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Geneva Convention

Geneva Conventions - Wikipedia

The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war.

The singular term Geneva Convention usually denotes the agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–1945), which updated the terms of the two 1929 treaties and added two new conventions.

The Geneva Conventions extensively define the basic rights of wartime prisoners, civilians and military personnel, established protections for the wounded and sick, and provided protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone.[2]

The Geneva Conventions defines the rights and protections afforded to non-combatants who fulfills the criteria of being protected persons.[3]

The treaties of 1949 were ratified, in their entirety or with reservations, by 196 countries.[2]

The Geneva Conventions concern only protected non-combatants in war.

The use of wartime conventional weapons are addressed by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, while the biological and chemical warfare in international armed conflicts are addressed by the 1925 Geneva Protocol.

The Swiss businessman Henry Dunant went to visit wounded soldiers after the Battle of Solferino in 1859.

He was shocked by the lack of facilities, personnel, and medical aid available to help these soldiers.

As a result, he published his book, A Memory of Solferino, in 1862, on the horrors of war.[4]

His wartime experiences inspired Dunant to propose:

The former proposal led to the establishment of the Red Cross in Geneva.

The latter led to the 1864 Geneva Convention, the first codified international treaty that covered the sick and wounded soldiers on the battlefield.

On 22 August 1864, the Swiss government invited the governments of all European countries, as well as the United States, Brazil, and Mexico, to attend an official diplomatic conference.

Sixteen countries sent a total of twenty-six delegates to Geneva. On 22 August 1864, the conference adopted the first Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field".

Representatives of 12 states and kingdoms signed the convention:[5][6]

The Geneva Conventions apply at times of war and armed conflict to governments who have ratified its terms.

Protecting powers

See also: Protecting power

The term protecting power has a specific meaning under these Conventions. A protecting power is a state that is not taking part in the armed conflict, but that has agreed to look after the interests of a state that is a party to the conflict. The protecting power is a mediator enabling the flow of communication between the parties to the conflict. The protecting power also monitors implementation of these Conventions, such as by visiting the zone of conflict and prisoners of war. The protecting power must act as an advocate for prisoners, the wounded, and civilians.

Artificial intelligence and autonomous weapon systems, such as military robots and cyber-weapons, are creating challenges in the creation, interpretation and application of the laws of armed conflict.

The complexity of these new challenges, as well as the speed in which they are developed, complicates the application of the Conventions, which have not been updated in a long time.[75][76]

Adding to this challenge is the very slow speed of the procedure of developing new treaties to deal with new forms of warfare, and determining agreed-upon interpretations to existing ones, meaning that by the time a decision can be made, armed conflict may have already evolved in a way that makes the changes obsolete.