Protocol I (also Additional Protocol I and AP I)[4] is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions concerning the protection of civilian victims of international war, such as "armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination, alien occupationorracist regimes".[5] In practice, Additional Protocol I updated and reaffirmed the international laws of war stipulated in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to accommodate developments of warfare since the Second World War (1937–1945).
As of February 2020, it had been ratifiedby174 states.[6] The United States, Iran, and Pakistan signed it on 12 December 1977 but never ratified it. Israel, India, and Turkey have not signed the treaty.
On 16 October 2019, President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order[7] and submitted a State Duma bill to revoke the statement accompanying Russia's ratification of the Protocol I, accepting the competence of the Article 90(2) International Fact-Finding Commission.[8][9][10] The bill was supplied with the following warning:[8][10]
Exceptional circumstances affect the interests of the Russian Federation and require urgent action. ... In the current international environment, the risks of abuse of the commission's powers for political purposes by unscrupulous states who act in bad faith have increased significantly.
Protocol I is an extensive document, containing 102 articles. The following is a basic overview of the protocol.[11] For a comprehensive listing of all provisions, consult the text[12] and the commentary.[13] In general, the protocol reaffirms the provisions of the original four Geneva Conventions. However, the following additional protections are added.
Article 1(4) says:
The situations referred to in the preceding paragraph include armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination.
The three categories have been interpreted narrowly as follows:[15]
Some scholars opined that this article constituted the main impediment that prevented Israel and apartheid-era South Africa from signing the agreement.[16]
The article appears to grant combatant status to non-state actors. As many non-state actors have been designated as terrorist groups (such as the Palestine Liberation Organization), this article was deemed by the Reagan administration declared that Article 1(4) "grant terrorists a psychological and legal victory".[17]
By contrast, an article in the International Review of the Red Cross argues that this article, in fact, strengthens the fight against terrorism, by applying the laws of war (including all its prohibitions and obligations) to national wars of liberation. The rest of the Protocol contains strict prohibitions against acts of terror (Article 13, Article 51(2) etc).[18]
