www.diakonia.se/sa/node.asp?node=991 (last accessed January 3, 2013)
3
Geneva Convention, 1949, common art.2
4
Defining Armed Conflict in International Humanitarian Law,
http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/508/defining-armed-conflict-in-international-humanitarian-law (last
accessed January 3, 2013)
5
Geneva Convention, 1949, common art.3

(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a
regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by
civilized peoples.
(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its
services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all
or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

7. Why is Article 3 so common? Why is it so important? Article 3 has been called a

"Convention in miniature." It is the only article of the Geneva Conventions that applies in
non-international conflicts. It describes minimal protections which must be adhered to by
all individuals within a signatory's territory during an armed conflict not of an
international character (regardless of citizenship or lack thereof): Noncombatants,
combatants who have laid down their arms, and combatants who are hors de combat (out
of the fight) due to wounds, detention, or any other cause shall in all circumstances be
treated humanely, including prohibition of outrages upon personal dignity, in particular
humiliating and degrading treatment. The passing of sentences must also be pronounced
by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are
recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. Article 3's protections exist even if one
is not classified as a prisoner of war. Article 3 also states that parties to the internal
conflict should endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part
of the other provisions of GCIII.6
8. When does Protocol 2 of the Geneva Conventions apply? This Protocol, which
develops and supplements Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949 without modifying its existing conditions of 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.7
9. Who are the people with protected status under the Geneva Conventions?In 1949,
the four Geneva Conventions enunciated the first comprehensive set of rules protecting
combatants and noncombatants in international armed conflicts. The first three
conventions referred to the protection of combatants and related personnelwounded
and sick in the field; wounded, sick, and shipwrecked at sea; and prisoners of warand
the fourth to the protection of civilians. A combatant in simplest terms is a member of an
armed forcea person who takes an active part in hostilities, who can kill, and who, in
turn, is a lawful military target. A combatant can acquire the status of a protected person
under a number of circumstancesfor example, if captured or wounded. The Fourth
Geneva Convention further divides protected civilians into three categories: aliens in the
6

Third Geneva Convention, Part I: General Provisions,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Geneva_Convention (last accessed January 3, 2013)
7
Protocol 2, Art.1 Par. 1.

territory of a party to the conflict, persons in occupied territory, and internees. These three
groups are provided with protections that vary according to membership in one group or
another, but all must be given the basic protection codified in Article 27: respect,
protection, and humane treatment under all circumstances.
Civil Conflicts: The first explicit treaty provision covering protected persons in
noninternational armed conflictsoften called internal armed conflicts or civil conflicts
is found in Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The basic principle is
to require humane treatment without adverse discrimination. It prohibits violence to life
and person, the taking of hostages, and outrages upon personal dignity. The article calls
for basic judicial and procedural guarantees and an obligation to collect and care for the
wounded and sick.
This principle of humane treatment under all circumstances is further developed in the
1977 Additional Protocol II, which extended to internal armed conflict many of the rules
found in Protocol I and the 1949 Conventions. Protocol II covers the civilian population,
both as a group and as individuals; the essence of the protection is the prohibition against
making civilians the object of attack. Attacks are prohibited against dams, dikes, and
nuclear power stations if they may result in severe civilian losses. Also banned are attacks
on objects necessary for the survival of the civilian population. Additionally, terrorism
and starvation of civilians are prohibited as methods of combat. So is forced
displacement, unless undertaken for security or imperative military reasons. Relief
operations are to be undertaken when the civilian population is suffering undue
hardship. An important caveat is that technically Protocol II applies only to internal
armed conflicts in States that have ratified it. Thus Common Article 3 is the applicable
law for most instances of noninternational armed conflict. 8
10. What is forcible transfer and population and when is it allowed? Deportation and
forcible transfer refer to forced displacement of civilians in or from occupied territory.
The difference between the two terms is that deportations are to outside the occupied
territory and forcible transfers are to another part of the occupied territory.9
Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given
area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand. Such
evacuations may not involve the displacement of protected persons outside the bounds of
the occupied territory except when for material reasons it is impossible to avoid such
displacement. Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as
hostilities in the area in question have ceased.10
11. What is legitimate military objective and when is an object or a person a
legitimate military objective? "In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are
8

Heike Spieke, Protected Persons, http://www.crimesofwar.org/a-z-guide/protected-persons/ (last accessed

January 3, 2013)
9
Al-Haq, Marko Divac Oberg, Deportation, Forcible Transfer, Assigned Residence and Ethnic Cleansing in
International Humanitarian Law,
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/opt_prot_alhaq_forced_movements_in_IHL_oct_2006.pdf (last
accessed January 3, 2013)
10
1949 Geneva Convention, Art. 49 par. 2

limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective
contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or
neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military
advantage"11

11

Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions, Art.52 Par. 2