B. PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF CERTAIN WEAPONS IN NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS

1. Chemical and bacteriological weapons (1925 Protocol)

The customary rule prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, such as those containing asphyxiating or vesicant agents and the use of bacteriological (biological) weapons is applicable in non-international armed conflicts.

2. Bullets which expand in the human body (such as dum-dum bullets)

The customary rule prohibiting the use of bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as dum-dum bullets, is applicable in non-international armed conflicts.

3. Poison

The customary rule prohibiting the use of poison as a means or method of warfare is applicable in non-international armed conflicts.

4. Mines, booby-traps and other devices

In application of the general rules listed in section A above, especially those on the distinction between combatants and civilians and on the immunity of the civilian population, mines, booby-traps and other devices within the meaning of Protocol II to the 1980 Convention on conventional weapons may not be directed against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians, nor used indiscriminately.

The prohibition of booby-traps listed in Article 6 of that Protocol extends to their use in non-international armed conflicts, in application of the general rules on the distinction between combatants and civilians, the immunity of the civilian population, the prohibition of superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering, and the prohibition of perfidy.

To ensure the protection of the civilian population referred to in the previous paragraphs, precaution must be taken to protect it from attacks in the form of mines, booby-traps and other devices.

5. Incendiary weapons

In application of the general rules listed in section A above, especially those on the distinction between combatants and civilians and on the immunity of the civilian population, incendiary weapons may not be directed against the civilian population as such, against individual civilians or civilian objects, nor used indiscriminately.

Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind, 1954* Article 20 - War crimes

Any of the following war crimes constitutes a crime against the peace and security of mankind when committed in a systematic manner or on a large scale:

(a) any of the following acts committed in violation of international humanitarian law:

• (i) wilful killing;
• (ii) torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
• (iii) wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health;
• (iv) extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
• (v) compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power;
• (vi) wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;
• (vii) unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of protected persons;
• (viii) taking of hostages;

(b) any of the following acts committed wilfully in violation of international humanitarian law and causing death or serious injury to body or health:

• (i) making the civilian population or individual civilians the object of attack;
• (ii) launching an indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian population or civilian objects in the knowledge that such attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects;
• (iii) launching an attack against works or installations containing dangerous forces in the knowledge that such attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects;

(c) any of the following acts committed in violation of the laws or customs of war:

• (i) employment of poisonous weapons or other weapons calculated to cause unnecessary suffering;
• (ii) wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity;

6. Parties to a conflict and members of their armed forces do not have an unlimited choice of methods and means of warfare. It is prohibited to employ weapons or methods of warfare of a nature to cause unnecessary losses or excessive suffering.

SECTION II

Rules relating to the conduct of combatants

Part III of the Protocol does not confine itself to stating the rules relating to the status and treatment of prisoners of war. It also recalls the correct conduct of combatants in the course of hostilities. The fundamental principle forming the basis of these rules is that the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited.[P. I, 35]

For example, it is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and methods and materials of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury, particularly those which are intended to cause, or can be expected to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment. Neither may the presence of civilian persons be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.[P. I, 51; IV, 28]

1. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE AND BASIC RULES

The fundamental principle on which the law of armed conflicts is based is expressed as follows: In any armed conflict, the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited. Two basic rules follow from this principle. The first prohibits the use of weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause unnecessary injury. The second, in order to ensure respect and protection for the civilian population and civilian property, obliges the Parties to the conflict to distinguish at all times between the civilian population and combatants, as well as between civilian property and military objectives and to direct their operations only against military objectives.[P. I, 35; P. I, 48]

38. United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities University of Minnesota Human Rights Library's collection of decisions and views of the Human Rights Commitee rendered pursuant to the International

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29. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol)
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52. Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, G.A. res. 2391 (XXIII), annex, 23 United Nations GAOR Supp.
http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/x4cnaslw.htm - size 10K - 1-Jan-98

64. Declaration on the Rules of international humanitarian law governing the conduct
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74. Project of an International Declaration concerning the Laws and Customs of War
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77. Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,
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85. United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Report of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and...
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94. Draft Convention for the Protection of Civilian Populations Against New Engine
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