1977 Protocol I to Geneva Conventions
The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts provides a number of new elements to the existing Conventions which seek to protect non-combatants, including captured, wounded, sick, and shipwrecked soldiers. The Conventions are of great significance as they outline a myriad of key principles of International Humanitarian Law. The Protocol Additional in question serves as a supplementary document to the Geneva Conventions and when viewed through the prism of arms control provides a series of restrictions. This includes the obligation for states to refrain from using weapons which will cause unnecessary pain and suffering or which may cause long term, environmental damage. Furthermore states must determine whether the adoption and employment of a new weapons system would be in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The former of these two restrictions makes the use of weapons of mass destruction a problematic one owing to their significant effects on the environment and on civilians living within or near an area that is struck by such a weapon.