Protocol II

Historically, international law of armed conflict addressed traditional declarations of war between nations. When the Geneva Conventions were updated in 1949 after the Second World War, delegates sought to define certain minimum humanitarian standards to situations that had all the characteristics of war, without being an international war.[4]

These negotiations resulted in Article 3, common to all four of the basic treaties of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Common Article 3 applies to armed conflicts that are not of an international character, but that are contained within the boundaries of a single country. It provides limited protection to victims, including:

• Persons taking no active part in hostilities should be treated humanely (including military persons who have ceased to be active as a result of sickness, injury, or detention).
• The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

By the 1970s, diplomats were attempting to negotiate clarifications to the brief language of Article 3, and to extend the scope of international law to cover additional humanitarian rights in the context of internal conflicts. These efforts resulted in Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions. The debate over this protocol centered on two conflicting ideas.[5] First, that the distinction between internal and international armed conflict is artificial from the point of view of a victim. Humanitarian principles should apply regardless of the identity of the combatants. Second, that international law does not apply to non-international situations. A nation has sovereignty within its borders, and must not accept judgments by and orders from other countries. And Article 6, section 2 also prohibits collective punishment.

• Geneva Conventions
• First Geneva Convention, on the treatment of battlefield casualties.
• Second Geneva Convention, on the treatment of casualties in war at sea.
• Third Geneva Convention, on the treatment of prisoners of war.
• Fourth Geneva Convention, on the treatment of civilians during wartime.
• Protocol I, a 1977 amendment adopted addressing the protection of victims in international conflicts.
• Protocol III, a 2005 amendment adopted specifying the adoption of the Red Crystal emblem.

• Committee of the Red Cross: Full text of Protocol II with commentaries
• List of countries that have signed or ratified Protocol II
• International Review of the Red Cross, 1997 – No. 320 Special issue: 20th anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols
• President Reagan's message to the Senate on Protocols I & II Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine