I.  INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW IN ARMED CONFLICT: LEGAL SOURCES, PRINCIPLES AND ACTORS in armed conflict and extend responsibility for violations to the direct participants and to their civilian leadership, where relevant. International humanitarian law further imposes on States the obligations to respect its rules and to protect civilians and other protected persons and property. These legal obligations do not cease to exist when the State delegates governmental functions to individuals, groups or companies. The State is, thus, responsible for ensuring that delegated activities are carried out in full conformity with its international obligations, particularly human rights obligations. Finally, as the primary subject of international law, the State’s obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law include the duties to investigate alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and to prosecute and punish those responsible. 2.  Non-State actors While international law in general has developed in order to regulate mainly the conduct of States in their international relations, international human rights law and international humanitarian law have developed specific particularities aimed at imposing certain types of obligations on others, including individuals and non-State actors. For example, recent developments in international criminal law recognize that individuals may be responsible at the international level for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law which amount to crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Similarly, it is generally accepted that international humanitarian law related to non-international armed conflicts, in particular the provisions contained in common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and, when applicable, Protocol II, applies to parties to such a conflict, whether State 23