common article 3

Common Article 3 appears identically in all four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and sets out minimum humanitarian standards applicable in "armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties." It was the first treaty provision to regulate internal armed conflict, extending international humanitarian law beyond wars between states.

The article binds each party to the conflict, including non-state armed groups, to treat humanely all persons taking no active part in hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms or are hors de combat due to sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause. It explicitly prohibits, at any time and in any place:

• Violence to life and person, in particular murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture
• Taking of hostages
• Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment
• The passing of sentences and carrying out of executions without judgment by a regularly constituted court affording all judicial guarantees recognized as indispensable

It also requires that the wounded and sick be collected and cared for, and allows impartial humanitarian bodies such as the ICRC to offer services to the parties.

The International Court of Justice in Nicaragua v. United States (1986) described Common Article 3 as reflecting "elementary considerations of humanity" constituting a minimum yardstick applicable in all armed conflicts, whether international or non-international — effectively giving it customary status. The ICTY in Tadić (1995) confirmed that violations entail individual criminal responsibility, and the US Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) held that Common Article 3 applies to detainees in the conflict with al-Qaeda, rejecting the Bush administration's contrary position.

Common Article 3 is supplemented but not replaced by Additional Protocol II (1977), which sets a higher threshold of application. Common Article 3 itself has a low threshold and remains the baseline rule for any non-international armed conflict.