OCHA on Message: International Humanitarian Law
What is International Humanitarian Law?
International humanitarian law (IHL) aims to limit the effects of armed conflict by protecting people who are not fighting, or are no longer flighting, such as civilians and wounded, sick or detained fighters.
It regulates the parties’ conduct of hostilities with a view to protecting civilians and civilian objects (e.g. the rules of distinction, proportionality, precautions), and it requires that all parties treat persons under their control humanely (e.g. prohibiting murder, torture, sexual violence, hostage-taking), care for the wounded and sick, and ensure civilians’ essential needs are met, including by facilitating humanitarian assistance.
IHL applies in situations of armed conflict alongside international human rights law. There are two types of armed conflict under IHL:
i) international armed conflict when two or more States resort to armed force against each other (including situations of occupation), and
ii) non-international armed conflict when one or more non-State armed groups are fighting, either between themselves or against State armed forces.
For a situation of violence to amount to a non-international armed conflict, the non-State armed group(s) must be sufficiently organized, and the hostilities must meet a minimum threshold of intensity. IHL binds all parties to an armed conflict equally.
The principal rules of IHL are found in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the two Additional Protocols of 1977. Many treaty rules of IHL are part of customary international law and apply regardless of treaty adherence, in both types of armed conflict.