| I. | Substantive International Law - First Part |
| 7. | LAW OF TREATIES |
| 7.9. | Specific Treaties |
| 7.9.3. | Geneva Convention on the Protection
of Victims of War of 1949 |
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Military and Paramilitary Activities
(Nicaragua/United States of America)
Merits. J. 27.6.1986
I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 14
[pp. 113-114] ... the conduct of the United States may be judged
according to the fundamental general principles of humanitarian law; in its
view, the Geneva Conventions are in some respects a development, and in other
respects no more than the expression, of such principles. It is significant in
this respect that, according to the terms of the Conventions, the denunciation
of one of them
"shall in no way impair the obligations which the Parties to the
conflict shall remain bound to fulfil by virtue of the principles of the law of
nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples,
from the laws of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience"
(Convention I, Art. 63; Convention II, Art. 62; Convention III, Art. 142;
Convention IV, Art. 158).
Article 3 which is common to all four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949
defines certain rules to be applied in the armed conflicts of a
non-international character. There is no doubt that, in the event of
international armed conflicts, these rules also constitute a minimum yardstick,
in addition to the more elaborate rules which are also to apply to international
conflicts; and they are rules which, in the Court's opinion, reflect what the
Court in 1949 called "elementary considerations of humanity" (Corfu
Channel, Merits, I.C.J. Reports 1949, p. 22; paragraph 215 above). The Court
may therefore find them applicable to the present dispute, and is thus not
required to decide what role the United States multilateral treaty reservation
might otherwise play in regard to the treaties in question.
The conflict between the contras' forces and those of the Government
of Nicaragua is an armed conflict which is "not of an international
character". The acts of the contras towards the Nicaraguan
Government are therefore governed by the law applicable to conflicts of that
character; whereas the actions of the United States in and against Nicaragua
fall under the legal rules relating to international conflicts. Because the
minimum rules applicable to international and to non-international conflicts are
identical, there is no need to address the question whether those actions must
be looked at in the context of the rules which operate for the one or for the
other category of conflict. The relevant principles are to be looked for in the
provisions of Article 3 of each of the four Conventions of 12 August 1949, the
text of which, identical in each Convention, expressly refers to conflicts not
having an international character.
The Court considers that there is an obligation on the United States
Government, in the terms of Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, to "respect"
the Conventions and even "to ensure respect" for them "in all
circumstances", since such an obligation does not derive only from the
Conventions themselves, but from the general principles of humanitarian law to
which the Conventions merely give specific expression. The United States is thus
under an obligation not to encourage persons or groups engaged in the conflict
in Nicaragua to act in violation of the provisions of Article 3 common to the
four 1949 Geneva Conventions.
