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Commentary - Preamble
The title of Additional Protocol III is based on those of Additional Protocols I and II , adopted on 8 June 1977 and relating to international and non-international armed conflicts. Specific legal consequences flow from this wording.
Like its two predecessors of 1977, Additional Protocol III is no more than an “additional” instrument and cannot be regarded as an independent document. It is formally linked to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of victims of war,[15] making it impossible to become party to the Protocol without already being party to the Conventions (or becoming party to them simultaneously [16] ). The connection to the substantive rules of the Geneva Conventions is equally strong. Additional Protocol III supplements their substantive rules and implementation mechanisms, but it is in turn governed by relevant provisions in the 1949 Conventions that it has not amended – in particular their general and final provisions as well as the general principles of international humanitarian law that the Conventions cover.[17]
The subject matter of Additional Protocol III, however, is relatively restricted compared with that of the two Additional Protocols of 1977: it supplements the Geneva Conventions by permitting the use of an additional distinctive sign. The reiteration of the term “additional” clearly indicates that the distinctive emblem established by Protocol III is not intended to replace the emblems recognized by the 1949 Geneva Conventions, but to offer the High Contracting Parties – as well as the other components of the Movement, and potentially other authorized actors – the possibility of using an additional emblem subject to the conditions set forth in the body of the text.


Notes

15. First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, Second Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of the Armed Forces at Sea, Third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

16. On this point, see the Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, ICRC/Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987, pp. 1069 (§ 3693) and 1076 (§ 3715).

17. Ibid., p. 20 (§§ 4-6).