Humane Treatment of Protected Entities in International Humanitarian Law

International humanitarian law, as defined by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977, places significant emphasis on safeguarding individuals affected by international armed conflicts. This includes ensuring protection, dignity, and compassionate care for non-combatants and those who no longer engage in hostilities. Furthermore, the law establishes various rules to protect the injured, sick, prisoners, civilians, civilian objects, missing persons, and the deceased in conflict situations.
The significance of international humanitarian law is rooted in mitigating the devastation caused by armed conflicts through various measures, such as constraining the discretion of conflict parties in orchestrating armed confrontations and selecting methods of warfare to render warfare into humane in its impact. Consequently, employing combat tactics that entail unbridled suffering, or unwarranted torment is prohibited while alleviating the plight of individuals embroiled in armed conflicts by delineating guidelines for the treatment of injured, sick, and affected personnel on land and at sea, as well as prisoners.

Armed Conflict
International humanitarian law aims to instill a sense of humanity in belligerents’ behavior during and after armed conflicts. It prohibits any party from inflicting unnecessary pain, suffering, or casualties on the adversary that exceed what is warranted by the aims of warfare, namely, destroying the enemy’s military capabilities.
The protected groups comprise individuals such as non-combatant civilians under the control of a warring faction who do not engage directly in hostilities, as well as individuals who rendered hors de combat due to injuries, sickness, shipwreck, or capture. International law establishes fundamental safeguards for these individuals.

Humane Treatment
The fundamental assurances encompass the provision of humane treatment under all conditions, the prohibition of acts of violence against life, health, physical or mental well-being, indignity to personal honor, hostage-taking, collective penalties, and the intimidation associated with carrying out any of the transgressions above.
One of the guarantees provided by international humanitarian law pertains to the requirement to notify individuals of the reasons for their arrest, detention, or apprehension, with the stipulation that they should be promptly released when the conditions justifying their apprehension, detention, or arrest cease to exist, except for those detained or arrested for criminal offenses.
Similarly, no individual convicted of crimes linked to the armed conflict may be subject to a verdict or penalty without a lawful judgment rendered by an impartial and consistently constituted court that upholds the tenets of established and universally accepted judicial protocols.
In conjunction with the aforementioned fundamental protections bestowed upon all safeguarded groups, international humanitarian law delineates specialized provisions tailored for each distinct category, which are outlined as follows:
    •    Wounded, sick, and shipwrecked.
    •    Persons, whether military or civilian, who require medical assistance and who refrain from any act of hostility:
    •    Pregnant women.
    •    New-born children.
    •    Persons with special needs who refrain from fighting.
Key principles governing the safeguarding and care of these individuals include conducting exhaustive efforts to search for, gather, evacuate, and document them, promptly administering medical treatment without discrimination except for medical purposes, and implementing comprehensive measures to prevent mistreatment and the pillaging of personal property.
Regarding prisoners of war, categorized as any belligerent captured by the adversary, they are entitled to receive sufficient provisions of food, water, clothing, housing, and medical care. Female detainees must be held separately from male captives, except in instances where families are housed together as cohesive units, overseen directly by women. Furthermore, individuals in confinement must be detained in facilities located a significant distance from the front lines of active combat.

Protection of Civilians
A civilian refers to an individual who is not classified as a combatant. The foremost regulations governing the safeguarding and care of civilians encompass the prohibition of directly targeting non-combatants in armed attacks unless they are consistently engaged in active hostilities, forbidding the use of civilians as human shields to protect sites or buildings, abstaining from capturing civilians, and refraining from employing or alluding to violent acts primarily aimed at instigating fear among the civilian populace. Furthermore, civilians detained for reasons stemming from the armed conflict must be treated equitably and are entitled to the same treatment and rights as outlined for prisoners of war.

Medical Personnel
Individuals identified as medical personnel are those tasked by a party to the conflict with activities such as searching for, transporting, diagnosing, and treating the wounded, sick, and distressed, providing preventive measures against diseases, overseeing medical facilities, or managing medical transportation services. Without exception, medical personnel solely involved in medical functions must be treated with respect and protection.

Religious Personnel
Religious personnel are individuals, whether military or civilian, who are specifically designated to execute their responsibilities and are affiliated with a party involved in the conflict. They serve within their medical units, medical transport services, or civil defense organizations, regardless of whether their assignments are temporary or permanent. It is imperative that religious personnel be treated with respect and offered protection under all circumstances. Nonetheless, they forfeit this safeguard if they engage in detrimental actions against the opposing party.  
Additional groups warranting distinctive protection encompass individuals such as deceased persons, those who are missing, displaced individuals, women and children, older people, persons with disabilities or illnesses, humanitarian aid workers, and members of the press.