42 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICT B. TERRITORY AND APPLICABILITY OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW According to the traditional view, the principle of territoriality has been one of the key elements concerning the application of international human rights law and, to a lesser extent, of international humanitarian law. It was argued that those rights holders towards whom the State had the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil their human rights could be only those persons within its territory because they were directly under its jurisdiction. Thus, international human rights law was considered to be essentially territorial. For international humanitarian law, it has generally been considered that the territorial link is less important and the obligations and protections apply whenever and wherever armed conflict is taking place. This means, for example, that a State fighting on the territory of another is bound to respect international humanitarian law in the same way as if it were fighting on its own territory. Modern conflict has transformed this approach to international human rights law and international humanitarian law. As will be explained below, this has led to the recognition of the extraterritorial application of international human rights law. Moreover, challenges have been raised as to whether international humanitarian law remains applicable beyond the zone of actual combat. 1. International human rights law and the territorial element A question that often arises is whether States are bound to comply with their international human rights obligations only on their own territory. It is uncontroversial that most human rights protect not only citizens but also foreigners. It has sometimes been contested that conventional human rights obligations bind States outside their territory. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that “[e]ach State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in