text: Chapter 1
  NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT
  1-15. A non-international armed conflict (NIAC) is an armed conflict not between States, such as a
  conflict between a State and a non-State armed group or a conflict between two non-State armed
  groups (Common Article 3 to GWS, GWS Sea, GPW, and GC). In assessing whether a NIAC exists, thus
  triggering the applicable LOAC rules, situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated
  and sporadic acts of violence, and other acts of a similar nature do not amount to armed conflict (see DOD
  Law of War Manual, 3.4.2.2).
  1-16. “Armed conflict not of an international character” for the purpose of applying the obligations in
  Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions was not specifically defined in those conventions. There
  is a range of views on what constitutes an “armed conflict not of an international character” for this purpose.
  The intensity of the conflict and the organization of the parties are criteria that have been assessed to
  distinguish between a NIAC and “internal disturbances and tensions.” A variety of factors have been
  considered in assessing these criteria and in seeking to distinguish between armed conflict and internal
  disturbances and tensions.
  1-17. The minimum (baseline) legal standard for humane treatment in armed conflict, regardless of the
  characterization of the conflict, is reflected in Common Article 3, as set forth in Figure 1-1 on page 1-5. As
  such, the Department of Defense applies the standards articulated in Common Article 3 in the treatment of
  all detainees (see, Department of Defense Directive [DODD] 2310.01E, Department of Defense Detainee
  Program). Additional humane treatment protections and fundamental guarantees may also apply to persons
  in the hands of opposing forces depending on the context, particularly in international armed conflicts—for
  example, the United States applies out of a sense of legal obligation the principles set forth in Article 75 of
  Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims
  of International Armed Conflict (“Additional Protocol I”)(June 8, 1977) [AP I], to any individual it detains
  in an international armed conflict.