The fourth and last session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts has just opened. The Conference is considering two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The first widens the scope of humanitarian law applicable in international armed conflicts, in particular by giving additional protection to civilians even when they are not in the enemy's power, and by extending to civilian medical personnel the protection which until now had been granted only to military medical personnel. The second Protocol develops the law applicable in non-international armed conflicts, which until now was restricted to a few principles contained in common article 3 of the four Conventions of 1949.