Geneva Conventions and Yugoslavia Conflict

HL Deb 10 June 1999 vol 601 cc171-2WA

Lord Jenkins of Putney

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether Clause 1 of the Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act 1995, which provides for a sentence of life imprisonment in the case of a grave breach involving the wilful killing of a person protected by the Convention, is applicable to the present conflict in Yugoslavia. [HL2524]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

Section 1 of the Geneva Conventions Act of 1957, as amended by Section 1 of the 1995 Act, provides that any person who commits a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions or of the First Additional Protocol of 1977 commits an offence under UK law. The relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocol apply to all cases of armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties.