This Resolution reaffirms, in paragraph two, the famous de Martens clause included in the preambles of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 concerning the laws and customs of war according to which states in armed conflict shall apply "the principles of the law of nations derived from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity and from the dictates of the public conscience." The International Conference on Human Rights was convened by the United Nations on the occasion of the International Year for Human Rights (twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).