Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: A Legal Resource Guide

21. Geneva Protocol 1 Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts

Chapter 21 Geneva Protocol 1 Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (excerpts) Preamble The High Contracting Parties, Proclaiming their earnest wish to see peace prevail among peoples, Recalling that every State has the duty, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations, to refrain in its international relations from the threat or use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations. Believing it necessary nevertheless to reafWrm and develop the provisions protecting the victims of armed conXicts and to supplement measures intended to reinforce their application, Expressing their conviction that nothing in this Protocol or in the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 can be construed as legitimizing or authorizing any act of aggression or any other use of force inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations, ReafWrming further that the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and of this Protocol must be fully applied in all circumstances to all persons who are protected by those instruments, without any adverse distinction based on the nature or origin of the armed conXict or on the causes espoused by or attributed to the Parties to the conXicts, Have agreed on the following: Adopted 8 June 1977 by the Diplomatic Conference on the ReafWrmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed ConXicts, entry into force 7 December 1979, in accordance with Article 95. Part I: General Provisions Article 1. General principles and scope of application 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for this Protocol in all circumstances. 2. In cases not covered by this Protocol or by other international agreements, civilians and combatants remain under the protection and authority of the principles of international law derived from established custom, from the principles of humanity and from the dictates of public conscience. 3. This Protocol, which supplements the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of war victims, shall apply in the situations referred to in Article 2 common to those Conventions. 4. The situations referred to in the preceding paragraph include armed conXicts in which peoples are Wghting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. . . . Article 10. Protection and care 1. All the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, to whichever Party they belong, 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 11. Protection of persons 1. The physical or mental health and integrity of persons who are in the power of the adverse Party or who are interned, detained or otherwise deprived of liberty as a result of a situation referred to in Article 1 shall not be endangered by any unjustiWed 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 generally accepted medical standards which would be applied under similar medical circumstances to persons who are nationals of the Party conducting the procedure and who are in no way deprived of liberty. Geneva Protocol 1, Victims of International Conflicts 215 2. It is, in particular, prohibited to carry out on such persons, even with their consent: (a) Physical mutilations; (b) Medical or scientiWc experiments; (c) Removal of tissue or organs for transplantation, except where these acts are justiWed in conformity with the conditions provided for in paragraph 1. 3. Exceptions to the prohibition in paragraph 2 (c) may be made only in the case of donations of blood for transfusion or of skin for grafting, provided that they are given voluntarily and without any coercion or inducement, and then only for therapeutic purposes, under conditions consistent with generally accepted medical standards and controls designed for the beneWt of both the donor and the recipient...