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Distinction (law) Distinction is a principle under international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict, whereby belligerents must distinguish between combatants and protected civilians. [1] Combatant in this instance means persons entitled to directly participate in hostilities and thus are not afforded immunity ...
Protected persons is a legal term under international humanitarian law and refers to persons who are under specific protection of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, their 1977 Additional Protocols, and customary international humanitarian law during an armed conflict. The legal definition of different categories of protected persons in armed ...
Unlawful combatant. An unlawful combatant, illegal combatant or unprivileged combatant / belligerent is a person who directly engages in armed conflict in violation of the laws of war and therefore is claimed not to be protected by the Geneva Conventions. [1][2][3] The International Committee of the Red Cross points out that the terms "unlawful ...
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed and ratified by the United States and Mexico in 1848, articulates rules for any future wars, including protection of civilians and treatment of prisoners of war. [8] The Lieber Code, promulgated by the Union during the American Civil War, was critical in the development of the laws of land warfare. [9]
Responsibility to protect. The responsibility to protect (R2P or RtoP) is a global political commitment which was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly at the 2005 World Summit in order to address its four key concerns to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. [1][2] The doctrine is regarded as a ...
The security council noted reports from the Secretary-General Kofi Annan concerning the situation in Africa and the protection of civilians in armed conflict. [2] [3] Civilians accounted for the majority of victims in armed conflicts and had increasingly become targets of warring parties.
It was adopted in August 1949, and came into force in October 1950. [1] While the first three conventions dealt with combatants, the Fourth Geneva Convention was the first to deal with humanitarian protections for civilians in a war zone. There are currently 196 countries party to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including this and the other three ...
Resolution. Expressing deep regret that civilians continued to account for the vast majority of casualties in armed conflicts, the Security Council reaffirmed today its readiness to respond to the targeting of civilians and the blocking of humanitarian aid, as it opened a day-long debate on the matter. Unanimously adopting resolution 1894 (2009 ...