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11 OF 1992
(July 21)
Official Journal No. 40,510 of 22 July 1995
CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC
By means of which the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 concerning the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I), adopted in Geneva, on 8 May, is hereby approved. June 1977.
THE CONGRESS OF COLOMBIA,
Having regard to the text of the "Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 on the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict (Protocol I)", which reads:
ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 12 AUGUST 1949 ON THE PROTECTION OF VICTIMS OF INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS (PROTOCOL I)
PREAMBLE
The High Contracting Parties,
Proclaiming his burning desire for peace to reign among peoples,
Remembering that, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, every State has the duty to refrain in its international relations from resorting to the threat to the use of force against sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other form incompatible with the purposes of the United Nations,
Whereas it is necessary, however, to reaffirm and develop the provisions protecting victims of armed conflicts, as well as to complete the measures to strengthen the implementation of such provisions,
Expressing its conviction that no provision of this Protocol or of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 may be interpreted as legitimizing or authorizing any act of aggression or other use of force incompatible with the Charter of the United Nations,
reaffirming, furthermore, that the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and this Protocol should be fully applied in all circumstances to all persons protected by those instruments, without any distinction unfavourable character based on the nature or origin of the armed conflict or on the causes invoked by or attributed to the parties to the conflict,
They come in the following:
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 1o. GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND SCOPE.
1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and enforce this Protocol in all circumstances.
2. In cases not provided for in this Protocol or in other international agreements, civil persons and combatants shall remain under the protection and the rule of the principles of the right of persons derived from the established uses, of the principles of humanity and the dictates of public consciousness.
3. This Protocol, which supplements the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of victims of war, shall apply in the situations provided for in Article 2. common to these Conventions.
4. The situations referred to in the preceding paragraph include the armed conflicts in which the peoples are fighting against colonial rule and foreign occupation and against racist regimes, in the exercise of the right of peoples to free determination, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Declaration on the principles of international law concerning relations of friendship and cooperation between States in accordance with the Charter of Nations Joined.
For the purposes of this Protocol:
(a) "I Convention", "II Convention", "III Convention" and "IV Convention", respectively, the Geneva Convention to alleviate the fate of the injured and sick of the armed forces in the field of 12 August 1949; the Convention of Geneva to alleviate the fate of the injured, sick and shipwrecked of the armed forces at sea, on 12 August 1949; the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, of 12 August 1949; and the Geneva Convention on the protection of civil persons in wartime, from 12 August 1949; the "Conventions" means the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of victims of war;
(b) "International law rules applicable in armed conflicts" means those contained in the international agreements of which the Parties in conflict are a Party, as well as generally recognised principles and norms of law international applicable to armed conflicts;
(c) "Protective Power" means a neutral State or other State which is not party to the conflict and who, having been designated by a party in the conflict and accepted by the Adverse Party, is willing to carry out the duties assigned to it to the protective power by the Conventions and by this Protocol;
(d) "substitute" means an organization that replaces the protective power in accordance with the provisions of Article 5o.
ARTICLE 3o. APPLICATION AND END OF THE APPLICATION. Without prejudice to the applicable provisions at all times:
(a) The Conventions and this Protocol shall apply from the commencement of any of the situations referred to in Article 1oof this Protocol;
(b) The application of the Conventions and of this Protocol shall cease, in the territory of the Parties in conflict, to the general term of military operations and, in the case of occupied territories, at the end of the occupation, except in both circumstances, for persons whose final release, repatriation or resettlement takes place thereafter. Such persons shall continue to benefit from the relevant provisions of the Conventions and this Protocol until their final release, repatriation or resettlement.
ARTICLE 4. LEGAL STATUS OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT. The application of the Conventions and of this Protocol, as well as the conclusion of the agreements provided for in these instruments, shall not affect the legal status of the Parties in conflict. The occupation of a territory and the application of the Conventions and this Protocol shall not affect the legal status of the Convention.
ARTICLE 5o. DESIGNATION OF THE PROTECTIVE POWERS AND THEIR REPLACEMENT.
1. It is the duty of the Parties to the conflict, from the beginning of the conflict, to ensure the supervision and implementation of the Conventions and this Protocol through the application of the system of protective powers, including, inter alia, the designation and the acceptance of these Powers, in accordance with the following paragraphs. The protective powers shall be responsible for safeguarding the interests of the parties to the conflict.
2. From the beginning of one of the situations referred to in Article 1o, each of the Parties to the conflict shall without delay designate a protective power for the purposes of applying the Conventions and the present Protocol, and shall also authorize, without delay and for the same purpose, the activity of a protective power which, designated by the adverse party, has been accepted as such by it.
3. If there has been no designation or acceptance of protective power since the beginning of one of the situations referred to in Article 1o, the International Committee of the Red Cross, without prejudice to the right of any other impartial humanitarian organisation shall also offer its good offices to the Parties in conflict with a view to the immediate designation of a protective potential which has the consent of the Parties to the conflict. To this end, the Committee may, inter alia, ask each Party to forward a list of at least five States which that Party considers acceptable to act on its behalf as a protective potential before an adverse party, and to ask each Party to (a) a list of at least five States which it is prepared to accept in order to fulfil the role of the other Party's protective potential; such lists shall be forwarded to the Committee within two weeks of receipt of the request; the Committee shall collate and request the assent of any State whose name appears in the two lists.
4. If, in spite of the above, there is no protective potential, the Parties to the conflict shall accept without delay the offer made by the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other organization that presents all guarantees of (a) impartiality and effectiveness, prior to due consultations with those Parties and taking into account the results of those consultations, to act as a substitute. The exercise of their functions by such a substitute shall be subject to the consent of the Parties in conflict; the Parties to the conflict shall make every effort to facilitate the work of the substitute in the performance of their mission in accordance with the Conventions and to this Protocol.
5. In accordance with Article 4o, the designation and acceptance of protective Powers for the purposes of applying the Conventions and this Protocol shall not affect the legal status of the Parties in conflict or that of any territory including a occupied territory.
6. The maintenance of diplomatic relations between the Parties in conflict or the fact of entrusting to a third State the protection of the interests of a Party and its nationals in accordance with the rules of international law relating to the diplomatic relations, shall not be an obstacle to the designation of protective powers in order to implement the Conventions and this Protocol.
7. Any mention that is made in this Protocol of a protective power shall also be referred to as the replacement.
ARTICLE 6o. QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
1. The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour, in peace time, with the assistance of the national Red Cross Societies (Red Crescent, Lion and Red Sun), to form qualified personnel to facilitate the implementation of the Conventions and the present Protocol and, in particular, the activities of the protective powers.
2. The recruitment and training of such staff are of national competence.
3. The International Committee of the Red Cross shall have at the disposal of the High Contracting Parties the lists of persons so trained that the High Contracting Parties have prepared and communicated to them for that purpose.
4. The conditions for the use of the services of such personnel outside the national territory shall, in each case, be the subject of special agreements between the Parties concerned.
ARTICLE 7o. MEETINGS. The depositary of this Protocol, at the request of one or more High Contracting Parties and with the approval of most of them, shall convene a meeting of the High Contracting Parties to study the general problems relating to the the implementation of the Conventions and the Protocol.
INJURED, SICK AND SHIPWRECKED.
GENERAL PROTECTION.
ARTICLE 8o. TERMINOLOGY. For the purposes of this Protocol:
(a) "Injured" and "sick" are understood to be persons, military or civilian, who, due to trauma, illness or other physical or mental disorders or disabilities, are in need of medical care or care and who are refrain from any act of hostility. These terms are also applicable to parents, newborns and other persons who may be in need of immediate medical care or care, such as the disabled and women who are pregnant, and to refrain from any act of hostility;
(b) "shipwrecks" means persons, whether military or civilian, who are in danger at sea or in other waters as a result of an accident affecting or affecting the aircraft or aircraft carrying them, and which is refrain from any act of hostility. Such persons, provided that they continue to refrain from any act of hostility, shall continue to be shipwrecked during their rescue, until they acquire another status in accordance with the Conventions or with this Protocol;
(c) "health personnel" means persons designated by a Party in conflict exclusively for the purposes of health listed in paragraph (e), or the administration of the health units or the operation or administration of the means of health transport. The destination for such services may be permanent or temporary. The expression comprises:
i) Health personnel, whether military or civilian, of a Party in conflict, including that referred to in Conventions I and II, as well as that of civil protection bodies;
(ii) the health personnel of national Red Cross Societies (Red Crescent, Lion and Red Sun) and other voluntary national relief societies duly recognised and authorised by a conflicting Party;
(iii) The health personnel of the units or means of transport referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 9o.;
(d) "Religious personnel" means persons who are military or civilian such as chaplains, dedicated exclusively to the exercise of their ministry and attached:
i) To the armed forces of a conflicting Party; and
(ii) to the health units or health means of transport of a conflicting Party;
iii) To the sanitary units or means of transport referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 9o., or
(iv) To civil protection bodies of a conflicting Party.
The attachment of religious personnel may be permanent or temporary, and the relevant provisions of paragraph k are applicable to such personnel;
e) "sanitary units" means establishments and other formations, military or civil, organised for health purposes, namely: the search, collection, transport, diagnosis or treatment (including first aid) of the injured, sick and shipwrecked, as well as the prevention of diseases. The expression includes, among others, hospitals and other similar units, blood transfusion centers, preventive medicine centers and institutes, and warehouses of sanitary material, as well as stores of sanitary and medical equipment. pharmaceutical products of these units. The health units can be fixed or mobile, permanent or temporary;
(f) "Health transport" means the transport by land, by water or by air of the injured, sick and shipwrecked, of the health or religious staff or of the health equipment and equipment protected by the Conventions and by the present Protocol;
g) "means of health transport" means any means of military or civil transport, permanent or temporary, intended exclusively for health transport, under the direction of a competent authority of a Party in conflict;
h) Means of "sanitary vehicle" means any means of sanitary transport by land;
i) Means of "sanitary vessel and vessel" means any means of sanitary transport by water;
j) "Health aircraft" means any means of air transport by air;
(k) Health personnel, health units and medical means of transport which are exclusively intended for health purposes for an undetermined period are 'permanent'. Health personnel, health units and medical means of transport are 'temporary', which are exclusively for health purposes for limited periods and for the whole of those periods. As long as no other thing is specified, the expressions 'health personnel', 'health unit' and 'means of health transport' cover both permanent and temporary staff, units and means of transport;
l) "distinctive sign" means the red cross, the red crescent or the red lion and sun on a white background. where they are used for the protection of health units and means of transport and of health and religious personnel, their equipment and equipment;
m) "distinctive sign" means any means of signalling specified in Chapter III of Annex I to this Protocol and intended solely for the identification of the units and means of transport.
1. This Title, whose provisions are intended to improve the condition of the injured, sick and shipwrecked, shall apply to all those affected by a situation referred to in Article 1, without any distinction unfavourable character for reasons of race, colour, sex, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, national or social origin, fortune, birth or other condition or any other similar criterion.
2. The relevant provisions of Articles 27 and 32 of the I Convention shall apply to health units and to the means of permanent health transport (except for hospital ships, to which Article 25 of the Second Convention applies), and the staff of those units or of those means of transport, made available to a Party in conflict for humanitarian purposes:
a) By a neutral State or other State that is not a Party to that conflict;
b) By a recognized and authorized relief society of such a State;
c) By an impartial international humanitarian organization.
ARTICLE 10. PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE.
1. All the injured, sick and shipwrecked, whatever part they belong to, will be respected and protected.
2. In all circumstances they will be treated humanely and will receive, as far as possible and in the shortest possible time, the medical care required by their state. No distinction will be made between them that is not based on medical criteria.
ARTICLE 11. PROTECTION OF PERSON.
1. The health and physical or mental integrity of persons held by the adverse party or who are detained, detained or deprived of liberty in any other manner shall not be endangered by any unjustified action or omission. a situation as provided for in Article 1. It is therefore prohibited to subject the persons referred to in this Article to any medical act which is not indicated by their state of health and which does not agree with the generally recognised medical standards which would be applied in Similar medical circumstances to the non-private nationals of the Party performing the act.
2. They are prohibited in particular, even if they measure the consent of the persons concerned:
a) Physical mutilations;
b) Medical or scientific experiments;
(c) Extractions of tissues or organs for transplantation, except where such acts are justified under the conditions laid down in paragraph 1.
3. Only donations of blood for transfusion or skin for grafting, provided that they are voluntarily and without any pressure or pressure, may be exempted from the application of the prohibition provided for in paragraph 2 (c). for therapeutic purposes only, under conditions corresponding to generally recognised medical standards and to the checks carried out for the benefit of both the donor and the recipient.
4. A serious infringement of this Protocol shall mean any deliberate act or omission which seriously jeopardises the health or physical or mental integrity of any person held by a Party other than that of which it is dependent, any of the prohibitions set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 is that it does not meet the requirements laid down in paragraph 3.
5. The persons referred to in paragraph 1 have the right to refuse any surgical intervention. In case it is rejected, the health personnel shall endeavour to obtain a written declaration in such a sense, signed or recognised by the patient.
6. Any Party in conflict shall keep a medical record of blood donations for transfusions or skin for grafts, made by the persons referred to in paragraph 1, if such donations are made under the responsibility of that Party. In addition, any Party to the conflict shall endeavour to keep a record of any medical act carried out in respect of persons in detention or in any other private form of freedom due to a situation provided for in Article
ARTICLE 12. PROTECTION OF HEALTH UNITS.
1. The health units shall be respected and protected at all times and shall not be subject to attack.
2. Paragraph 1 applies to civil health units provided that they meet one of the following conditions:
a) Belong to one of the conflicting Parties;
b) Being recognized and authorized by the competent authority of one of the Parties in conflict;
(c) Be authorized in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 9oof this Protocol or Article 27 of the I Convention.
3. The Parties to the conflict may be notified of the location of their fixed health units. The absence of such notification shall not exempt any Party from observing the provisions of paragraph 1.
4. The sanitary units will not be used in any circumstances to try to put military targets to cover the attacks. Whenever possible, the Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the health units are not located in such a way that attacks against military targets endanger them.
ARTICLE 13. CESSATION OF THE PROTECTION OF CIVIL HEALTH UNITS.
1. Protection due to civil health units may only cease when they are used, regardless of their humanitarian purpose, in order to carry out acts that are harmful to the enemy. However, the protection shall cease only after an intimation which, having fixed a reasonable period of time, has no effect.
2. No harmful acts shall be considered for the enemy:
(a) The fact that the personnel of the unit are equipped with individual light weapons for self-defense or that of the injured and sick in their care;
b) Custody of the unit by a picket, by sentries or by an escort;
(c) The fact that portable weapons and ammunition collected from the injured and sick are found in the unit, not yet delivered to the competent service;
d) The presence in such unit, for medical reasons, of members of the armed forces or other combatants.
ARTICLE 14. LIMITATIONS ON THE REQUISITION OF CIVIL HEALTH UNITS.
1. The occupying power has an obligation to ensure that the medical needs of the civilian population in the occupied territory continue to be met.
2. The occupying Power may not, therefore, requisition the civil health units, its equipment, its material and the services of its personnel, as long as these resources are necessary to provide the medical services required by the civilian population and to continue medical care for the injured or sick who are already under treatment.
3. The occupying Power may request the above resources provided that it continues to observe the general rule provided for in paragraph 2 and under the following particular conditions:
(a) That the resources are necessary for the immediate and appropriate medical treatment of the injured and sick of the armed forces of the occupying Power or of the prisoners of war;
b) That the requisition be maintained only for as long as such need exists; and
c) That immediate arrangements be made to continue to address the medical needs of the civilian population, as well as those of the injured and sick under treatment, affected by the requisition.
ARTICLE 15. PROTECTION OF CIVIL HEALTH AND RELIGIOUS STAFF.
1. Civil health personnel will be respected and protected.
2. If necessary, all possible assistance shall be provided to the civilian health personnel in those areas where the civil health services are disorganised by reason of the war activity.
3. In the occupied territories, the occupying Power will provide the civilian health personnel with all kinds of assistance to enable them to carry out their humanitarian mission in the best way. The occupying power may not require that, in the performance of its mission, such staff give priority to the treatment of any person, except for reasons of medical order. You will not be forced to perform tasks that are not compatible with your humanitarian mission.
4. Civil health personnel may be transferred to the places where their services are essential, without prejudice to the control and security measures which the Party in question considers necessary.
5. Civil religious personnel will be respected and protected. The provisions of the Conventions and of this Protocol relating to the protection and identification of health personnel are applicable to these persons.
ARTICLE 16. GENERAL PROTECTION OF THE MEDICAL MISSION.
1. No one shall be punished for having exercised a medical activity in accordance with the ethics, whatever the circumstances or the beneficiaries of such activity.
2. Persons engaged in a medical activity shall not be required to carry out acts or work contrary to ethics or other medical standards intended to protect the injured and the sick or the provisions of the Conventions or of this Protocol, or to refrain from carrying out acts required by those rules or provisions.
3. No person pursuing a medical activity may be required to give to anyone belonging to an adverse Party, or to his or her own Party, except as provided by the law of the latter Party, any information about the injured and the sick who are or they have been assisted by that person when, in their opinion, such information may be detrimental to the persons concerned or to their family members. However, the requirements for the mandatory declaration of communicable diseases must be respected.
ARTICLE 17. ROLE OF THE CIVIL POPULATION AND THE RELIEF SOCIETIES.
1. The civilian population shall respect the injured, sick and shipwrecked, even if they belong to the adverse party, and shall not exercise any act of violence against them. The civil population and relief societies, such as the Red Cross National Societies (Red Crescent, Lion and the Red Sun), will be authorised, even on their own initiative, to collect and provide care, even in the regions invaded or occupied. He will not bother, prosecute, condemn or punish anyone for such humanitarian acts.
2. The Parties to the conflict may appeal to the civil population or to the relief society referred to in paragraph 1 to collect and provide care to the injured, sick and shipwrecked and to search for the dead and to communicate where These Parties shall grant the necessary protection and facilities to those who respond to such an appeal. If the adverse party acquires or recovers control of the region it will continue to grant this protection and the facilities mentioned as long as they are necessary.
1. Each Party in conflict shall ensure that both health and religious personnel and health care units and means of transport can be identified.
2. Each Party shall also endeavour to adopt and apply methods and procedures to identify the units and means of health transport using the distinguishing sign and distinguishing signs.
3. In the occupied territory and in areas where fighting is or is likely to occur, civil health personnel and civil religious personnel shall, as a general rule, be made known by means of the distinguishing sign and a identity certifying your condition.
4. The units and means of transport shall be marked, with the consent of the competent authority, by means of the distinguishing sign. Vessels and vessels referred to in Article 22 of this Protocol shall be identified in accordance with the provisions of the II Convention.
5. In addition to the distinguishing sign and in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of Annex I to this Protocol, a Contracting Party may authorise the use of distinctive signals to identify the units and means of transport. By way of exception, in the case of special cases provided for in Chapter III of the Annex, the means of transport may use the distinguishing signs without displaying the distinguishing sign.
6. The implementation of the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 5 shall be governed by Chapters I to III of Annex I to this Protocol. The signals intended, in accordance with Chapter III of that Annex, for the exclusive use of the units and the means of transport, shall be used only, except as provided for in that Chapter, for the identification of the units and the means of transport. of health transport specified there.
7. This article does not authorize the use of the distinctive sign, in the time of peace, of a wider use than the one stipulated in Article 44 of the I Convention.
8. The provisions of the Conventions and of this Protocol concerning the control of the use of the distinguishing sign and the prevention and suppression of their abusive use are applicable to the distinguishing signs.
ARTICLE 19. NEUTRAL STATES AND OTHER STATES OTHER THAN CONFLICTING PARTIES.
Neutral States and other States that are not Parties to conflict shall observe the relevant provisions of this Protocol in respect of persons protected by this Title that may be received or interned in their territories, as such. as of the dead of the conflicting Parties that they collect.
ARTICLE 20. PROHIBITION OF RETALIATION. Retaliation against persons and property protected by this Title is prohibited.
HEALTH TRANSPORT.
ARTICLE 21. SANITARY VEHICLES. Health vehicles shall be respected and protected as provided for in the Conventions and this Protocol for mobile health units.
ARTICLE 22. HOSPITAL SHIPS AND COASTAL RESCUE VESSELS.
1. The provisions of the relevant Conventions:
(a) To the vessels described in Articles 22, 24, 25 and 27 of the II Convention;
b) To their rescue boats and small boats;
c) Your staff and their crews, and
(d) The injured, sick and shipwrecked persons on board shall also apply in cases where such vessels, boats or vessels carry injured, sick and shipwrecked civilians who do not belong to any of the categories referred to in Article 13 of the II Convention. These civil persons, however, may not be handed over to a party in conflict other than their own, or captured at sea. If they are held by a Party in conflict other than their own, the provisions of the Fourth Convention and this Protocol shall apply to them.
2. The protection provided for in the Conventions for the vessels described in Article 25 of the II Convention shall be extended to hospital ships placed at the disposal of a Contracting Party for humanitarian purposes:
a) By a neutral State or other State that is not a Party to that conflict; or
b) By an impartial international humanitarian organization;
provided that the requirements set out in that Article are met in both cases.
3. The vessels described in Article 27 of the II Convention shall be protected even if the notification provided for therein is not made. However, Parties in conflict are invited to communicate to each other all information to facilitate the identification and recognition of such vessels.
ARTICLE 23. OTHER SANITARY VESSELS AND VESSELS.
1. Medical vessels and vessels other than those referred to in Article 22 of this Protocol and in Article 38 of the II Convention, whether in the sea or in other waters, shall be respected and protected as provided for in the Conventions and in this Protocol for mobile health units. Since such protection can only be effective if it is possible to identify and recognise them as sanitary vessels and vessels, such vessels should bear the distinctive sign and, as far as possible, comply with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 43 of the II Convention.
2. Vessels and vessels referred to in paragraph 1 shall remain subject to the laws of war. Every warship that navigates on the surface and who is in a position to enforce its order immediately, may order them to stop, to move away or to take a certain route, and any order of this kind must be obeyed. Such vessels and vessels may not be diverted from any other mode of their health mission as long as they are necessary for the injured, sick and shipwrecked persons on board.
3. The protection provided for in paragraph 1 shall only cease under the conditions laid down in Articles 34 and 35 of the II Convention. Any unequivocal refusal to obey an order given in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 shall constitute an act prejudicial to the enemy within the meaning of Article 34 of the Second Convention.
4. Any Party in conflict may notify any adverse Party as early as possible prior to the voyage, the name, description, planned departure time, route and estimated speed of the sanitary vessel or vessel, in particular in the case of vessels of more than 2,000 gross tonnes, and may provide any other information to facilitate identification and recognition. The adverse party shall acknowledge receipt of such information.
5. The provisions of Article 37 of the Second Convention shall apply to the health and religious personnel of those vessels and vessels.
6. The relevant provisions of the II Convention shall apply to the injured, sick and shipwrecked persons belonging to the categories referred to in Article 13 of the Second Convention and Article 44 of the present Convention. Protocol, which are on board those vessels and sanitary vessels. The injured, sick and shipwrecked persons who do not belong to the categories referred to in Article 13 of the Second Convention may not be delivered, if they are at sea, to a Party which is not their own or obliged to leave such vessels or vessels; if, however, they are held by a Party in conflict other than their own, they shall be covered by the Fourth Convention and this Protocol.
ARTICLE 24. PROTECTION OF SANITARY AIRCRAFT. Health aircraft shall be respected and protected in accordance with the provisions of this Title.
ARTICLE 25. SANITARY AIRCRAFT IN AREAS NOT DOMINATED BY THE ADVERSE PART.
In land areas which are in fact dominated by friendly forces or in maritime areas not in fact dominated by an adverse party, as well as in their airspace, the respect and protection of the health aircraft of a conflicting Party shall not be dependent upon. in agreement with the adverse party. However, for increased security, the conflicting Party using its health aircraft in such areas may give any adverse party the notification provided for in Article 29, in particular where such aircraft shall carry out flights that place them within the range of the adverse Party's surface-air weapons systems.
ARTICLE 26. SANITARY AIRCRAFT IN CONTACT AREAS OR SIMILAR.
1. In the parts of the contact area which are in fact dominated by friendly forces and in areas whose domain of fact is not clearly established, as well as in their airspace, the protection of the health aircraft may only be fully effective if a prior agreement between the competent military authorities of the Parties in conflict as provided for in Article 29. Health aircraft which, in the absence of such an agreement, operate on their own and at risk, must nevertheless be respected when they have been recognised as such.
2. 'Contact zone' means any land area where the advanced elements of the opposing forces are in contact with each other, in particular when exposed to direct shooting from the ground.
ARTICLE 27. SANITARY AIRCRAFT IN AREAS DOMINATED BY THE ADVERSE PART.
1. The health aircraft of a Contracting Party shall continue to be protected while overflying maritime or land areas in fact dominated by an adverse party, provided that the agreement of the Party has been previously obtained for such flights. competent authority of that adverse party.
2. The health aircraft that overflies an area in fact dominated by the adverse party without the agreement provided for in paragraph 1, or by departing from the agreed upon, due to a navigation error or an emergency situation that compromises the safety of the flight, must do everything possible to identify and inform the adverse party about the circumstances in which it is located. As soon as the adverse party has recognised such a health aircraft, it shall do everything reasonably possible to give the order to land or to sour referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 30 or to adopt other provisions in order to safeguard the interests of that Party and, in both cases, before resorting to an attack on the aircraft, to give it time to obey.
ARTICLE 28. RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF SANITARY AIRCRAFT.
1. Parties to the conflict are prohibited from using their health aircraft to seek military advantage over an adverse party. The presence of sanitary aircraft cannot be used to try to put military targets under attack.
2. Sanitary aircraft shall not be used to collect or transmit military information and shall not carry any equipment intended for such purposes. They are prohibited from transporting persons or cargo not covered by the definition contained in paragraph (f) of Article 8. The carriage on board of the personal effects of the occupants or of the equipment intended solely for the purpose of navigation, communications or identification shall not be considered prohibited.
3. Health aircraft shall not carry any weapons except portable weapons and ammunition which have been collected from the injured, sick and shipwrecked persons on board and which have not yet been delivered to the competent service, and individual small arms which are necessary to enable the health personnel on board to defend themselves and to defend the injured, sick and shipwrecked persons in their possession.
4. Unless prior agreement with the Adverse Party, health aircraft cannot be used, when carrying out the flights referred to in Articles 26 and 27, to search for injuries, sick and shipwrecked.
ARTICLE 29. NOTIFICATIONS AND AGREEMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH AIRCRAFT.
1. The notifications referred to in Article 25 and the prior agreement requests referred to in Articles 26, 27, 28, paragraph 4, and 31, shall indicate the intended number of health aircraft, their flight plans and means of identification; such notifications and applications shall be interpreted as meaning that the flights are perform in accordance with the provisions of Article 28.
2. The Party receiving a notification pursuant to Article 25 shall acknowledge receipt thereof without delay.
3. The Party that receives a prior agreement request made under the provisions of Articles 26, 27, 28, paragraph 4, or 31, shall notify quickly as possible to the Party that has made such a request:
a) The acceptance of the request;
b) Denial of the request; or
c) A reasonable alternative proposal to the application. It may also propose a prohibition or restriction of other flights in the area concerned during the period considered. If the Party that has submitted the application accepts those counter-proposals, it shall notify its acceptance to the other Party.
4. The Parties shall take the necessary steps to ensure that such notifications and agreements can be made without any loss of time.
5. The Parties shall also take the necessary steps to ensure that the essential elements of such notifications and agreements are rapidly disseminated among the military units concerned, which shall be informed of the means of identification to be used by the parties. health aircraft in question.
ARTICLE 30. LANDING AND INSPECTION OF SANITARY AIRCRAFT.
1. Health aircraft flying over areas which are in fact dominated by the adverse party or areas whose domain is not clearly established may be intimidated to land or, where appropriate, to be bitter, in order to ensure that the inspection is carried out in the Member States. paragraphs below. The health aircraft will obey such an intimation.
2. If one of such aircraft lands or amates, obeying an intimation or otherwise, it may only be inspected to check the extremes referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this article. The inspection shall be initiated without delay and promptly. The Party that carries out the inspection shall not require that the injured and the sick be landed on the aircraft, unless this is indispensable for the inspection. In any case, that party shall take care that such inspection or landing does not aggravate the condition of the injured and the sick.
3. If the inspection reveals that the aircraft:
a) Is a health aircraft within the meaning of paragraph (j) of article 8;
b) Do not contravene the conditions prescribed in Article 28, and
(c) Has not made the flight without prior agreement or in violation of the flight when such an agreement is required, the aircraft and the occupants of the aircraft belonging to an adverse Party or a neutral State or other State that is not a Party to the conflict shall be authorised to continue the flight without delay.
4. If the inspection reveals that the aircraft:
a) It is not a sanitary aircraft within the meaning of section (j) of article 8;
b) Contrast the conditions prescribed in article 28, or
c) You have made the flight without prior agreement or in violation of a prior agreement when such an agreement is required, the aircraft may be caught. Its occupants shall be treated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Conventions and this Protocol. Any seized aircraft which has been intended to serve as a permanent health aircraft may only be used as a health aircraft.
ARTICLE 31. NEUTRAL STATES OR OTHER STATES OTHER THAN CONFLICTING PARTIES.
1. Health aircraft shall not fly over the territory of a neutral State or other State which is not a Party to the conflict, or land or sour on it, except by virtue of prior agreement. However, to mediate such an agreement, such aircraft shall be respected for the duration of the flight and during any stopovers in such territory. However, they must obey any intimation of landing or, where appropriate, bitter.
2. The health aircraft which, without prior agreement or departure from the provisions of an agreement, overcomes the territory of a neutral State or other State other than a Party in conflict, by mistake of navigation or because of an emergency situation which affect the safety of the flight, do everything possible to notify your flight and identify. As soon as that State has recognised such a health aircraft, it shall do everything reasonably possible to give the order to land or to sour referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 30 or to adopt other provisions in order to safeguard the interests of that State and, in both cases, give the aircraft time to obey, before resorting to an attack.
3. If a health aircraft, with prior agreement or in the circumstances referred to in paragraph 2, lands or amates in the territory of a neutral State or other State other than a Party to the conflict, obeying an intimation or any other This shall be subject to inspection to determine whether it is a health aircraft. The inspection shall be initiated without delay and promptly. The Party that carries out the inspection shall not require that the injured and sick persons who depend on the Party using the aircraft be landed from the aircraft unless this is indispensable for the inspection. In any event, that Party shall ensure that such inspection or landing does not aggravate the condition of the injured and the sick. If the inspection reveals that the aircraft is indeed a health aircraft, that aircraft with its occupants, except for those to be retained in accordance with the rules of international law applicable in armed conflicts, shall be authorized to continue your flight, and you will receive the appropriate facilities for this. If the inspection reveals that the aircraft is not a health aircraft, the aircraft shall be caught and its occupants treated in accordance with paragraph 4.
4. With the exception of those who are temporarily landed, the injured, sick and shipwrecks landed from a health aircraft with the consent of the local authority in the territory of a neutral State or other State which is not a Party to conflict shall, unless otherwise agreed by this State and the Parties to the conflict, remain in the custody of that authority when the rules of international law applicable in armed conflicts so require so that they cannot return to participate in the hostilities. The costs of hospitalization and detention shall be borne by the State to which such persons belong.
5. Neutral States or other States which are not Parties to the conflict shall apply equally to all Parties in conflict any conditions and restrictions on the overflight of their territory by or on the landing of their territory. in the same.
MISSING AND DECEASED PERSONS.
ARTICLE 32. GENERAL PRINCIPLE. In the application of this Section, the activities of the High Contracting Parties, of the Parties in conflict and of the international humanitarian organizations mentioned in the Conventions and in this Protocol must be primarily motivated by the right of families to know the fate of their members.
1. As soon as circumstances permit, and at the latest since the end of the active hostilities, each Party in conflict shall seek the persons whose disappearance has indicated an adverse Party. In order to facilitate such a search, this adverse party shall communicate all relevant information concerning the persons concerned.
2. In order to make it easier to obtain information in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, each Party in dispute shall, in respect of persons who do not benefit from more favourable conditions under the Conventions or the This Protocol:
(a) Register in the manner provided for in Article 138 of the Fourth Convention information on such persons, when they have been detained, imprisoned or held in any other form of captivity for more than two weeks as a result of the hostilities or the occupation or were deceased during a period of detention;
(b) As far as possible, facilitate and, if necessary, carry out the search and registration of information relating to such persons if they have passed away in other circumstances as a result of hostilities or occupation.
3. Information on persons whose disappearance has been identified, in accordance with paragraph 1, and requests for such information shall be transmitted directly or through the protective power of the Central Search Agency. International Committee of the Red Cross or Red Cross National Societies (Red Crescent, Lion and Red Sun). Where the information is not transmitted through the International Committee of the Red Cross and its Central Search Agency, each Party in conflict shall ensure that such information is also provided to the Agency.
4. The Parties to the conflict shall endeavour to agree on provisions allowing groups to seek, identify and recover the dead in the areas of the battlefield; these provisions may provide for, when where appropriate, such groups shall be accompanied by personnel of the adverse party while carrying out those missions in areas controlled by it. The staff of such groups shall be respected and protected as long as they are dedicated exclusively to such missions.
ARTICLE 34. REMAINS OF DECEASED PERSONS.
1. The remains of the deceased as a result of the occupation or while in detention due to occupation or hostilities, and those of persons who are not nationals of the country in which they have died as a result of the occupation. Hostilities, must be respected and the graves of all such persons shall be respected, preserved and marked as provided for in Article 130 of the Fourth Convention, while such remains and graves do not benefit from more favourable conditions pursuant to the Conventions and this Protocol.
2. As soon as the circumstances and the relations between the adverse Parties so permit, the High Contracting Parties in whose territories the graves are located and, where appropriate, other places where the remains of the deceased persons are found, as a result of the hostilities, during the occupation or while in detention, agreements will be concluded in order to:
(a) Facilitate the members of the families of the deceased and the representatives of the official grave registry services access to the graves, and determine the practical arrangements for such access;
b) Ensure permanent protection and maintenance of such graves;
c) Facilitate the repatriation of the remains of deceased persons and the return of personal effects to the country of origin, at the request of that country or, unless the latter object, at the request of the next of kin.
3. In the absence of the agreements referred to in paragraphs (b) or (c) of paragraph 2 and if the country of origin of such deceased persons is not prepared to cover the costs relating to the maintenance of such graves, the High Contracting Party in whose The territory of the country may offer facilities for the return of the remains to the country of origin. If such an offer is not accepted, the High Contracting Party, after five years from the date of the offer and after due notification to the country of origin, may apply the provisions laid down in its legislation on Cemeteries and graves.
4. The High Contracting Party in whose territory the graves referred to in this Article are located may only exhume the remains:
(a) By virtue of paragraph 2 (c) and paragraph 3, or
(b) Where exhumation constitutes an overriding need of public interest, including cases of health need or administrative or judicial investigation, in which case the High Contracting Party shall at all times be required to keep due respect to the remains and communicate to the country of origin their intention to exhume them, giving them details of the place in which they intend to give them a new burial.
WAR METHODS AND MEDIA.
COMBATANT AND PRISONER OF WAR STATUS.
WAR METHODS AND MEDIA.
ARTICLE 35. Fundamental RULES.
1. In any armed conflict, the right of the parties to the conflict to choose the methods or means of war is not unlimited.
2. The use of weapons, projectiles, materials and methods of making war of such a kind that cause unnecessary evils or unnecessary suffering is prohibited.
3. The use of methods or means of waging war which have been designed to cause, or to provide for, cause, extensive, long-lasting and severe damage to the natural environment shall be prohibited.
ARTICLE 36. NEW WEAPONS. When a High Contracting Party studies, develops, acquires or adopts a new weapon, or new means or methods of war, it shall have the obligation to determine whether its employment, under certain conditions or in all circumstances, would be prohibited by this Protocol or by any other rule of international law applicable to that High Contracting Party.
ARTICLE 37. PERFIDY PROHIBITION.
1. It is forbidden to kill, injure or capture an adversary using perfidious means. They shall constitute acts which, by appealing to the good faith of an adversary with the intention of betraying it, give the latter to understand that he is entitled to protection, or that he is obliged to grant it, in accordance with the rules of international law applicable in armed conflicts. These are examples of perfidy the following acts:
a) Simulate the intention to negotiate under the banner of parliament or surrender;
b) Simulating injury or disease incapacitation;
c) Simulate civil, non-combatant status; and
d) Simulate that a status of protection is possessed, by the use of signs, emblems or uniforms of the United Nations or of neutral States or other States that are not Parties to the conflict.
2. The stratagems are not prohibited. It is a ploy of acts which are intended to mislead an adversary or to make it imprudent, but which do not infringe any rule of international law applicable in armed conflicts, nor are they perfidious as they do not appeal to the good the faith of an adversary with regard to the protection provided for in that right. Examples of stratagems are the following: camouflage, anagazas, simulated operations, and false information.
ARTICLE 38. RECOGNIZED EMBLEMS.
1. It shall be prohibited to misuse the distinguishing sign of the red cross, the red Crescent or the red lion and sun or other signs or signs set out in the Conventions or in this Protocol. It is also prohibited to deliberately abuse, in an armed conflict, other signs or internationally recognised protective signs, including the flag of parliament and the protective emblem of cultural goods.
2. It shall be prohibited to make use of the distinctive emblem of the United Nations, except in cases where the United Nations is authorized by that Organization.
ARTICLE 39. SIGNS OF NATIONALITY.
1. It shall be prohibited to use in an armed conflict the flags or emblems, insignia or military uniforms of neutral States or other States which are not Parties to the conflict.
2. It shall be prohibited to use flags or emblems, insignia or military uniforms of adverse parties during attacks, or to cover, promote, protect or impede military operations.
3. None of the provisions of this Article or of Article 37, paragraph 1, (d) shall affect existing rules of generally recognised international law that are applicable to espionage or the use of the flag in the development of armed conflicts at sea.
ARTICLE 40. BARRACKS. It is prohibited to order that there are no survivors, to threaten the adversary or to conduct hostilities on the basis of such a decision.
ARTICLE 41. SAFEGUARDING THE ENEMY OUT OF COMBAT.
1. No person shall be subject to an attack when the circumstances are recognised or, where the circumstances have been met, to be recognised as being out of combat.
2. Everyone is out of combat:
a) That you are in the power of an adverse Party;
b) That you clearly express your intention to surrender; or
c) That he is unconscious or incapacitated in any other way because of injury or illness and is therefore unable to defend himself; and whenever, in any such case, he refrains from any hostile act and does not try to evade himself.
3. Where persons entitled to the protection of prisoners of war have fallen to an adverse party under unusual combat conditions which prevent their evacuation in the form provided for in Section I of Title III of the III Convention, they shall be released, all possible precautions must be taken to ensure their safety.
ARTICLE 42. AIRCRAFT OCCUPANTS.
1. No person who parachutes from an aircraft in distress will be attacked during their descent.
2. When arriving on land in territory controlled by an adverse party, the person who has been parachuted from an aircraft in distress shall have the opportunity to surrender before being attacked, unless it is manifest that he is performing an act. hostile.
3. Airborne troops will not be protected by this article.
COMBATANT AND PRISONER OF WAR STATUS.
