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Commentary - Annex I : Regulations concerning identification #Chapter V -- Civil defence
    [p.1283] Annex I, Chapter V -- Civil defence


    Introduction

    4288 Paragraph 1 of each of the two articles in the present Chapter mentions Article 66 ' (Identification) ' of the Protocol, which refers to an identity card for civilian civil defence personnel (paragraph 3) and an international distinctive sign of civil defence (paragraph 4) for the protection of civil defence organizations, their personnel, buildings and ' matériel ' and for civilian shelters.

    4289 The same civil defence identity card and international distinctive sign are also to be used for the identification of military personnel assigned to civil defence units, pursuant to paragraph 1 (c) of Article 67 ' (Members of the armed forces and military units assigned to civil defence organizations) ' of the Protocol.

    4290 The civil defence identity card and distinctive sign appear in the documents submitted by the ICRC to the 1971 Conference of Government Experts, as part of the proposals for strengthening the guarantees afforded by international humanitarian law to non-military civil defence organizations. (1)

    4291 Those proposals were considered by the Conference's Commission III, which recommended in its report that uniform markings be internationally adopted, laid down in the regulations and used as a protective distinctive sign (2) reserved for permanent or temporary civil defence personnel.

    4292 No conclusion was reached concerning the nature of the international sign of civil defence at the second session of the Conference of Government Experts, during which an ' ad hoc ' working group studied the matter and issued general guidelines. (3) The ICRC was requested to carry out the necessary studies with a view to proposing an appropriate distinctive sign for civil defence. (4) As to the identity card, it was proposed that the permanent personnel of civil defence organizations should be recognizable by an identity card attesting to the capacity of the holder, bearing his photograph, and embossed with the stamp of the responsible authority. (5) A model identity card was not proposed. In response to the wish expressed at the second session of the Conference of Government Experts, the ICRC arranged for a small group of experts to meet in January 1973 {p.1284] to discuss the distinctive sign of civil defence. Theexperts recommended that an article on the civil defence sign should be included in Annex I to the draft Protocol and suggested the alternative design reproduced in the ICRC's draft together with the model identity card for permanent civil defence personnel. (6)

    4293
    At the Diplomatic Conference, the Technical Sub-Committee recommended the blue triangle on an orange ground, which was adopted by Committee II at the fourth session together with the model identity card.

    4294 The introduction to Part IV, Section I, Chapter VI ' (Civil defence) ' of the Protocol and, in particular, the commentary on Articles 66 ' (Identification) ' and 67 ' (Members of the armed forces and military units assigned to civil defence organizations) ' (7) provide the necessary information on the use of the international distinctive sign of civil defence by civil defence personnel and organizations, as well as on the right to carry the civil defence identity card.

    ' Ph. E. '


    NOTES (1) [(1) p.1283] ' CE/3b ', pp. 155-156;

    (2) [(2) p.1283] ' CE 1972, Report ', p. 89, paras. 503, 505, 506;

    (3) [(3) p.1283] ' CE 1972, Report ', Vol. II, p. 95, CE/COM III/OPC 16;

    (4) [(4) p.1283] Ibid., Vol. I, p. 169, paras. 3.334-3.336; p. 172, Annex, draft Art. 71;

    (5) [(5) p.1283] Ibid., Vol. I, p. 172, para. 1;

    (6) [(6) p.1284] ' Commentary Drafts ', pp. 125-127;

    (7) [(7) p.1284] Supra, pp. 713 and 779;