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Humanitarian Law Centerleft. It was exactly because it was a house owned by an Albanian family, inview of the fact that armed conflicts were with the members of the samenationality, the defendant obviously believed he was entitled to take thingsaway from Albanian civilians and search their houses. This behaviour of his,in view of his previous participation in the ousting, under threat, of the personsfrom their house, hitting and firing salvos in the air for the purposeof intimidation is a part of obvious inhuman treatment of the civilians connectedwith armed conflict. All activities described here under the given objectivecircumstances represent the characteristics of a war crime against civilianpopulation as described by Article 142, Paragraph 1, of the CriminalCode of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.In the situation where armed conflicts and war exist as objective circumstances,and the determined facts connecting these circumstances with thecrime, the provisions of international law contained in the Conventions dated12 August 1949 and ratified by the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslaviamust be applied.The Geneva Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian Personsin Time of War dated 12 August 1949 is applied to all cases of declaredwar or any other armed conflict between two or more contracting partieseven when one of them does not recognise the state of war, as describedin Article 2 of the Convention. In Article 3, Paragraph 1, Item 1, and Paragraph2, Items a and c of the same Convention, envisage obligatory applicationof certain provisions in cases of armed conflict lacking characteristicsof an armed international conflict occurring on the territory of one ofthe high contracting parties. This provision prescribes that the persons nottaking active part in the hostilities, including members of the armed forceswho had laid down their arms and persons incapacitated for combat bysickness, wounds, detention or any other cause, shall be treated humanely,without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith,sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end the followingacts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoeverwith respect to the above-mentioned persons, among other things violenceto life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, crueltreatment and torture; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliatingand degrading treatment.318