UNITED NATIONS Case No.: IT-96-21-A Date: 20 February ... - ICTY

112. It is indisputable that the Geneva Conventions fall within this category of universal
multilateral treaties which reflect rules accepted and recognised by the international community
as a whole. The Geneva Conventions enjoy nearly universal participation. 138
113. In light of the object and purpose of the Geneva Conventions, which is to guarantee the
protection of certain fundamental values common to mankind in times of armed conflict, and of
the customary nature of their provisions, 139 the Appeals Chamber is in no doubt that State
succession has no impact on obligations arising out from these fundamental humanitarian
conventions. In this regard, reference should be made to the Secretary-General’s Report
submitted at the time of the establishment of the Tribunal, which specifically lists the Geneva
Conventions among the international humanitarian instruments which are “beyond any doubt
part of customary law so that the problem of adherence of some but not all States to specific
conventions does not arise”. 140 The Appeals Chamber finds further support for this position in
the Tadic Jurisdiction Decision. 141
114. For these reasons the Appeals Chamber finds that there was no gap in the protection
afforded by the Geneva Conventions, as they, and the obligations arising therefrom, were in
force for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of the acts alleged in the Indictment.
115. The Appeals Chamber dismisses this ground of appeal.
Records of the Human Rights Committee 1992/93, Vol 1, p 15. See also Separate Opinion of Judge
Weeramantry, Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
Preliminary Objections, Judgement, ICJ Reports 1996.
137 In the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Preliminary
Objections, Judgement, ICJ Reports 1996, the ICJ noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina “contended that the
Genocide Convention falls within the category of instruments for the protection of human rights, and that
consequently, the rule of ‘automatic succession’ necessarily applies”, para 21.
138 As of Sept 2000, 189 States are parties to the Geneva Conventions. Only two United Nations members are not
party to them (Marshall and Nauru).
139 Article 158, para 4, of Geneva Convention IV provides that the denunciation of the Convention “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”. Further, Article 43 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties entitled “Obligations imposed by international law independently of a treaty” provides: “The
invalidity, termination, or denunciation of a treaty, the withdrawal of a party from it, or the suspension of its
operation […] shall not in any way impair the duty of any State to fulfil any obligation embodied in the treaty to
which it would be subject under international law independently of the treaty”.
140 Secretary-General’s Report, para 34.
141 Tadic Jurisdiction Decision, paras 79-85.
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Case No.: IT-96-21-A 20 February 2001