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Protocol I
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The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1) is an amendment to the Geneva Conventions. Adopted on June 8, 1977 by the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts presided over by Pierre Graber of Switzerland. The protocol entered into force on Deceer 7, 1979 (six months after its adoption by the conference) and is binding for a country six months after it has ratified it.
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The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1) is an amendment to the Geneva Conventions. Adopted on June 8, 1977 by the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts presided over by Pierre Graber of Switzerland. The protocol entered into force on Deceer 7, 1979 (six months after its adoption by the conference) and is binding for a country six months after it has ratified it. As of 14 January 2007 it had been ratified by 167 countries, with the United States, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iraq being notable exceptions. However, the United States, Iran and Pakistan signed it on 12 December 1977 with the intention of ratifying it.
The international community outside of the U.S., generally accepts that the additional Geneva Conventions protocols are obligatory on all parties worldwide, as they have become part of customary law. The U.S. main objection is that the protocol extends Geneva Conventions protection to those it regards being "unlawful combatants" and terrorists. The U.S. has to date not ratified Protocol I although much of its central precepts have been incorporated into the U.S. Army's Field Manual, The Law of Land Warfare. For a list of current Protocol I signatories see: http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebSign?ReadForm&id=470&ps=P (also see Part III Article 44).
Part I: General Provisions
Article 1. Paragraph 4 ... in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes... could cause legal problems under international law:
- It does not state that the people who are fighting, have to be fighting within the laws and customs of war and any foreign military occupation (Including that of UN mandated occupations) are alien occupations.
- As there is no definition of what constitutes a racist regime, personnel to the party to the conflict which is later defined as a racist regime by an international court, may have followed orders in good faith with no coercion, which they at the time thought to be within international law, that turn out not to be. For example if a person is arrested and treated as a common criminal under the jurisdiction of a racist regime for bearing arms against that regime, then the people involved in the imprisonment of that person will have broken international law, because they have not treated that person as a prisoner of war under this protocol.
Article 2.-Definitions
- For the purposes of this Protocol:
- (a) "First Convention", "Second Convention", "Third Convention" and "Fourth Convention"...
- (b) "Rules of international law applicable in armed conflict"...
- (c) "Protecting power" means a neutral or other State not a Party to the conflict which has been designated by a Party to the conflict and accepted by the adverse Party and has agreed to carry out the functions assigned to a Protecting Power under the Conventions and this Protocol;...
Article 5. states that parties to the conflict must make sure that there is supervision by a "Protecting Power". This article makes sure that in a conflict there are people, not part of the conflict, to monitor the implementation of the Geneva Conventions by the Parties to the conflict. Before this article was introduced the Geneva Conventions implied that this should be done, but there was no explicit treaty obligation for the parties to allow monitoring.
Part II: The wounded, sick and shipwrecked
- Section I.-General protection
- Section II.-Medical transportation
- Section III.-Missing and dead persons
Part III: Methods and means of warfare, combatant and prisoner-of-war status
Section I.-Methods and means of warfare
Article 35.-Basic rules
paragraph 3. states It is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment. In the case of threatening to retaliate in kind to weapons of mass destruction, this would seem to limit the use of atomic weapons to neutron bombs.
The United Kingdom, one of the declared nuclear powers, in a "Declaration made upon signature" stated "(i) That the new rules introduced by the Protocol are not intended to have any effect on and do not regulate or prohibit the use of nuclear weapons;".
Article 44.-Combatants and prisoners of war
The most controversial section of Protocol 1 is Article 44, especially Paragraphs 3 - 5. It is the primary cause for several United States of America administrations not ratifying this protocol, due to its treatment of captured insurgents and guerrillas (see Francs-tireurs); who do not satisfy the requirements of Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention; as prisoners of war or an equivalent status.
3. In order to promote the protection of the civilian population from the effects of hostilities, combatants are obliged to distinguish themselves from the civilian population while they are engaged in an attack or in a military operation preparatory to an attack. Recognizing, however, that there are situations in armed conflicts where, owing to the nature of the hostilities an armed combatant cannot so distinguish himself, he shall retain his status as a combatant, provided that, in such situations, he carries his arms openly:
( a ) During each military engagement, and
( b ) During such time as he is visible to the adversary while he is engaged in a military deployment preceding the launching of an attack in which he is to participate.
Acts which comply with the requirements of this paragraph shall not be considered as perfidious within the meaning of Article 37, paragraph 1 ( c ).
4. A combatant who falls into the power of an adverse Party while failing to meet the requirements set forth in the second sentence of paragraph 3 shall forfeit his right to be a prisoner of war, but he shall, nevertheless, be given protections equivalent in all respects to those accorded to prisoners of war by the Third Convention and by this Protocol. This protection includes protections equivalent to those accorded to prisoners of war by the Third Convention in the case where such a person is tried and punished for any offences he has committed.
5. Any combatant who falls into the power of an adverse Party while not engaged in an attack or in a military operation preparatory to an attack shall not forfeit his rights to be a combatant and a prisoner of war by virtue of his prior activities.
Francs-tireurs, insurgents and guerrillas were afforded prisoner of war status by the Third Geneva Convention provided that they carried arms openly, had superiors they were responsible to and distinguished themselves from civilians by a distinctive sign, i.e. an armband.
Protocol I extends these protections offered to Francs-tireurs, insurgents and guerrillas in the Third Geneva Convention by giving them prisoner of war status even if they don't distinguish themselves from the civilian population. Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention requires combatants to have a "fixed distinctive sign recognisable at a distance"; Protocol I releases lawful combatants from this obligation. Without such distinctive identification lawful combatants can come under attack from enemies posing as civilians without the enemy committing perfidy or affecting the legality of their combat status. Civilians may be more likely to be attacked by combatants who are threatened by an undistinguishable enemy. This is especially relevant in peace keeping operations as whilst civilian police forces are trained to assess a situation and only to fire if certain of their targets' hostile intent, militaries are trained to assess targets and attack if not certain of their peaceful intent.
Protocol I further gives all combatants, lawful under Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention or not, an equivalent status to 'prisoner of war' with the same rights and protections, when captured, regardless of their adherence to the laws of war. Whilst prisoner of war status under the Third Geneva Convention is contingent upon adherence to the laws of war, under Protocol I no breach of the laws of war can place an enemy combatant outside the scope of any rights or protections afforded to captured lawful enemy combatants.
Of course, situations have existed where combatants have mixed with the civilian population; for example, it is unlikely that the United States Patriot militia at Lexington and Concord during the American Revolutionary War wore fixed distinguishing marks visible at a distance, bore arms openly prior to the morning of their mobilization (or bore arms openly long after the battles; they went home), or even had official ranks or a chain of command; the same also could be said to apply to members of the French Resistance during the Second World War, the African National Congress in Apartheid-era South Africa, as well as numerous other forces that have fought against various occupying powers at various times. Notably, Article I does not forbid fair military court-martial and punishment for violations of the core principles of the law of war, including the obligations of military necessity and proportionality, the obligation not to target civilians, the absolute avoidance of attacking protected places, such as hospitals and schools, not taking hostages or human shields, taking prisoners, and aiding the wounded. Without the protection of Protocol I, all of these forces (who obeyed the core principles of the law of war) could have been subject to being deemed "unlawful combatants", and subjected to trial by whatever sort of (often, sham) court their opponents could come up followed by summary execution; they all were subjected to such measures by the governments who attempted to suppress their campaigns by any means necessary. With Protocol I, these irregular forces would still be subject to trial by fair military court martial for any grave breach of the law of war, but not for failure to have a proper chain of command, going home after fighting a battle, or non-distinctively marking themselves.
Section II.-Combatant and prisoner-of-war status
Article 47.-Mercenaries
- See the article Mercenary for a detailed discussion on "Article 47"
Article 47 is a good indication of international community's view on what constitutes a mercenary.
Declaration made upon signature
On signing an international treaty or convention, countries frequently enter reservations, or words to clarify their understanding of the document. For example the United Kingdom's declaration not only excluded nuclear weapons, (see above), but it also included clarification on many points including one which states that In relation to Article 44 that the situation described in the second sentence of paragraph 3 of the Article can exist only in occupied territory or in armed conflicts covered by paragraph 4 of Article 1, and ... [that] the word 'deployment' in paragraph 3(b) of the Article as meaning 'any movement towards a place from which an attack is to be launched';
Further reading
New rules for victims of armed conflicts, Commentary on the two 1977 Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949", by M. Bothe, , W.A. Solf, Pub: Martinus Nijhoff The Hague/Boston/London, 1982, ISBN 90-247-2537-2 "" (eds) Sandoz Y., Swinarski C., Zimmermann B.; with the collaboration of Jean Pictet, C. Pilloud, J. de Preux, H. P. Gasser, C. F. Wenger, P. Eberlin and S. Junod, Pub ICRC/Martinus Nijhoff, Geneva, 1987, ISBN 90-247-3460-6
See also
External links
- Special issue: 20th anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols
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Footnotes
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