Unit 2: Classification of Armed Conflict
2.1 International Armed Conflict
The IAC: the armed conflict between states (the GCs’ common Article 2: the declared war-or-any other armed conflict between two-or-more High Contracting Parties — including the occupation without resistance). The applicable law (the full regime): the four GCs + AP I + the Hague law + the custom; the combatants’ full privileges (the POW status, the combatant immunity — U3.2’s face); the grave breaches’ machinery (U5.1). The threshold: any resort to force between states (no intensity requirement — the low-intensity border clashes included).
2.2 Non-International Armed Conflict
The NIAC: the armed conflict within a state — the government vs organised armed groups (or the groups inter se). The two treaty thresholds: Common Article 3 (the minimum: the non-international conflicts “occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties” — the conflict’s existence presumed; the parties’ obligations: the humane treatment of the hors de combat, the wounded’s care, the judicial guarantees) and AP II (the higher threshold: the conflict between the state’s armed forces and organised armed groups “under responsible command” exercising “control over a part of its territory” — the additional protections). The applicable law: CA3 + AP II (where ratified) + the customary rules (the ICRC study’s NIAC rules — the modern convergence: the core rules applying in both conflict types). The Nepal example (the verified frame): the 1996-2006 conflict — the classical NIAC (the ICRC’s own casebook’s entry) — the CA3-and-custom regime (the Protocols unratified — U5.7’s record).
2.3 Military Occupation
The occupation (the GC IV-and-Hague Regulations’ regime): the enemy’s effective control over the territory without the sovereignty’s transfer (the 1907’s line: the territory “actually placed under the authority of the hostile army”). The occupier’s duties: the public order restored (the administration’s continuity); the local laws respected (the changes only for necessity-and-security); the population’s humane treatment (the GC IV’s protections: no deportation, no hostages, the family-and-property respect); the resources’ administration (the pillage’s bar; the public property’s usufruct faces). The occupation’s modern cases:
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