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Protocol I (also Additional Protocol I and AP I) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the
'' neither a civil war ('non-international armed conflict,' NIAC) nor a war against a liberation movement ('international armed conflict,' IAC).'' This way, force used by Palestinian factions can be deemed illegal and illegitimate.
Full text of Protocol I
List of countries that have signed but not yet ratified Protocol I
International Review of the Red Cross, 1997 – No. 320
Special issue: 20th anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols
1977 Additional Protocolsshort bibliography
(by ICRC) * "New rules for victims of armed conflicts, Commentary on the two 1977 Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949", by M. Bothe
K.J.Partsch
, W.A. Solf, Pub: Martinus Nijhoff The Hague/Boston/London, 1982,
{{Geneva Conventions Geneva Conventions Arms control treaties Treaties concluded in 1977 Treaties entered into force in 1978 Treaties of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of the People's Republic of Angola Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of the Bahamas Treaties of Bahrain Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Barbados Treaties of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Belize Treaties of the People's Republic of Benin Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Brazil Treaties of Brunei Treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Burundi Treaties of Cambodia Treaties of Cameroon Treaties of Canada Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of the Central African Republic Treaties of Chad Treaties of Chile Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Colombia Treaties of the Comoros Treaties of Zaire Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of the Cook Islands Treaties of Costa Rica Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Dominica Treaties of the Dominican Republic Treaties of Timor-Leste Treaties of Ecuador Treaties of Egypt Treaties of El Salvador Treaties of Equatorial Guinea Treaties of Estonia Treaties of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia Treaties of Fiji Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of Gabon Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Greece Treaties of Grenada Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Guyana Treaties of Haiti Treaties of the Holy See Treaties of Honduras Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic Treaties of Iceland Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jamaica Treaties of Japan Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kenya Treaties of North Korea Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Laos Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Liberia Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Malawi Treaties of the Maldives Treaties of Mali Treaties of Malta Treaties of Mauritania Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Mexico Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Monaco Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties of the People's Republic of Mozambique Treaties of Namibia Treaties of Nauru Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Nicaragua Treaties of Niger Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of Norway Treaties of Oman Treaties of Palau Treaties of Palestine Treaties of Panama Treaties of Paraguay Treaties of Peru Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Qatar Treaties of Romania Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis Treaties of Saint Lucia Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of Samoa Treaties of San Marino Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe Treaties of Saudi Arabia Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of the Solomon Islands Treaties of South Africa Treaties of South Sudan Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of Spain Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011) Treaties of Suriname Treaties of Eswatini Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Tanzania Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tonga Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Uganda Treaties of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties of Vanuatu Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Vietnam Treaties of Yemen Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to Anguilla Treaties extended to Bermuda Treaties extended to the British Antarctic Territory Treaties extended to the British Indian Ocean Territory Treaties extended to the British Virgin Islands Treaties extended to the Cayman Islands Treaties extended to the Falkland Islands Treaties extended to Montserrat Treaties extended to the Pitcairn Islands Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Treaties extended to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Treaties extended to Akrotiri and Dhekelia Treaties extended to the Turks and Caicos Islands Treaties extended to Guernsey Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to Jersey Treaties extended to Hong Kong Treaties extended to Macau Treaties concluded in Geneva
Protocol I (also Additional Protocol I and AP I) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions
upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...
concerning the protection of civilian victims of international war, including "armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination, alien occupation or racist regimes". In practice, Additional Protocol I updated and reaffirmed the international laws of war stipulated in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to accommodate developments of warfare since the Second World War (1937–1945).
Summary of provisions
Protocol I contains 102 articles. The following is a basic overview of the protocol. In general, the protocol reaffirms the provisions of the original fourGeneva Conventions
upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...
. However, the following additional protections are added.
*Article I states that the convention applies in "armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist régimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination".
*Article 15 states that civilian medical and religious personnel shall be respected and protected. This includes that Parties shall give all available help to civilian medical personnel.
*Articles 17 and 81 authorize the ICRC, national societies, or other impartial humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to the victims of war.
* Article 35 bans weapons that "cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering", as well as means of warfare that "cause widespread, long-term, and severe damage to the natural environment".
* Article 37 prohibits perfidy (false declaration of truce). It identifies four types of perfidy and differentiates ruses of war from perfidy.
* Article 40 prohibits no quarter
No quarter, during War, military conflict or piracy, implies that combatants would not be taken Prisoner of war, prisoner, but executed. Since the Hague Convention of 1899, it is considered a war crime; it is also prohibited in customary interna ...
, i.e. to order that there shall be no survivors, to threaten as such, or to conduct hostilities on that basis.
* Article 42 outlaws attacks on pilots and aircrews who are parachuting from an aircraft in distress. Once they landed in territory controlled by an adverse party, they must be given an opportunity to surrender before being attacked, unless it is apparent that they are engaging in a hostile act. Airborne troops
Airborne forces are Ground warfare, ground combat units airlift, carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as par ...
, whether in distress or not, are not given the protection afforded by this Article and, therefore, may be attacked during their descent.
* Article 43 deals with the identification of Armed Forces that are Party to a conflict, and states that combatants
Combatant is the legal status of a person entitled to directly participate in hostilities during an armed conflict, and may be intentionally targeted by an adverse party for their participation in the armed conflict. Combatants are not afforded i ...
"shall be subject to an internal disciplinary system which, , shall enforce compliance with the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict."
* Article 47(1) "A mercenary
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...
shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
."
* Articles 51 and 54 outlaw indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, and destruction of food sources, water, and other materials needed for survival. This include directly attacking civilian (non-military) targets, but also using technologies whose scope of destruction cannot be limited. A total war
Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all (including civilian-associated) resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilises all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare ov ...
that does not distinguish between civilian and military targets is considered a war crime
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
.
* Articles 53 prohibits attacks on historic monuments, works of art or places of worship.
* Article 56 covers attacks on "works and installations containing dangerous forces", such as dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
s, dykes, nuclear electrical generating stations. These targets (and other military targets in their vicinity) may not be attacked if they threaten the release of dangerous forces.
* Chapter II, consisting of Articles 76, 77 and 78, provides special protections for women and children. In particular, the death penalty shall not be executed on children under eighteen years old, and shall be avoided on pregnant women and mothers having dependent infants. Further, children under fifteen years old shall not be recruited into the armed forces, and Parties shall take all reasonable measures to prevent them from taking part in hostilities.
* Article 79 states that journalists shall be considered as civilians and given the same protections. Civilian war correspondents attached to armed forces who are captured shall have the same rights as prisoners of wars, as outlined in the Third Geneva Convention.
* Article 85(3f) prohibits the perfidious use of the red cross, red crescent or red lion and sun or of other protective signs recognized by the Geneva Conventions.
* Article 90 describes how International Fact-Finding Commissions can be established in situations of serious violations of the Geneva Conventions.
Ratification status
As of August 2024, it had beenratified
Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...
by 174 states. The United States, Iran, and Pakistan signed it on 12 December 1977 but never ratified it. Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, and Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
have not signed the treaty.
Israel
Protocols I and II to the Geneva Conventions are not ratified by Israel. According to legal scholar and human rights attorney Noura Erakat, this allows the Israeli government to recognize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict asRussia
On 16 October 2019, PresidentVladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
signed an executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...
and submitted a State Duma
The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
bill to revoke the statement accompanying Russia's ratification of the Protocol I, accepting the competence of the Article 90(2) International Fact-Finding Commission. The bill was supplied with the following warning:
Article 1(4)
Article 1(4) says:The situations referred to in the preceding paragraph include armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination.Jan Arno Hessbruegge, who works at the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, examined the three categories listed in his book ''Human Rights and Personal Self-defense in International Law'': *"colonial domination" refers to far-away overseas colonies with clear geographical boundaries. It was not meant to apply to states conquering and annexing adjacent territories. *"alien occupation" refers to "cases where the occupied territory did not yet form part of a state at the time of occupation but was occupied by a distinct group, such as the Palestinian people". *"racist regimes" included countries that had institutionalized racism, not countries where the government merely practices racial discrimination. At the time the protocol was written, this mainly referred to South Africa and Rhodesia. Legal scholar Waldemar A. Solf opined that Article 1(4) was largely symbolic and gave party states "a plausible basis for denying its application to their situation", while the states which the article most applied to (e.g., Israel, and apartheid-era South Africa) would not sign the agreement at all. The
Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...
declared that Article 1(4) would "grant terrorists a psychological and legal victory", as it appears to grant combatant status to non-state actors, many of which (such as the Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
) have been designated as terrorist groups by the United States and other countries. By contrast, an article in the '' International Review of the Red Cross'' argues that this article, in fact, ''strengthens'' the fight against terrorism, by applying the laws of war
The law of war is a component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of hostilities (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, ...
(including all its prohibitions and obligations) to national wars of liberation. By granting combatant status to non-state actors in wars of liberation, it too requires non-state actors to follow the strict prohibitions against acts of terror (Article 13, Article 51(2), etc.).
See also
*Command responsibility
In the practice of international law, command responsibility (also superior responsibility) is the legal doctrine of hierarchical accountability for war crimes, whereby a commanding officer (military) and a superior officer (civil) are legally r ...
* Geneva Conventions
upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...
* List of parties to the Geneva Conventions
* First Geneva Convention
The First Geneva Convention, officially the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field (), held on 22 August 1864, is the first of four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It defines "the basis on whic ...
on the treatment of battlefield casualties in the field
* Jus in bello
The law of war is a component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of hostilities (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, ...
* Targeted killing
Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments Extrajudicial killing, outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention wit ...
* Protocol II, a 1977 amendment adopted relating to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts
* Protocol III, a 2005 amendment adopted specifying the adoption of the Red Crystal emblem
* United Nations Mercenary Convention
The United Nations Mercenary Convention, officially the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, is a 2001 United Nations treaty that prohibits the recruitment, training, use, and financing of me ...
Notes
References
External links
Full text of Protocol I
List of countries that have signed but not yet ratified Protocol I
International Review of the Red Cross, 1997 – No. 320
Special issue: 20th anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols
1977 Additional Protocolsshort bibliography
(by ICRC) * "New rules for victims of armed conflicts, Commentary on the two 1977 Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949", by M. Bothe
K.J.Partsch
, W.A. Solf, Pub: Martinus Nijhoff The Hague/Boston/London, 1982,
{{Geneva Conventions Geneva Conventions Arms control treaties Treaties concluded in 1977 Treaties entered into force in 1978 Treaties of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of the People's Republic of Angola Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of the Bahamas Treaties of Bahrain Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Barbados Treaties of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Belize Treaties of the People's Republic of Benin Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Brazil Treaties of Brunei Treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Burundi Treaties of Cambodia Treaties of Cameroon Treaties of Canada Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of the Central African Republic Treaties of Chad Treaties of Chile Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Colombia Treaties of the Comoros Treaties of Zaire Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of the Cook Islands Treaties of Costa Rica Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Dominica Treaties of the Dominican Republic Treaties of Timor-Leste Treaties of Ecuador Treaties of Egypt Treaties of El Salvador Treaties of Equatorial Guinea Treaties of Estonia Treaties of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia Treaties of Fiji Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of Gabon Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Greece Treaties of Grenada Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Guyana Treaties of Haiti Treaties of the Holy See Treaties of Honduras Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic Treaties of Iceland Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jamaica Treaties of Japan Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kenya Treaties of North Korea Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Laos Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Liberia Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Malawi Treaties of the Maldives Treaties of Mali Treaties of Malta Treaties of Mauritania Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Mexico Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Monaco Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties of the People's Republic of Mozambique Treaties of Namibia Treaties of Nauru Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Nicaragua Treaties of Niger Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of Norway Treaties of Oman Treaties of Palau Treaties of Palestine Treaties of Panama Treaties of Paraguay Treaties of Peru Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Qatar Treaties of Romania Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis Treaties of Saint Lucia Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of Samoa Treaties of San Marino Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe Treaties of Saudi Arabia Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of the Solomon Islands Treaties of South Africa Treaties of South Sudan Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of Spain Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011) Treaties of Suriname Treaties of Eswatini Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Tanzania Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tonga Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Uganda Treaties of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties of Vanuatu Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Vietnam Treaties of Yemen Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to Anguilla Treaties extended to Bermuda Treaties extended to the British Antarctic Territory Treaties extended to the British Indian Ocean Territory Treaties extended to the British Virgin Islands Treaties extended to the Cayman Islands Treaties extended to the Falkland Islands Treaties extended to Montserrat Treaties extended to the Pitcairn Islands Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Treaties extended to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Treaties extended to Akrotiri and Dhekelia Treaties extended to the Turks and Caicos Islands Treaties extended to Guernsey Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to Jersey Treaties extended to Hong Kong Treaties extended to Macau Treaties concluded in Geneva