Respect for human rights in armed conflicts

UN General Assembly, Respect for human rights in armed conflicts, A/RES/2674, UN General Assembly, 9 December 1970, https://www.refworld.org/legal/resolution/unga/1970/en/11531 [accessed 14 June 2025]
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XXV. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE
2674. Respect for human rights in armed conflicts

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 2444 (XXIII) of 19 December 1968 and 2597 (XXIV) of 16 December 1969 and noting resolution XXIII adopted by the International Conference on Human Rights held at Teheran in 1968,[1] Referring to resolution XIII and to the other pertinent resolutions on human rights in armed conflicts adopted by the twenty-first International Conference of the Red Cross held at Istanbul in 1969,[2] Expressing its deep concern in connexion with the fact that wars unleashed in violation of the Charter of the United Nations in several parts of the world lead to incalculable disasters and suffering among civilians, Having considered with appreciation the Secretary-General's report on respect for human rights in armed conflicts,[3]

1. Solemnly reaffirms that, in order effectively to guarantee human rights, all States should devote their efforts to averting the unleashing of aggressive wars and armed conflicts that violate the Charter of the United Nations and the provisions of the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations;[4]

2. Condemns the actions of countries which, in flagrant violation of the Charter, continue to conduct aggressive wars and defy the generally accepted principles of the Geneva Protocol of 1925[5] and the Geneva Conventions of 1949;[6]

3. Considers that the principles of the Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 should be strictly observed by all States and that States violating these international instruments should be condemned and held responsible to the world community;

4. Affirms that the participants in resistance movements and the freedom fighters in southern Africa and territories under colonial and alien domination and foreign occupation, struggling for their liberation and self-determination, should be treated, in case of their arrest, as prisoners of war in accordance with the principles of the Hague Convention of 1907 [7] and the Geneva Conventions of 1949;

5. Considers that air bombardments of civilian populations and the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and of all analogous liquids, materials and devices, as well as bacteriological (biological) weapons, constitute a flagrant violation of the Hague Convention of 1907, the Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949;

6. Recognizes the necessity of developing additional international instruments providing for the protection of civilian populations and freedom fighters against colonial and foreign domination as well as against racist régimes.

1922nd plenary meeting,
9 December 1970.
[1] Final Act of the International Conference on Human Rights (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.68.XIV.2), P. 18. [2] See A/7720, annex I, section D [3] A/ 8052. [4] Resolution 2625 (XXV). [5] League of Nations, Treaty Series, vol. XCIV (1929), No. 2138. [6] United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75 (1950), Nos. 970-973. [7] Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907 (New York, Oxford University Press, 1915).
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