Section 73p. 73

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

assistance to the victims of conflicts; the International

Committee of the Red Cross may also carry out any other

humanitarian activities in favour of these victims, subject

to the consent of the Parties to the conflict concerned.

2. The Parties to the conflict shall grant to their respective

Red

Cross

(Red

Crescent,

Red

Lion

and

Sun)

organizations the facilities necessary for carrying out their

humanitarian activities in favour of the victims of the

conflict,

in

accordance

with

the

provisions

of

the

Conventions and this Protocol and the fundamental

principles

of

the

Red

Cross

as

formulated

by

the

International Conferences of the Red Cross.

3. The High Contracting Parties and the Parties to the

conflict shall facilitate in every possible way the assistance

which Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun)

organizations and the League of Red Cross Societies

extend to the victims of conflicts in accordance with the

provisions of the Conventions and this Protocol and with

the fundamental principles of the red Cross as formulated

by the International Conferences of the Red Cross.

4. The High Contracting Parties and the Parties to the

conflict shall, as far as possible, make facilities similar to

those mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3 available to the

other

humanitarian

organizations

referred

to in the

Conventions and this Protocol which are duly authorized

by the respective Parties to the conflict and which

perform their humanitarian activities in accordance with

the provisions of the Conventions and this Protocol.

Art 82. Legal advisers in armed forces

The High Contracting Parties at all times, and the Parties

to the conflict in time of armed conflict, shall ensure that

legal advisers are available, when necessary, to advise

military commanders at the appropriate level on the

application of the Conventions and this Protocol and on

the appropriate instruction to be given to the armed

forces on this subject.

Art 83. Dissemination

1. The High Contracting Parties undertake, in time of

peace as in time of armed conflict, to disseminate the

Conventions and this Protocol as widely as possible in

their respective countries and, in particular, to include the

study thereof in their programmes of military instruction

and to encourage the study thereof by the civilian

population,

so

that

those instruments may become

known to the armed forces and to the civilian population.

2. Any military or civilian authorities who, in time of armed

conflict,

assume

responsibilities

in

respect

of

the

application of the Conventions and this Protocol shall be

fully acquainted with the text thereof.

Art 84. Rules of application

The High Contracting Parties shall communicate to one

another, as soon as possible, through the depositary and,

as appropriate, through the Protecting Powers, their

official translations of this Protocol, as well as the laws

and regulations which they may adopt to ensure its

application.

Section II. Repression of Breaches of the Conventions and

of this Protocol

Article 85 - Repression of breaches of this Protocol

1. The provisions of the Conventions relating to the

repression

of

breaches

and

grave

breaches,

supplemented

by

this

Section,

shall

apply

to

the

repression

of

breaches

and

grave

breaches

of

this

Protocol.

2. Acts described as grave breaches in the Conventions

are grave breaches of this Protocol if committed against

persons in the power of an adverse Party protected by

Articles 44, 45 and 73 of this Protocol, or against the

wounded, sick and shipwrecked of the adverse Party who

are protected by this Protocol, or against those medical or

religious personnel, medical units or medical transports

which are under the control of the adverse Party and are

protected by this Protocol.

3. In addition to the grave breaches defined in Article 11,

the following acts shall be regarded as grave breaches of

this Protocol, when committed wilfully, in violation of the

relevant provisions of this Protocol, and causing death or

serious injury to body or health:

(a) making the civilian population or individual civilians

the object of attack;

(b)

launching

an

indiscriminate attack affecting the

civilian population or civilian objects in the knowledge

that such attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to

civilians or damage to civilian objects, as defined in

Article 57, paragraph 2 (a)(iii);

(c) launching an attack against works or installations

containing dangerous forces in the knowledge that such

attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or

damage to civilian objects, as defined in Article 57,

paragraph 2 (a)(iii);

(d) making non-defended localities and demilitarized

zones the object of attack;

(e)

making

a

person

the

object

of

attack

in

the

knowledge that he is hors de combat;

(f) the perfidious use, in violation of Article 37, of the

distinctive emblem of the red cross, red crescent or red

lion and sun or of other protective signs recognized by

the Conventions or this Protocol.

4. In addition to the grave breaches defined in the

preceding

paragraphs

and

in

the

Conventions,

the

following shall be regarded as grave breaches of this

Protocol, when committed wilfully and in violation of the

Conventions or the Protocol:

(a) the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own

civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the

deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of

the occupied territory within or outside this territory, in

violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Convention;

(b) unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of

war or civilians;

(c)

practices

of

apartheid

and

other

inhuman

and

degrading practices involving outrages upon personal

dignity, based on racial discrimination;

(d) making the clearly-recognized historic monuments,

works of art or places of worship which constitute the

cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples and to which

special

protection

has

been

given

by

special

arrangement, for example, within the framework of a

competent

international

organization,

the

object

of

attack, causing as a result extensive destruction thereof,

where there is no evidence of the violation by the adverse

Party of Article 53, subparagraph (b), and when such

historic monuments, works of art and places of worship

are not located in the immediate proximity of military

objectives;

(e) depriving a person protected by the Conventions or

referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article of the rights of

fair and regular trial.

5. Without prejudice to the application of the Conventions

and of this Protocol, grave breaches of these instruments

shall be regarded as war crimes.

Art 86. Failure to act

1. The High Contracting Parties and the Parties to the

conflict shall repress grave breaches, and take measures

necessary

to

suppress

all

other

breaches,

of

the

Conventions or of this Protocol which result from a failure

to act when under a duty to do so.

2. The fact that a breach of the Conventions or of this

Protocol was committed by a subordinate does not

absolve

his

superiors

from

penal

or

disciplinary

responsibility, as the case may be, if they knew, or had

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