II. International Legal Framework and Analysis 58 of war requires warring parties to practice “constant care…to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects.”138 Third, the principle of proportionality requires warring parties to avoid causing harm to civilians or civilian objects that would be excessive in relation to an anticipated military advantage.139 Under the aforementioned principles of proportionality and precaution, which are considered customary international law, warring parties are required to “give effective advance warning of attacks that may affect the civilian population.”140 Customary law requires that parties to armed conflict “must, to the extent feasible, remove civilian persons and objects under [their] control from the vicinity of military objectives.”141 According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): The sole aim of a warning is to allow the civilian population to take protective measures, which is often evacuation. These evacuations aim at protecting these civilians against the risk of incidental harm that they would face if they remain in an area where fighting will flare up or if they flee only once the fighting has started.142 International law also prohibits deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects. Any attack that does not distinguish between military objectives and civilians or civilian objects would be considered indiscriminate.143 Permissible military targets or objectives under the laws of war include combatants and objects that “by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.”144 Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions prohibits direct attacks against civilian objects, such as homes, hospitals, places of worship, and schools, unless they are being used for military purposes—and even then, certain restrictions would apply.145 All parties to an armed conflict, including non-state armed groups such as those operational in Kachin and Karenni states, are obligated to abide by the provisions of international humanitarian law. The Myanmar military junta’s airstrikes and artillery attacks in Kachin and Karenni states between October 9, 2023, and November 18, 2024, documented in this report, violated the principles of distinction, precaution, and proportionality. The junta’s attacks documented in this report do not appear to be designed to achieve any legitimate military objectives.146 Customary international humanitarian law also prohibits reprisal attacks and collective punishment. Reprisals involve acts of retaliation against individuals or groups as a response to actions taken by the enemy. Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits all acts of violence against persons who are not taking part in hostilities, including members of the civilian population.147 It explicitly prohibits acts of reprisal against civilians.148 138 Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), Rule 15. 139 Id. at Rule 14; Michael Bothe, et. al, New Rules for Victims of Armed Conflicts: Commentary on the Two 1977 Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1982), p. 67. 140 Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Rule 20. 141 Id. at Rule 24. 142 International Committee of the Red Cross, “Displacement in Times of Armed Conflict: How International Humanitarian Law Protects in War and Why It Matters,” April 2019, p. 29, https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5d14746e4.pdf. 143 Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Rule 12; Bothe, et. al, New Rules for Victims of Armed Conflicts, p. 677. 144 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of NonInternational Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 1125 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force December 7, 1979, not signed by Myanmar. 145 See, Protocol II, Part II, Part III, and Part IV. 146 See, for example, Fortify Rights interview with A.I., Pekon Township, Karenni State, Myanmar, December 4, 2024; Fortify Rights interview with C.D., Demoso Township, Karenni State, Myanmar, February 24, 2024; and Fortify Rights interview with A.D., Demoso Township, Karenni State, Myanmar, February 22, 2024. 147 Common Article 3. 148 Ibid.