Knowra Distinction (international humanitarian law) Distinction (international humanitarian law) A rule of international humanitarian law requiring parties to distinguish civilians and civilian objects from combatants and military objectives. It prohibits directing attacks against civilians or civilian objects.
Combatant : A member of a party’s armed forces, except medical and religious personnel, who may directly participate in hostilities. Distinction separates combatants, who may be targeted, from civilians, who may not.
International humanitarian law : The body of international law regulating conduct during armed conflict and protecting people affected by it. Distinction is a core rule within this body of law.
Hague Convention IV : The 1907 treaty on the laws and customs of war on land, with an annex of regulations governing hostilities and occupation. Its regulations helped shape the treaty law governing conduct in war.
Perfidy : A prohibited act that invites an adversary’s confidence in legal protection and betrays that confidence to kill, injure, or capture. Perfidy abuses protected status; distinction requires parties to respect it.
Civilian : A person who is not a member of a party’s armed forces and is protected from attack unless directly participating in hostilities. Civilian status is the personal category distinction protects from direct attack.
Principle of distinction : The general rule that parties to armed conflict must distinguish between persons and objects that may be attacked and those protected from attack. The named principle captures the broader rule this page specifies.
Additional Protocol I : The 1977 treaty supplementing the Geneva Conventions for international armed conflicts. Articles 48, 51, and 52 set out central treaty rules on distinction.
Human shields : The use of civilians or other protected persons to shield military objectives or operations from attack. Using human shields does not erase the opposing party’s distinction obligations.
Military objective : An object that effectively contributes to military action and whose destruction, capture, or neutralization offers a definite military advantage. This definition separates attackable objects from civilian objects.
Proportionality in international humanitarian law : The rule prohibiting attacks expected to cause excessive incidental civilian harm compared with the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage. Distinction identifies lawful targets; proportionality limits expected harm from attacks on them.
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