Sixth Committee (Legal) — 79th session

Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts (Agenda item 81)

Documentation

Summary of work

Background (source: A/79/100)

The item entitled “State of signatures and ratifications of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I) and the protection of victims of non‑international armed conflicts (Protocol II)” was included in the agenda of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly at the request of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden (A/37/142).

At its thirty-seventh session, the Assembly decided to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-ninth session an item entitled “Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts: report of the Secretary-General” (resolution 37/116). The Assembly had the item on its agenda biennially at its thirty-ninth to forty-fifth sessions (resolutions 39/77, 41/72, 43/161 and 45/38).

At its forty-fifth session, the Assembly decided to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-seventh session an item entitled “Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts” (resolution 45/38). The Assembly has had the item on its agenda biennially since then (resolutions 47/30, 49/48, 51/155, 53/96, 55/148, 57/14, 59/36, 61/30, 63/125, 65/29, 67/93, 69/120, 71/144, 73/204, 75/138 and 77/107).

At its seventy-seventh session, the Assembly allocated the item to the Sixth Committee, where statements in the debate were made by 32 delegations (see A/C.6/77/SR.16-17). The Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit to it at its seventy-ninth session a report on the status of the Additional Protocols relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts, as well as on measures taken to strengthen the existing body of international humanitarian law, including with respect to its dissemination and full implementation at the national level, based on information received from Member States and the International Committee of the Red Cross (resolution 77/107 ).

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Full texts of submissions (A/79/174)

State Original submission Translation
Austria English  
Azerbaijan English  
Belgium French  
Burkina Faso French  
Cabo Verde Spanish English
Colombia Spanish  
Czech Republic English  
El Salvador Spanish  
Guatemala Spanish  
Ireland English  
Italy English  
Niger French  
Peru Spanish  
Poland English  
Saudi Arabia Arabic English
Senegal French  
Slovenia English  
Switzerland French  
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland English  
 
Observer Original submission Translation
ICRC English  

 

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