MOD file DEFE 24/2032/1

2223 Written [ 14 DECEMBER 1977] Answers 2224
rr~~ to.leru:n ~ow to av.~the dangers ~elcome the increased protection for the
o. ·g It withtn a ~~ .or; smok7- sick and wounded and for medical aircraft.
filled building. Th~ considerations still the .improved arrangements for infor=
hold good. There'are, however, specialist matton on persons reported missing· the
RN and firemen, equipped with protection of the civilian popu 'tion
breathing paratus and fully traiJ?-ed to a?~inst dire~t attack, a~d the ne pro-
use it o have been deployed m the VISions on Implementation and e force-
majo ' onurbations. ment both of the protocol and the eneva
Conventions. Protocol II prov' es the
FO's: FRENCH RADIO BROADCAST minimum standards of condu to be
observed by both sides in civ~ wars a
field previously covered only 1}Y a sin'gle
Article in each of the four lf.49 Geneva
Conventions. We welcome! the funda
mental guarantees provided by Protocol II
in relation to e.g. accused :ilnd detained
persons, protection of the /wounded and
sick and medical personnel:'and protection
of the civilian population.;
The EARL of CLANCARTY asked
Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will reconsider their
decision, implicit in their answers to two
recent Questions for Written Answer
(cols. 1347 and 1453), not to draw the
attention of the Ministry of Defence and
the Home Office to the interview on
France-Inter radio in February 1974
of the then French Minister of Defence
i
I M. Robert Galley about unidentified
flying objects by M. Jean-Claude
Bourret which is transcribed in his
book The Crack in the Universe.
Lord WINTERBOTTOM: The Mini-
stry of Defence are endeavouring to obtain
The United Kingdon;l's signature of
the protocols was accoJllpanied by formal
declarations on various/ points, of which
copies have been plac,M in the Library
of the House. Almost' without exception,
these reflect statem~hts made by the
United Kingdom at t11e Conference which
are already part /of the negotiating
history. The most' significant of them
concern the scope 'of application of the
protocols. First, ,as with several recent
international conventions, the Govern-
ment have comfidered it necessary to
reserve the right not to apply the protocols
in relation to Southern Rhodesia unless
and until they are in a position to ensure
that the oblig~tions of the protocols in
respect of tqat territory can be fully
implemented.: Secondly, we have con-
firmed the understanding upon which we
took part in.the negotiations, that the new
rules introduced by Protocol I were not
intended to·have any effect on and did not
regulate or prohibit the use of nuclear
weapons./
\
an official transcript of the interview said
to have taken place on France-Inter radio
in February 1974.
GENEVA CONVENTIONS:
ADDITIONAL PROTbCOLS
Lord BROCKWAY asked Her Majesty's
Government: /
Whether the Governme,f(t have yet
decided whether to sign /the two addi-
tional protocols to thct' Geneva Con-
ventions of 1949 whi,ch were adopted
at the Humanitariau' Law Conference
in June of this yeaq·and if he will make
a Statement. //
Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS: The
two protocols were opened for signature
on 12th December 1977. Protocol I
relates to the' protection of victims of
internationa~ armed conflicts and Proto-
col II to t~ protection of victims of non-
internatiorlal armed conflicts. Signature
of both r'rotocols on behalf of the United
Kingdofo took place on 12th December.
The/Government consider that, overall,
the t~ protocols mark a valuable advance
in humanitarian law applicable in armed
conflicts. In Protocol I we particularly
Thirdly the provisions of Protocol I,
including that on prisoner of war status
for irregular fighters, apply only to
international armed conflict, which are
now ~o defined by the protocol as to
include certain self-determination conflicts.
The i Government have · considered it
desirable in this connection to place
fonhally on record by means of an
intirpretative declaration their under-
standing of the meaning of the term
" ~rmed conflict ", which implies a high
lt1.'el of intensity of military operations,
and their understanding of the require-
ments to be fulfilled by any national