40 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICT the parties to a conflict to recognize that actual armed conflict exists. This determination must be made primarily on the basis of the situation on the ground, according to the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law. In addition, public statements by ICRC or the United Nations would be significant in determining that there is an armed conflict. Why is it important to determine when the applicability of international humanitarian rules has been triggered? International human rights law and international humanitarian law share a number of protections and standards aimed at protecting civilians from the effects of war. Yet, because international humanitarian law gives States more leeway when they use armed force (for example, on the use of deadly force) and, according to certain States, when they detain enemies without judicial procedure (like prisoners of war in international armed conflicts), there may be a temptation to invoke rules of international humanitarian law in a situation where the threshold of armed force has not been reached. In those unclear cases it is essential to consider international human rights law as the only applicable legal regime, until such time that the threshold and conditions of an armed conflict have been met. 3.  The distinction between international and non-international armed conflict in contemporary law and practice At various moments in history efforts have been made to remove the distinction between international and non-international armed conflicts in order to create a single body of international humanitarian law common to all situations of armed conflict. Although these efforts have not been fully successful, developments in case law, international practice and the actual character of armed conflict are de facto blurring the distinction between the two. As a result, the higher protections previously ascribed only to international armed conflicts, or only to the more formal non-international armed conflicts defined under Protocol II, are now being applied even to the category of conflict defined under common article 3.