50 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICT exempted the State in question from its responsibility in relation to the same conduct.”62 Furthermore, the non-derogable character of these rights entails States’ obligation to provide for adequate procedural guarantees, including often judicial guarantees, in particular the right to habeas corpus, i.e., the right to challenge before a court the lawfulness of any detention. The Human Rights Committee has reiterated that the provisions of the Covenant relating to procedural safeguards may never be made subject to measures that would circumvent the protection of non-derogable rights. In this respect, article 4 may not be resorted to in a way that would result in derogation from non-derogable rights. Thus, for example, as article 6 of the Covenant is non-derogable in its entirety, any trial leading to the imposition of the death penalty during a state of emergency must conform to the provisions of the Covenant, including all the requirements of articles 14 and 15.63 Given that international humanitarian law deals with armed conflicts, which are in essence emergency situations, it is not subject to derogations. Nevertheless, as far as the rules on protected civilians are concerned, Geneva Convention IV allows for derogations in respect of certain persons (art. 5). On its own territory, a party may deprive a person suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State of rights and privileges under the Convention, which, if exercised in favour of that person would be prejudicial to the security of that State. In occupied territories, such derogations may affect only communication rights. In any event, such persons must be treated with humanity and may not be deprived of their right to a fair trial. 2.  Lawful limitations on the exercise of certain human rights Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, some articles that define specific rights, including the rights to freedom of religion, movement, expression, peaceful assembly and association, also   Ibid., para. 12.   Ibid., para. 15. 62 63

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