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

any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth,
or any other similar criteria.
To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any
place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation,
cruel treatment and torture;
(b) Taking of hostages;
(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading
treatment;
(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without
previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording
all the judicial guarantees which are recognised as indispensable by civilised
peoples.
(2) The wounded and the sick shall be collected and cared for.
125. In relation to the scope of Article 3 of the Statute, the Appeals Chamber in the Tadi}
Jurisdiction Decision held that Article 3 “is a general clause covering all violations of
humanitarian law not falling under Article 2 or covered by Articles 4 and 5”. 150 It went on:
Article 3 thus confers on the International Tribunal jurisdiction over any serious offence
against international humanitarian law not covered by Articles 2, 4 or 5. Article 3 is a
fundamental provision laying down that any “serious violation of international humanitarian
law” must be prosecuted by the International Tribunal. In other words, Article 3 functions as
a residual clause designed to ensure that no serious violation of international humanitarian law
is taken away from the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal. Article 3 aims to make such
jurisdiction watertight and inescapable. 151
126. The conclusion of the Appeals Chamber was based on a careful analysis of the
Secretary-General’s Report. The Appeals Chamber inter alia emphasised that the Secretary-
General acknowledged that the Hague Regulations, annexed to the 1907 Hague Convention
(IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, which served as a basis for Article 3 of
the Statute, “have a broader scope than the Geneva Conventions, in that they cover not only the
protection of victims of armed violence (civilians) or of those who no longer take part in the
hostilities (prisoners of war), but also the conduct of hostilities”. 152 The Appeals Chamber
noted that, although the Secretary-General’s Report subsequently indicated “that the violations
explicitly listed in Article 3 relate to Hague law not contained in the Geneva Conventions”,
Article 3 contains the phrase “shall include but not be limited to”. 153 The Appeals Chamber
concluded: “Considering this list in the general context of the Secretary-General’s discussion of
150 Tadi} Jurisdiction Decision, para 89.
151 Ibid, para 91 (underlining in original).
152 Ibid, para 87.
153 Ibid.
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Case No.: IT-96-21-A 20 February 2001