The international conference that ratified Protocol 1 was attended by many representatives of what were then called "national liberation movements," and the final draft contained several passages essentially legitimizing their wars. For example, Article 1 extended various humanitarian protections to people engaged in "armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination." Article 44 extended prisoner-of-war protections to combatants who distinguish themselves from civilians only "while they are engaged in an attack on in a military operation preparatory to an attack." (Even within this context, though, the articles explicitly outlawed "perfidy" committed by these movements.)

The U.S. delegation at the time thought these provisions gave too many rights to Communist guerrillas, but similar objections might be raised today to the non-uniformed Fedayeen irregulars roaming the deserts of Iraq in trucks armed with RPGs.