PII: Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, 1967

This Protocol updates and extends the very limited protections for victims of non-international or civil armed conflicts provided by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (see Fourth Geneva Convention above). Only common article 3 of the Conventions relates to people caught up in internal armed conflict, establishing a minimum code of conduct that includes the prohibition of violence to life and person, including cruel treatment and torture, and "outrages upon personal dignity", in particular humiliating and degrading treatment. The Protocol develops and supplements these protections, extending, for example, the provision outlawing outrages upon personal dignity to include rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault, making it clear that sexual violence is included in these provisions. Although this Protocol has entered into force, it has not been widely ratified as states are reluctant to be held accountable for atrocities committed during internal conflicts.