Geneva Conventions

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Development of the Geneva Conventions from 1864 to 1949.

US medical troops check on an injured or dead German soldier during the Battle of Normandy, in accordance with the principles of the Geneva Conventions.

The Geneva Conventions (often misstated as the "Geneva Convention") consist of four treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns.

1 Background
2 The conventions and their agreements
3 Other Geneva Conventions
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Background

The conventions were the results of efforts by Henry Dunant, who was motivated by the horrors of war he witnessed at the Battle of Solferino in 1859. In 1977 and 2005 three separate amendments, called protocols, were made part of the Geneva Conventions.

The adoption of the First Convention followed the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863. The text is given in the Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference, Geneva, 26-29 October 1863.

As of 27 June 2006, when the Republic of Nauru adopted the four conventions, they have been ratified by 194 countries.

As per article 49, 50, 129 and 146 of the Geneva Conventions I, II, III and IV, respectively, all signatory states are required to enact sufficient national law to make grave violations of the Geneva Conventions a punishable criminal offense.

[edit] The conventions and their agreements

First Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field" (first adopted in 1864, last revision in 1949)
Second Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea" (first adopted in 1949, successor of the 1907 Hague Convention X)
Third Geneva Convention "relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War" (first adopted in 1929, last revision in 1949)
Fourth Geneva Convention "relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War" (first adopted in 1949, based on parts of the 1907 Hague Convention IV)

In addition, there are three additional amendment protocols to the Geneva Convention:

Protocol I (1977): Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts. As of 2 August 2006 it had been ratified by 166 countries.
Protocol II (1977): Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. As of 2 August 2006 it had been ratified by 162 countries.
Protocol III (2005): Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem. As of 2 August 2006 it had been ratified by two countries and signed but not yet ratified by an additional 74 countries.

All four conventions were last revised and ratified in 1949, based on previous revisions and partly on some of the 1907 Hague Conventions; the whole set is referred to as the "Geneva Conventions of 1949" or simply the "Geneva Conventions". Later conferences have added provisions prohibiting certain methods of warfare and addressing issues of civil wars. Nearly all 200 countries of the world are "signatory" nations, in that they have ratified these conventions.

Clara Barton was instrumental in campaigning for the ratification of the First Geneva Convention by the United States; the U.S. signed in 1882. By the Fourth Geneva Convention some 47 nations had ratified the agreements.

[edit] Other Geneva Conventions

Other conventions of the United Nations taking place in Geneva and agreements signed there have become part of international and national laws, but are not to be confused with the above-mentioned treaties though they may be referred to as "Geneva Conventions." These include the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (1967), and others.