Section 79p. 79

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

Part I. Scope of this Protocol

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 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.

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;

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