5cjxburmr

3.8.1.1 Agreements to End Hostilities. Parties to a conflict often have negotiatedpeace treaties to end hostilities. 136 Armistice agreements, i.e., temporary cease-fires, arenegotiated to suspend hostilities. 137 In addition, the U.N. Security Council may require certainsteps leading to the end of hostilities. 138In drafting and interpreting agreements for the cessation of hostilities, it is important tounderstand the rules normally applicable to the cessation of hostilities. These agreements mayrefer to provisions in the Geneva Conventions or other law of war instruments. Theseagreements may modify or supplement the rules normally applicable to the cessation ofhostilities, e.g., by specifying precisely when a legal obligation is triggered or satisfied.3.8.1.2 End of Hostilities Absent Written Agreement. Although States often haveconcluded agreements to end hostilities, it is possible for hostilities to cease absent a written orformal agreement. For example, an armed conflict may end when a party is fully subjugated.It may be difficult to determine when an armed conflict has ceased, as opposed, forexample, to a lull in hostilities during which opposing forces may simply be reconstitutingthemselves. 139 Hostilities generally would not be deemed to have ceased without an agreement,unless the conditions clearly indicate that they are not be resumed or there has been a lapse oftime indicating the improbability of resumption. 1403.8.2 Duties Continuing After Hostilities. Under the law of war, certain duties that havearisen during hostilities may continue after hostilities have ended. For example, POWs areprotected by the GPW from the moment they fall into the power of the enemy until their finalrelease and repatriation. 141 Similarly, protected persons whose release, repatriation, or reestablishmentmay take place after the general close of military operations continue to benefit136 For example, Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam signed between the Governmentof the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam and the Government of the United States, and the Protocols to thisAgreement, Jan. 27, 1973, T.I.A.S. 7542, 935 UNTS 2, 6; General Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bosn. & Herz.-Croat.-F.R.Y, December 14, 1995, 35 I.L.M. 75 (also known as the Dayton Accords).137 Refer to § 12.11.1.2 (Armistice as a Suspension of Hostilities and Not a Peace Treaty).138 Refer to § 12.14 (U.N. Security Council Cease-Fires).139 Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, to Mr. Goni, Spanish Minister, Jul. 22, 1868, VII MOORE’S DIGEST 336 (“It iscertain that a condition of war can be raised without an authoritative declaration of war, and, on the other hand, thesituation of peace may be restored by the long suspension of hostilities without a treaty of peace being made.History is full of such occurrences. What period of suspension of war is necessary to justify the presumption of therestoration of peace has never yet been settled, and must in every case be determined with reference to collateralfacts and circumstances.”).140 Manley O. Hudson, The Duration of the War Between the United States and Germany, 39 HARVARD LAWREVIEW 1020, 1029-30 (1926) (“If a war may be ended by a mere cessation of hostilities, the cessation of hostilitiesmust either be under such conditions that it is clear that they are not to be resumed or there must be a lapse of timeindicating the improbability of resumption.”).141 Refer to § 9.3.6 (Commencement and Duration of POW Status and Treatment).95