Unit 7: Laws of Armed Conflicts (International Humanitarian Law) — Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocols of 1977; Combatants and Prisoners of War; Principles of the Laws of Armed Conflicts: Distinction, Proportionality, Military Necessity and Unnecessary Suffering; War Crimes and Their Punishment; Nepal’s Conflict-Era Transitional Justice
1. Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocols of 1977
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) — the jus in bello (Unit 2’s separation: applicable equally to all parties regardless of the war’s justice) — the law of armed conflict’s humanitarian branch: the protection of persons not (or no longer) fighting and the limits on means and methods of warfare.
The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 (the universally ratified core — 196 states; Nepal a party):
| Convention | Protected category |
|---|---|
| GC I | The wounded and sick in the field (land forces) |
| GC II | The wounded, sick and shipwrecked at sea (naval forces) |
| GC III | Prisoners of war |
| GC IV | Civilians in the power of the enemy (occupation and internment) |
Common Article 3 — the mini-convention within all four: the minimum yardstick for non-international armed conflict
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