Terrorist acts of violence against civilians are war crimes and acts of mass murder by ICRC / Red Crescent & Red Cross Societies 12:46am 3rd Nov, 2010   It is a basic principle of International Humanitarian Law that persons fighting in armed conflict must, at all times, distinguish between civilians and combatants.    In situations of armed conflict, there is no legal significance in describing deliberate acts of violence against civilians or civilian objects as "terrorist" because such acts would already constitute war crimes.    The Geneva Conventions prohibit acts aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population. "The civilian population, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited" (AP I, Article 51(2) and AP II, Article 13(2)).    The Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 33) states that "Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited", while Additional Protocol II (Article 4) prohibits "acts of terrorism" against persons not or no longer taking part in hostilities.    The main aim is to emphasise that neither individuals, nor the civilian population may be subject to collective punishments, which, among other things, obviously induce a state of terror.    Both Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions also prohibit acts aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population.    (Muslim people have suffered the highest casualities from acts of terror worldwide) Visit the related web page
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