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Protocol II is a 1977 amendment protocol to the '' neither as 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.
Committee of the Red Cross: Full text of Protocol II with commentariesList of countries that have signed or ratified Protocol IIInternational Review of the Red Cross, 1997 – No. 320
Special issue: 20th anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protocol Ii Geneva Conventions Treaties concluded in 1977 Treaties entered into force in 1978 Treaties of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria 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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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 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 the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Monaco Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties 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 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 Yemen Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles 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 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 II 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 ...
relating to the protection of victims of ''non-international'' armed conflicts. It defines certain international laws that strive to provide better protection for victims of ''internal'' armed conflicts that take place within the borders of a single country. The scope of these laws is more limited than those of the rest of the Geneva Conventions out of respect for sovereign rights and duties of national governments.
As of July 2024, the Protocol had been ratified by 169 countries, with the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, 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 ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, 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 ...
, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, and 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 ...
being notable exceptions. However, the United States, Iran, and Pakistan signed it on 12 December 1977, which signifies an intention to work towards ratifying it. The Iranian signature was given prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
According to legal scholar and human rights attorney Noura Erakat, the Israeli non-ratification of Protocol I and II to the Geneva Conventions allows the Israeli government to recognize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israelis (; ) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jews and Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percent and 20 percent of the national figure, followed by other ethnic and ...
Overview
Historically, international law of armed conflict addressed traditional declarations of war between nations. When theGeneva 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 ...
were updated in 1949 after the Second World War, delegates sought to define certain minimum humanitarian standards to situations that had all the characteristics of war, without being an international war.
These negotiations resulted in Article 3, common to all four of the basic treaties
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Common Article 3 applies to ''armed conflicts'' that are not of an international character, but that are contained within the boundaries of a single country. It provides limited protection to victims, including:
* Persons taking no active part in hostilities should be treated humanely (including military persons who have ceased to be active as a result of sickness, injury, or detention).
* The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
By the 1970s, diplomats were attempting to negotiate clarifications to the brief language of Article 3, and to extend the scope of international law to cover additional humanitarian rights in the context of internal conflicts. These efforts resulted in Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions. The debate over this protocol centered on two conflicting ideas. First, that the distinction between internal and international armed conflict is artificial from the point of view of a victim. Humanitarian principles
There are a number of meanings for the term humanitarian. Here, humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering. It is usually related to emergency response (also called humanitarian response) whether in the case ...
should apply regardless of the identity of the combatants. Second, that international law does not apply to non-international situations. A nation has sovereignty
Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...
within its borders, and must not accept judgments by and orders from other countries. And Article 6, section 2, also prohibits collective punishment
Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group or whole community for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member or some members of that group or area, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends a ...
.
See also
*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 ...
* 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.
* Second Geneva Convention, on the treatment of casualties in war at sea.
* Third Geneva Convention
The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War was first adopted in 1929, but significantl ...
, on the treatment of prisoners 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 ...
.
* Fourth Geneva Convention
The Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (), more commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in August 1 ...
, on the treatment of civilians during wartime.
* Protocol I
Protocol I (also Additional Protocol I and AP I) is a 1977 amendment Protocol (diplomacy), protocol to the Geneva Conventions concerning the protection of civilian casualty, civilian victims of international war, including "armed conflicts in ...
, a 1977 amendment adopted addressing the protection of victims in ''international'' conflicts.
* Protocol III, a 2005 amendment adopted specifying the adoption of the Red Crystal emblem.
References
External links
Committee of the Red Cross: Full text of Protocol II with commentaries
Special issue: 20th anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protocol Ii Geneva Conventions Treaties concluded in 1977 Treaties entered into force in 1978 Treaties of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria 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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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 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 the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Monaco Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties 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 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 Yemen Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles 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 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