Here are the main clauses and key principles of Additional Protocol I:

 

Expanded Definition of International Armed Conflict: A significant innovation of AP I is that it broadens the scope of what is considered an international armed conflict. It now includes "armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination." This provision gives combatants fighting for national liberation the same protections as regular soldiers in an international conflict.

 

Strengthened Protection of Civilians: AP I contains numerous provisions aimed at protecting the civilian population from the effects of hostilities. It introduces the "principle of distinction," requiring all parties to a conflict to distinguish at all times between civilian and combatant populations and between civilian objects and military objectives.

 

Prohibition of Indiscriminate Attacks: It specifically prohibits attacks that cannot be directed at a specific military objective, as well as attacks that are expected to cause disproportionate harm to the civilian population or civilian objects.

 

Prohibition of Attacks on Specific Civilian Objects: AP I identifies and provides special protection for objects that are essential for the survival of the civilian population, such as food, crops, and drinking water installations. It also prohibits attacks on works containing dangerous forces, like dams, dikes, and nuclear power stations.

 

Protection of Medical Personnel and Objects: It extends and reinforces the protections for medical personnel, units, and transports, both military and civilian. It provides for the use of the distinctive Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems to identify and protect these services.

 

New Rules on Combatants and Prisoners of War: AP I clarifies the status of combatants and provides more detailed rules regarding the capture and treatment of individuals who take part in hostilities. It grants prisoner-of-war status to members of organized armed groups fighting in the "national liberation" conflicts it covers, provided they meet certain conditions, such as carrying arms openly.

 

Ban on Certain Methods and Means of Warfare: The protocol prohibits the use of weapons or methods of warfare that are of a nature to cause "superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering." It also explicitly bans the order that there shall be no survivors ("no quarter") and the act of perfidy (pretending to have a protected status to gain a military advantage).

 

Protection for Journalists: AP I recognizes journalists as civilians and grants them all the protections of the Convention, provided they are not taking an active part in hostilities.

 

Repression of Breaches: The protocol includes provisions for the repression of serious breaches of the Conventions and the Protocol, including the establishment of an International Fact-Finding Commission to investigate alleged violations.