NOTES

ON
HUMAN RIGHTS
AND
INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN
LAW
TOPICS FOR PRESENTATION

PHILIPPINE LAWS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Bill of Rights Under the 1987 Constitution

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF
HUMAN RIGHTS

BASIC RULES OF
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
IN ARMED CONFLICTS
PHILIPPINE LAWS
BILL OF RIGHTS :
[Article III of 1987 Phil Const]

 No person shall be
deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process
of law.
 The right of the people to
be secured in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects
against unreasonable
searches and seizures of
whatever nature and for any
purpose shall be inviolable.
 The privacy of
communication and
correspondence shall be
inviolable.
 No law shall be passed
abridging the freedom of
speech, of expression, or of
the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble
and petition the government
for redress of grievances.
 No law shall be made
respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise
 The liberty of abode and of
changing the same within the
limits prescribed by law shall not
be impaired
 The right of the people to
information on matters of public
concern shall be recognized.
 The right of the people,
including those employed in the
public and private sectors, to
form unions, association, or
societies.
 Private property shall not be
taken for public use without just
compensation.
 No law impairing the
obligation of contracts shall be
passed.
 Free access to the courts
and quasi-judicial bodies and
adequate legal assistance shall
not be denied to any person.
 Any person under
investigation for the commission
of an offense shall have the right
to be informed of his rights.
 The right to bail shall not be
impaired even when the
privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus is suspended
 No person shall be held to
answer for a criminal offense
without due process of law.
 The privilege of the writ of
habeas corpus shall not be
suspended except in cases of
invasion or rebellion
 All persons shall have the
right to speedy disposition of
their cases before all judicial,
quasi-judicial, or administrative
bodies.
 No person shall be
compelled to be a witness
against himself.
 No person shall be detained
solely by reason of his political
beliefs and aspirations.
 Excessive fines shall not be
imposed, nor cruel, degrading or
inhuman punishment inflicted.

 No person shall be imprisoned

for debt or non payment of a poll
tax.
 No person shall be put in
jeopardy of punishment for the
same offense.
 No ex post facto law or bill of
attainder shall be enacted.
 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
 Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.
 Everyone has the right to life, liberty
and security of person.
 No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and
the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

 Everyone has the right to recognition

everywhere as a person before the law.
 All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to
equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any
discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to
such discrimination.
 Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the
competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental
rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

 No one shall be subjected to

arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
 Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by
an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his
rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
 Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public
trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.

 No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence,
under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one
that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
  No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family,
home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.

Everyone has the right to a nationality.

No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied
the right to change his nationality.
 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of
each State.
 Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his
country.
 Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
 This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-
political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
  Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and
to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
 Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
 The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the
State.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.

 Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in

association with others.
 No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and

association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
 Everyone has the right to take part in the
government of his country, directly or through
freely chosen representatives.

 Everyone has the right to equal access to public

service in his country.

 The will of the people shall be the basis of the

authority of government; this will shall be
expressed in periodic and genuine elections
which shall be by universal and equal suffrage
and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent
free voting procedures.
 Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to
realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with
the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights
indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

 Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including

reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic
holidays with pay.
 Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favourable conditions of
work and to protection against unemployment.

 Everyone, without any discrimination, has the

right to equal pay for equal work.

 Everyone who works has the right to just and

favourable remuneration ensuring for himself
and his family an existence worthy of human
dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection.

 Everyone has the right to form and to join trade

unions for the protection of his interests.
 Everyone has the right to a standard of
living adequate for the health and well-
being of himself and of his family, including
food, clothing, housing and medical care and
necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment,
sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or
other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his control.

 Motherhood and childhood are entitled to

special care and assistance. All children,
whether born in or out of wedlock, shall
enjoy the same social protection.
 Everyone has the right to education. Education
shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary education shall
be compulsory. Technical and professional
education shall be made generally available and
higher education shall be equally accessible to
all on the basis of merit.
 Education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality and to
the strengthening of respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among
all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
further the activities of the United Nations for
the maintenance of peace.
 Parents have a prior right to choose the kind
of education that shall be given to their
children.
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to
enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting
from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in

which the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration can be fully realized.
Everyone has duties to the community in
which alone the free and full development of
his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms,
everyone shall be subject only to such
limitations as are determined by law solely
for the purpose of securing due recognition
and respect for the rights and freedoms of
others and of meeting the just requirements
of morality, public order and the general
welfare in a democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case
be exercised contrary to the purposes and
principles of the United Nations.
Nothing in this Declaration may be
interpreted as implying for any State,
group or person any right to engage
in any activity or to perform any act
aimed at the destruction of any of
the rights and freedoms set forth
herein.
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
RIGHTS BASED APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT :
A fundamental human right entitling every and all person to
participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social,
cultural, and political development

1. Express Linkage to
Rights
2. Accountability
3. Empowerment
4. Participation
5. Non-Discrimination and
Attention to Vulnerable
Groups
 BASIC RULES OF
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
IN ARMED CONFLICT
Extract from
"Basic Rules of the Geneva Conventions
And Their Additional Protocols”
Persons hors de combat and those who do
not take a direct part in hostilities are
entitled to respect for their lives and their
moral and physical integrity. They shall in
all circumstances be protected and treated
humanely without any adverse distinction.

It is forbidden to kill or injure an enemy

who surrenders or who is hors de combat.
The wounded and sick
shall be collected and
cared for by the party to
the conflict which has
them in its power.
Protection also covers
medical personnel,
establishments,
transports & equipment.
The emblem of the red
cross or the red crescent
is the sign of such
protection and must be
respected.
Captured combatants and civilians under the
authority of an adverse party are entitled to respect
for their lives, dignity, personal rights and
convictions. They shall be protected against all acts
of violence and reprisals. They shall have the right
to correspond with their families and to receive
relief.
Everyone shall be entitled to benefit from
fundamental judicial guarantees. No one shall be
held responsible for an act he has not committed.
No one shall be subjected to physical or mental
torture, corporal punishment or cruel or degrading
treatment.
Parties to a conflict and
members of their armed forces
do not have an unlimited choice
of methods and means of
warfare. It is prohibited to
employ weapons or methods of
warfare of a nature to cause
unnecessary losses or excessive
suffering.

Parties to a conflict shall at all times distinguish

between the civilian population and combatants in
order to spare civilian population and property.
Neither the civilian population as such nor civilian
persons shall be the object of attack. Attacks shall
be directed solely against military objectives
Definition of Terms Under International Law
TORTURE - any act by which severe pain or suffering,
whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on
a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a
third person information or a confession, punishing
him for an act he or a third person has committed or is
suspected of having committed, or intimidating or
coercing him or a third person, or for any reason
based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain
or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or
other person acting in an official capacity.
It does not include pain or suffering arising only from,
inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

Article 1, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or

Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984
TORTURE – It is ELEMENTS :
considered a “crime • severe physical or mental
against humanity" pain or suffering upon one or
when it is committed more persons
as part of a • person or persons were in
the custody or under the
widespread or
control of the perpetrator
systematic attack
• pain or suffering did not arise
directed against any from lawful sanctions
civilian population, • committed as part of a
with knowledge of the widespread or systematic
attack attack directed against a
civilian population
Article 7, Rome Statute of the • perpetrator knew that it was
International Criminal Court, part of a widespread or
1998 systematic attack directed
against a civilian population
SUMMARY
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW (IHL)

A. PROTECTION must always be given to:

1. Non-combatants
a. Wounded and sick combatants
b. Shipwrecked combatants at sea
c. Prisoners of war
d. Civilians
- Journalist and religious personnel
- Women, children/elderly
e. Medical and relief workers
f. Red Cross workers
2. Objects and Places
a. Medical zones/property
b. Objects for survival:
- Agriculture and livestock
- Water and food supplies
c. Cultural and religious places
d. Installation with dangerous forces
- Dams and chemical plants
- Nuclear/electrical generation
stations
e. Demilitarized/peace zones

3. Protective emblems
- Red Cross
- White flag of truce
B.LIMITATION in the conduct of warfare:

1. Use of banned (b) or Restricted (r) Weapons

a. Booby Traps (r)
b. Incendiary Weapons (r)
c. Anti-personnel Landmines (b)
d. Chemical Weapons (b)
e. Laser Weapons causing blindness
(b)
f. Weapons with non-detectable
fragments (b)
2. Target only military objectives:
a. Armed Forces/Opposition
b. Military establishments/positions
c. Objects that by
nature/location/purpose or use
contribute to military action and
whose destruction offers a military
advantage.

3. Prohibition on indiscriminate
fighting/military tactics that causes:
a. Excessive injury or unnecessary
loss of human lives
b. Severe/long term damage to the
environment
C. DISTINCTION in times of armed conflicts:
1. Combatants and Non-Combatants
Combatants
- Regular Armed Forces
- Armed Opposition
Non-Combatants
- Civilians or persons who are no longer
taking part in the armed conflict
Characteristics
- Uniformed
- Distinctive sign
- Under responsible command
- Carrying arms
- Must follow IHL
Specifically:
- Children, women, aged
- Wounded and sick who are unable to fight
- Captured/unarmed combatant
- Priest/Imam/Pastor
- Medical personnel/Red Cross workers
2. Military Target and Non-Military Target

Military
- Armed Forces/Opposition
- Military positions and
establishments
- Objects that by
nature/location/purpose are for
military action

Non-Military Target
- Civilian Population
- Protected places and objects
- Medical personnel
- Red Cross workers
International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

IHL, also known as he law of armed conflict or

the law of war, is the body of rules which, in wartime,
protects persons who are not or no longer
participating in the hostilities. It is mainly composed
of the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions
and other treaties.

IHL, only applies during armed conflicts. It

does not cover isolated acts of armed violence and
internal disturbances. These are dealt with by
existing domestic or human rights laws.
The Geneva Conventions

The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their

two Additional Protocols of 1997 are the main
treaties of IHL. These conventions protect:
- The wounded and sick soldiers in the
filed;
- The wounded, sick and shipwrecked
soldiers;
- Prisoners of War; and
- Civilians

The Basic Principles of IHL were derived from these treaties. It

was designed to make IHL easier or understand by the general
public.
Violations and Penalties

Violations committed during internal armed

conflicts are subject to military justice or the
national penal code.

Article 3 Common to the Geneva Convention

prohibit the following acts:
- Violence of life and person (murder,
mutilation, cruel treatment and torture)
- Taking of hostages
- Outrages upon personal dignity (humiliating
and degrading treatment)
- Passing of sentences and carrying out
executions without a regular constituted
court.
 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s
10-Point Agenda
1. The creation of six million jobs in six years via more
opportunities given to entrepreneurs, tripling of the
amount of loans for lending to small and medium
enterprises and the development of one to two
million hectares of land for agricultural business.
2. The construction of new buildings, classrooms,
provision of desks and chairs and books for students
and scholarships to poor families.
3. The balancing of the budget.
4. The “decentralization” of progress around the nation
through the use of transportation networks like the
roll-on, roll-off and the digital infrastructure.
 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s
10-Point Agenda

5. The provision of electricity and water supply to

barangays nationwide.
6. The decongestion of Metro Manila by forming new
cores of government and housing centers in Luzon,
Visayas an Mindanao.
7. The development of Clark and Subic as the best
international service and logistic centers in the
region.
8. The automation of the electoral process.
9. A just end to the peace process, and
10. A fair closure to the divisiveness among the EDSA

1, 2 and 3 forces.
 EXTRACTS OF
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
REGARDING CONFLICTS NOT OF AN
INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER

(Article 3 – Common to the four Geneva Conventions, to which

the Philippines is a party since 1952; and Protocol II –
Additional to the Geneva Conventions and to which the
Philippines is a party since 1987)
WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW?

Humanitarian law protects those who do not

take part in the fighting, such as civilians and medical
and religious personnel. It also protects those who
no longer take part in the fighting, such as
combatants who have been wounded or shipwrecked,
who are sick, or who have been taken prisoner.
Protected people must not be attacked. They
must b spared from physical abuse and degrading
treatment. The wounded and sick must be collected
and cared for. Detailed rules, including the provision
of adequate food and shelter and legal guarantees,
apply to those who have been taken prisoner or
detained.
 Certain places and objects, such as hospitals and
ambulances, are also protected and must not be attacked.
Humanitarian law sets number of clearly recognizable
emblems and signals which can be used to identify
protected people and places. These include the red cross
and red crescent.
Humanitarian law lays down restrictions on the
means of warfare, notably weapons, and the methods of
warfare, such as military tactics. Humanitarian law
prohibits all means and methods of warfare which:
- Fail to discriminate between those taking part in
the fighting and those, such as civilians, who are
not taking part in the fighting;
- Cause superfluous injury or unnecessary
suffering;
- Cause severe or long-term damage to the
environment
 Article 3
“Conflicts not of an international character”
(Common to the Geneva Conventions, to which the Philippines is
a party since 1952)

In the case of armed conflict not of an international

character occurring in the territory of one of the High
Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be
bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities,

including members of armed forces who have laid down
their arms and those placed hors’ de combat by sickness,
wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all
circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse
distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex,
birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
 To this end, the following acts are and shall
remain prohibited at any time and in any place
whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned
persons:
a. violence to life and person, in
particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel
treatment and torture;
b. taking of hostages;
c. outrages upon personal dignity, in
particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
d. the passing of sentences and the
carrying out of executions without previous judgment
pronounced by a regularly constituted court,
affording all the judicial guarantees which are
recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
 2. The wounded and sick shall be collected
and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such
as the international Committee of the Red Cross,
may offer its services to the parties to the
conflict.
The parties to the conflict should
further endeavor to bring into force, by means
of special agreements, all or part of the other
provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding
provisions shall not affect the legal status of the
parties to the conflict.
 PROTOCOL II

Protocol Additional to the

Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,
and relating to the Protection of Victims
of Non-International Armed Conflicts
(Protocol II), 8 June 1977.
 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
any other similar criteria (hereinafter referred to as
“adverse distinction”) to all persons affected by an armed
conflict as defined in Article I.

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 1 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 of
indecent assault;
f. slavery and the slave trade in all their forms;
g. pillage;
 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 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 © 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 person 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 rigors 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 practice 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
 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 Provisions

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 offense alleged against him
and shall afford the accused before and during
his trial all necessary rights and means of
defense;
b. no one shall be convicted of an offense
except on the basis of individual penal
responsibility;

c. no one shall be held guilty of any criminal

offense on account of any act or omission
which did not constitute a criminal offense,
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 offense was
committed; it, after the commission of the
offense, a provision is made by law for the
imposition of a lighter penalty, the offender
shall benefit thereby;

d. anyone charged with an offense is

presumed innocent until proved guilty
according to law;
 e. anyone charged with an offense 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 they may exercised.

4. The death penalty shall not be pronounced

on persons who were under the age of eighteen
years at the time of the offense and shall not be
carried out on pregnant women or mothers of
young children.
 5. At the end of the hostilities, the
authorities in power shall endeavor 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 b 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 nort 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 medial and
religious personnel and medical units, and on
medical transports. It shall be respected in al
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 of threats of violence the primary
purpose of which is to spread terror among the
civilian population are prohibited.
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 installation 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) organization 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 of 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 instruments 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 – Denunciation
1. In case a High Contracting Party should
denounce this Protocol, the denunciation shall only
take effect 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 depository 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 of entry into force of this Protocol
under Article 23; and
b. communications and declarations received
under Article 24.
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 depository 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 tests
The original of this Protocol, of which the
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and
Spanish tests are equally authentic shall be
deposited with the depository, which shall
transmit certified true copies thereof to all the
Parties to the Conventions.