ABSTRACT
The author appreciates the opportunity to offer this distinguished group a presentation on the United States position concerning the relation of customary international law to the 1977 Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. This chapter deals with the critical subject of the protection of the civilian population, which was the focus of much of the work of the Diplomatic Conference. It also deals with the implementation of the Conventions and the Protocol. The executive branch has not attempted to evaluate which provisions of Second Protocol are part of current customary law to the same degree that it has done with respect to First Protocol. The basic core of Second Protocol is, of course, reflected in common article 3 of the 1949 Conventions and therefore is, and should be, a part of generally accepted customary law. Second Protocol does not cover all non-international conflicts as traditionally understood and applied in common article 3 of the four 1949 Geneva Conventions.
