Geneva Convention
Geneva Convention
Henry Dunant was a businessman from Switzerland for the purpose of business expansion, In 1859, he visited Solferino, Italy During his visit, Italy and France went into
war with Austria This war is famously
known as 'Battle of Solferino' Austria
lost the war but this war led to a total a casualty of 40,000 soldiers
Looking at all this, Henry, who is still present there rushes to provide aid and assistance to
wounded and sick soldiers while doing so
he does not discriminate between the soldiers; whether he is from Italy or
France or Austria and also urges others
to participate in the aid of sick and wounded
during this time, the phrase 'Tutti Fratelli' became very popular which means 'We are all brothers'
Upon his return to Switzerland Remembering his experiences from the war, he
writes a book 'A memory of Solferino' in
which he shares his understanding of war - what a country goes through, losses
incurred and whether a country wins or
loses, both are shattered by the lives lost!
But in this book, he did not just share his experiences he also suggested a solution. He suggests
these two things:
- A Voluntary Relief Society which acts as a Neutral Third-party to take care of the sick
and injured, without discrimination
- Formation of an International Agreement
which lays down the principles to be followed during the war. Henry distributed his book to almost all
leading and influential military and political leaders across Europe! and the book was positively accepted. in 1863, a World meeting was called for in an effort to actualize his solutions which
has two main objectives
- Creation of a
Permanent Relief Agency to provide Humanitarian Aid.
- An International Treaty - with different Govt. to provide a
Neutral Third Party to provide aid in war zones
The first objective led to the formation of the International
Committee of Red Cross And for 2nd
Objective, Geneva Convention was signed on 22nd August 1864 It was these 2
solutions and contribution that Henry
Dunant was awarded 1st Nobel Peace Prize.
1st Geneva Convention - 1864
it talks about the treatment and Condition of Wounded and the Sick in the armed forces, during the
war
2nd Geneva Convention - 1906
it talks about “Protecting the Wounded, the sick and the Shipwrecked
Military Personnel at Sea” But after the
WW1 (1914-18) It was realized that most
countries were not respecting the Geneva and Hague Conventions.
3rd Geneva Convention
- 1929 it talks about 'Prisoners of War' the Convention says that Prisoners of War
should be kept and treated humanely and
it also says that with respect to Prisoners of War, IRCS will act as a neutral 3rd party at the
time of war. 3rd Geneva Convention was
signed by many countries, including Germany
but during the WW2, the 3rd Convention could not stop Germany from
exercising all sorts of power Like
military camps, Concentration camps, biological experiments, etc. That's why the 4th Geneva Convention took place
in 1949 it was an expansion of the
previous Conventions
This convention has provisions regarding Prisoners of War
and Non-combatants (Civilians)
Non-Combatants are those who are not direct participants of the war like children, Pregnant women, Senior
citizens, sick, wounded, etc.
4th Geneva Convention extends to provide protection to POW
and Non-Combatants lets have a look at
some of the concerned provisions Article
9 (Common provision)- It says that ICRC shall not be obstructed Now looking at what all was done during the
world war 2 and to stop History
repeating itself Article 12-16 were
inserted these articles provide the
protection to POW and Non-combatants and
provides that they cannot be murdered, tortured or exposed to biological
experiments.
In addition to
above-mentioned provisions, following
provisions have also been laid down under 1949 conventions for Prisoners of
War because once taken in custody, these
people cannot help in war 4th Geneva Convention provides the following
6 rights to POW
-
PoWs must not be tortured or mistreated.
- POW are only required to give their name, rank, Birthdate & serial number when captured.
- They must receive a suitable home and adequate quantities of food.
- Discrimination should be made.
- They possess right to correspond with family and appropriate care packages.
- Red Cross has right to visit them and examine their living conditions.
The convention provides for broad
provisions regarding the protection of PoWs and Non-Combatants. Protocols to the convention were further added Protocol
first has substantially increased the provisions for the protection of civilians till
now Geneva Convention applied only in cases on International Armed
Conflict But after WW2, all member
nations thought of extending its application to other armed conflicts i.e.,
Civil War
Protocol second enhanced its
applicability from International conflicts to Non-International Conflicts Third Protocol talks about the emblem for Red Cross
Society Geneva Convention along with its
Protocols forms the core of Int. Humanitarian Law Its objective is to minimize the effects of
war - in Int. as well as Non-Int. Armed Conflicts
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