Czech Republic Position paper on the application of international law in cyberspace infrastructure and services. All feasible precautions must be taken to protect civilians and civilian objects from adverse effects of attacks, including through cyber means.38 43. It is prohibited to make objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population the object of attack, including through cyber means. It is likewise prohibited to destroy, remove or render them useless by cyber means.39 Parties to an armed conflict must not disrupt the functioning of such objects, including through cyber means. All feasible measures must be taken to facilitate thier functioning and prevent harm to these objects, including by cyber operations. 44. Medical units, transport and personnel as well as impartial humanitarian personnel and objects shall not be the object of attack and they must be respected and protected at all times, including their cyber infrastructure.40 All feasible measures must be taken to facilitate their functioning and to prevent harm to these facilities and persons. 45. Under all circumstances, parties to an armed conflict must not employ cyber tools that would spread or cause harm indiscriminately. Indiscriminate attacks, i.e., those that are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited by IHL.41 46. Cyber operations that may be expected to cause incidental loss to civilian life, injury to civilians, or damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, are prohibited. In the cyber context, this would require parties to a conflict to assess the potential effects of cyber activities on both military and civilian infrastructure and users, including shared physical infrastructure that would affect civilians. 47. The Czech Republic emphasizes that the application of IHL to cyber activities in armed conflict by no means promotes the militarization of cyberspace, nor legitimizes cyber warfare, just as IHL does not legitimize any other form of warfare. On the contrary, it reduces the military use of cyberspace by creating limits and requiring for all used means and methods of warfare to be employed in accordance with its rules. International Human Rights Law 48. With ongoing digitalization and technological advances of new technologies, the need to protect and respect all human rights in and with respect to cyberspace is becoming more urgent. While new technologies have great potential to contribute to the protection and promotion of human rights, they also pose significant challenges to human rights. The Czech Republic reiterates that 38 “The parties to the conflict must take all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population and civilian objects under their control against the effects of attacks.” (ICRC Study, rule 22); see also Additional Protocol I, Article 58. 39 Article 54 para 1 of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, of 8 June 1977. 40 See, e.g., Geneva Convention I, Article 19; Geneva Convention II, Article 12; Geneva Convention IV, Article 18; Additional Protocol I, Article 12; Additional Protocol II, Article 11; ICRC Study, rules 25, 28, and 29. 41 Article 51 para 4 of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, of 8 June 1977. 12