8 June 1977
Protocol
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating
to the Protection of Victims on Non-International Armed Conflicts
(Protocol II), of 8 June 1977
CONTENTS
Article 1 - Material field of application
Article 2 - Personal field of application
Article 3 - Non-intervention
Article 4 - Fundamental guarantees
Article 5 - Persons whose liberty has been restricted
Article 6 - Penal prosecutions
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
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
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:
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 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 Treatement
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.