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

ules set out in subparagraphs (1) (a)-(d) of common Article 3, the ICRC Commentary
continues:
The value of the provision is not limited to the field dealt with in Article 3. Representing, as it
does, the minimum which must be applied in the least determinate of conflicts, its terms must
a fortiori be respected in the case of international conflicts proper, when all the provisions of
the Convention are applicable. For “the greater obligation includes the lesser”, as one might
say. 191
147. Common Article 3 may thus be considered as the “minimum yardstick” 192 of rules of
international humanitarian law of similar substance applicable to both internal and international
conflicts. It should be noted that the rules applicable to international conflicts are not limited to
the minimum rules set out in common Article 3, as international conflicts are governed by more
detailed rules. The rules contained in common Article 3 are considered as applicable to
international conflicts because they constitute the core of the rules applicable to such conflicts.
There can be no doubt that the acts enumerated in inter alia subparagraphs (a), violence to life,
and (c), outrages upon personal dignity, are heinous acts “which the world public opinion finds
particularly revolting”. 193 These acts are also prohibited in the grave breaches provisions of
Geneva Convention IV, such as Article 147. Article 75 of Additional Protocol I, applicable to
international conflicts, also provides a minimum of protection to any person unable to claim a
particular status. Its paragraph 75(2) is directly inspired by the text of common Article 3.
148. This interpretation is further confirmed by a consideration of other branches of
international law, and more particularly of human rights law.
149. Both human rights and humanitarian law focus on respect for human values and the
dignity of the human person. Both bodies of law take as their starting point the concern for
human dignity, which forms the basis of a list of fundamental minimum standards of humanity.
The ICRC Commentary on the Additional Protocols refers to their common ground in the
following terms: “This irreducible core of human rights, also known as ‘non-derogable rights’
corresponds to the lowest level of protection which can be claimed by anyone at anytime
[…]”. 194 The universal and regional human rights instruments 195 and the Geneva Conventions
share a common “core” of fundamental standards which are applicable at all times, in all
circumstances and to all parties, and from which no derogation is permitted. The object of the
191 ICRC Commentary (GC IV), p 14.
192 Nicaragua, para 218.
193 ICRC Commentary (GC IV), p 38.
194 ICRC Commentary on the Additional Protocols, p 1340.
195 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; European
Convention on Human Rights; and Inter American Convention on Human Rights.
45
Case No.: IT-96-21-A 20 February 2001