The ICRC, the League and the Report on the re-appraisal of the Role of the Red Cross (III): Protection and assistance in situations not covered by international humanitarian law

Extract

Originally, and up to 1949, the law of Geneva protected only victims of wars between States. Article 3, common to the four Conventions of 1949, is applicable to all non-international armed conflicts; the Protocol additional II to these Conventions covers non-international armed conflicts in which hostilities reach a certain degree of intensity; it does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence and other acts of a similar nature, as not being armed conflicts (Protocol II, art. 1, par. 2).