The Geneva Convention and

the Geneva Protocol

The Rules of War

All Is Fair In Love And War

While this is long held to be a truthful
sentiment, International Law disagrees.
The Geneva Convention (which has
been constantly updated since 1864) is a
list of rules the all countries are
supposed to follow during times of war
(and peace time).

Henry Dunant
A veteran of the Battle of Solferino,
Dunant wrote a memoir outlining the
horrors of war.
This memoir led to both the
establishment of the Red Cross (for
which he earned a Nobel Prize) and the
Geneva Convention
The first version was signed by 12
countries.

First Signatories

1.
Grand Duchy of Baden (now Germany)
2.
Kingdom of Belgium
3.
Kingdom of Denmark
4.
French Empire
5.
Grand Duchy of Hesse (now Germany)
6.
Kingdom of Italy
7.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
8.
Kingdom of Portugal
9.
Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany)
10.Kingdom of Spain
11.Swiss Confederation
12.Kingdom of Wrttemberg (now Germany)
Sweden and Norway signed five months later.

The Rules
The prime goal of the Geneva
Convention was ensure that Prisoners of
War were treated humanely and with
respect and medical personal were
protected.

The First Draft

1.
the immunity from capture and destruction of all establishments for
the treatment of wounded and sick soldiers,
2.
the impartial reception and treatment of all combatants,
3.
the protection of civilians providing aid to the wounded, and
4.
the recognition of the Red Cross symbol as a means of identifying
persons and equipment covered by the agreement

The Second Draft

Articles 12 and 18 requires all parties to protect and care for the
wounded, sick, and shipwrecked.

Article 21 allows appeals to be made to neutral vessels to help collect

and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked. The neutral vessels cannot be captured.

Articles 36 and 37 protect religious and medical personnel serving on a

combat ship.

Article 22 states that hospital ships cannot be used for any military
purpose, and owing to their humanitarian mission, they cannot be attacked or captured.

Article 14 clarifies that although a warship cannot capture a hospital

ship's medical staff, it can hold the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked as prisoners of war.

The Geneva Protocol

While the Geneva Convention protects
wartime casualties (and those that offer
medical care), The Geneva Protocol acts
to prevent overly horrific acts of war

The Protocol
Among others, the treaty
bans:
The use of Gas, Chemical and
Biological Weapons
The use of Triangle Bayonets

Coutries that honour The

Geneva Protocol

Geneva
The idea being, to make war more
civilized.

The Geneva Conventions and

Human Rights during Wartime

Jeffrey Spike, Ph.D.

Florida State University College of Medicine
jeffrey.spike@med.fsu.edu

The Geneva Convention

First proposed in 1859 by Henry Dunant after seeing
the Battle of Solferino, in which 40,000 men died in
battle and another 40,000 died of their wounds
He was inspired by nurses Florence Nightingale in
Europe and Clara Barton in the US
First drafted and ratified in Europe in 1864, modern
version with four Conventions drafted in 1949 and
ratified by 191 countries
Led to the establishment of the Red Cross in 1877
The modern Conventions guarantee human rights to
four groups: the sick and wounded, shipwrecked
sailors, prisoners of war, and civilians in territory
occupied by an army

Geneva Conventions I & II

The human dignity of all individuals must be respected at all times
Everything possible must be done, without any kind of
discrimination, to reduce the suffering of people who have
been put out of action by sickness, wounds or captivity
If a member of the armed forces is wounded or sick, and
therefore in no condition to take an active part in the hostilities,
he is no longer part of the fighting force and becomes a
vulnerable person in need of protection and care.
Belligerents must treat members of enemy forces who are
wounded, sick or shipwrecked as carefully their own
Medical equipment must not be intentionally destroyed and
medical establishments and vehicles must not be attacked,
damaged or prevented from operating

Geneva Convention III

Prisoners of War Must be
-Allowed to inform next of kin and International Red Cross of their capture
- Allowed to correspond regularly with relatives and to receive relief parcels
- Allowed to keep their clothes, feeding utensils and personal effects
- Supplied with adequate food and clothing
- Provided with quarters not inferior to those of their captor's troops
- Given the medical care their state of health demands
- Paid for any work they do
- Repatriated if certified seriously ill or wounded
(but they must not resume active military duties afterwards)
- Quickly released and repatriated when hostilities cease.

Prisoners of war must NOT be:

-Compelled to give any information other than their name, age, rank and
service number.
Torture or inhumane treatment of prisoners-of-war (Geneva III, arts. 17 & 87) or
protected persons (Geneva IV, art. 32) are grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions, and are considered war crimes

Geneva Convention IV
Detained civilians must at all times be humanely treated (Geneva III, art. 13,
Geneva IV, art. 27). Protected civilians MUST be:
- Protected against acts or threats of violence, insults and public curiosity
- Entitled to respect for their honor, family rights, religious convictions and
practices, and their manners and customs
- Specially protected, for example in safety zones, if wounded, sick, old,
children under 15, expectant mothers or mothers of children under 7.
- Enabled to exchange family news of a personal kind
- Helped to secure news of family members dispersed by the conflict
- Allowed to practice their religion with ministers of their own faith
Detainees may be questioned, but any form of physical or mental coercion
is prohibited (Geneva III, art. 17; Geneva IV, art. 31)
Women shall be protected from indecent assault, prostitution, and rape
(Geneva IV, art. 27)

Two protocols added in 1977

(ratified by over 160 nations)
Protocol I adds explicit protections to outlaw attacks on
civilians and civilian targets. Prohibits:
-attacking dams, houses of worship, food and water supplies
-recruiting children under 15 into armed forces
-bombing nuclear power stations and weapons which cause
long term and severe environmental damage
-use of weapons that cause superfluous injury or
unnecessary suffering.
Protocol II adds explicit protections to civilians during a civil
war. Prohibits
-collective punishment, pillage, terrorism, and hostage-taking
-attacks on basic needs for civilian survival such as crops,
drinking water supplies and irrigation systems

Uniform Code of Military Justice

Military personnel who mistreat prisoners can be
prosecuted by a court-martial under various
provisions of the UCMJ, arts. 77-134.
Military contractors working for the Department
of Defense might also be prosecuted under the
Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000
(Public Law 106-778), known as MEJA