Djibouti
Practice Relating to Rule 1. The Principle of Distinction between Civilians and Combatants
Section A. The principle of distinction
Djibouti’s Manual on International Humanitarian Law (2004) states that IHL “has several principles [one of which is] … distinction: the obligation to always distinguish between combatants and the civilian population”.
In 2010, in the History and Geography Textbook for 8th Grade, Djibouti’s Ministry of National Education and Higher Education stated: “The [Additional] Protocols of 1977 reaffirmed and spelled out in detail … [the principle] of distinction: ‘(…) [P]arties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants …’ (art. 45, Protocol I, see also art. 13, Protocol II).”
The ministry further stated: “When parties to the armed conflict plan or launch an attack, they shall distinguish between the civilian population and combatants … According to Article 48 of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.”