12.1 The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of

1977 The four Geneva Conventions (1949) — the universally ratified core (196 states; Nepal a party): Convention Protected category GC I The wounded and sick in the field GC II The wounded, sick and shipwrecked at sea 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 (the state's conflict with organized armed groups): humane treatment without adverse distinction (the prohibitions: violence to life, hostage-taking, outrages upon dignity, sentencing without previous judgment by a regularly constituted court affording indispensable judicial guarantees); the wounded's collection and care; the impartial humanitarian body's offer of services (the ICRC's window); the parties' right to conclude special agreements. The Additional Protocols: AP I (1977) — international armed conflicts: the conduct-of-hostilities rules' codification (distinction, proportionality, precautions — the principles' home), civilian-object protection, Article 44's combatant-status relaxation for irregulars, the Martens Clause's restatement; AP II (1977) — non-international armed conflicts: Common Article 3's development — humane treatment, the wounded's care, judicial guarantees, the displaced and children's protections (recruitment bars) — applicable above a threshold: organized armed groups under responsible command controlling territory; AP III (2005) — the additional protective emblem (the Red Crystal — the emblem-objections solution); The wider family: the 1954 Hague…