Protocol II

Protocol II

Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,

and Relating to the Protection of Victims

of International Armed Conflicts

CONTENTS

PREAMBLE

PART I: SCOPE OF THIS PROTOCOL

Article 1 - Material field of application

Article 2 - Personal field of application

Article 3 - Non-intervention

PART II: HUMANE TREATMENT

Article 4 - Fundamental guarantees

Article 5 - Persons whose liberty has been restricted

Article 6 - Penal prosecutions

PART III: WOUNDED, SICK AND SHIPWRECKED

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

PART IV: CIVILIAN POPULATION

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

PART V: FINAL PROVISIONS

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

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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

Article 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;

(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;

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.

Article 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

(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;

(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;

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.

Article 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;

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

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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

Article 19 - Dissemination

This Protocol shall be disseminated as widely as possible.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 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.

Article 25 - renunciation

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.

Article 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

Article 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.

Article 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.