Geneva Conventions Essay

Introduction straightaway we alert in coitusly peaceful clock time, provided it wasnt always wish well that. All those fights were bloody, most quantify even too bloody, so lot need to create some rules. So those rules were created.Four throngs for One Purpose non everybody knows that, hardly in that respect were four treaties, non erect ane. And even then(prenominal), they were modified later with one-third amendment protocols. I will start with a picture overview. First geneva approach pattern was adopted in 1864 for the amelioration of the considerateness of the Wounded and Sick in fortify Forces in the Field. hour geneva concourse was adopted in 1906 for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of fortify Forces at Sea. Third geneva conventionality was adopted in 1929, and it was link up to to the Treatment of Prisoners of struggle. Fin entirelyy, Fourth geneva Convention was adopted in 1949, and it was related to th e security system of Civilian Persons in Time of War. It arrested completely points of preceding one while adding numerous new points. So, when people say slightly singular geneva Convention, they usu all(prenominal)y mean this one. Later is was modified with 2 protocols in 1977 when modifications were related to the Protection of Victims of foreign Armed Conflicts and the Protection of Victims of Non- planetary Armed Conflicts.Latest modification was made in 2005 when an Additional distinctive type was adopted. The Conventions are inextricably linked to the International delegacy of the Red breed, which is both(prenominal) the instigator for the inception and enforcer of the names in these conventions. They changed the world with their aspiration to entertain the rights of non-combatants. This quote is a nice example Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons,their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and pr actices, and their manners and customs. They shall, at all times, be humanely treated, and shall be deport deared, especially against all acts of violence or threats hence and against insults and public curiosity.Women shall be especially defend against each attack on their honour, in deviateiallyicular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of unseemly assault. Without prejudice to the sustenance relating to their state of health, mature and sex, all protected persons shall be treated with the homogeneous consideration by the Party to the conflict in whose power they are, without any adverse distinction based, in particular, on race, godliness or political opinion. However, the Parties to the conflict whitethorn take such measures of master and security in regard to protected persons as may be necessary as a result of the state of contend. hold 27, Fourth geneva Convention (1949)The First Geneva ConventionThe First Geneva Convention, for the Amelioratio n of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, defines the basis on which respire the rules of international law for the protective cover of the victims of armed conflicts. It was adopted in 1864 and then updated three times. Back then, it was a very critical period for European history, both troops and political. Situation in Western Europe was relatively peaceful between the fall of the first Napoleon (the Battle of Waterloo in 1815) and the rise of Napoleon III (Italian campaign of 1859), but when the conflict in the Crimea took place, powers couldnt maintain peace any more. Henri Dunant was a man who gave the world mentation of creating an international set of laws curbing the discourse and heraldic bearing for the injure and captives of war.He witnessed the Battle of Solferino in 1859, fought between Austrian and French-Piedmontese armies in Union Italy. Around forty thousands of soldiers were wounded and left on the battlefield. The creator for that was a lack of personnel, facilities, and truces to give the soldiers any kind of medical checkup examination examination aid. After witnessing all that Dunant decided to act. So, aft(prenominal) his return to Geneva Dunant apply his membership in the Geneva Society for Public Welfare to urge the calling in concert of an international conference to create new rules in terms of war. early(a) things that Henri Dunant did were publishing his account Un Souvenir de Solferino and aiding with foundation of the International Committee ofthe Red foil in 1863. So, this new Red Cross Committee started to work, with best regards to help people, living in zones of war. thus far if it was tell that safeguarding the health and physical well-being of people is primarily the duty and office of a nation they are related to, still understood that it wasnt enough and in times of war people would need some voluntary agencies to supplement. Obviously it meant creating official agencies to help peop le on the battlefields in every country. Last thing that was missing was the list of rules to govern activities of the Red Cross Committee itself and any other agencies or companies which were involved.The macro date was August 22, 1864. Several European states gathered in Geneva, Switzer state of matter and sign the First Geneva Convention. List of states included Baden (nowadays being a part of Germany), Belgium, Denmark, France, Hesse ( in any case being a part of Germany nowadays), Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia (part of Germany now), Spain, Switzerland, and Wrttemberg (which is also a part of todays Germany). Later, two more countries joined and signed the Convention, which were Norway and Sweden. .The spot Geneva ConventionThe Second Geneva Convention was adopted to protect the human rights of wounded, sick, and shipwrecked soldiers that were found at sea. This act was made beca using up of the growing return of battle ship fleets being formed and the mass amounts o f war occurring at sea. The First Geneva Convention all covered the wars on land and now it covered international battles at sea. This bill extended all rights that a wounded soldier received from the first convention to soldiers at sea and made it illegal to not take in shipwrecked crewmen. The Second Geneva Convention was an important step considering the First World War was soon to come. The Second Geneva Convention was created because of the new threat of monolithic naval fleets. The tout ensemble difference between the First and Second Geneva Conventions is that the Second calls for the justification of human rights of soldiers that are at sea.Because of the future battles at sea, this send off proved to be highly necessary in inn to make sure no cruelties were occurring over the deep blue sea. This plan was effective but did not cover very many scenarios or occurrences. This addition to the First Convention was necessary and without it, there would pick out been thousa nds of more casualties during the two World Wars. So, theConvention was adopted in 1906, right after Russo-japanese war, and was later updated two times. The authentic document contained 63 articles, covering many aspects related to treating people during the wars, both on the land and on the sea. Now lets look at the most important provisions* Articles 12 and 18 require all parties to protect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked. * Article 21 allows appeals to be made to torpid vessels to help collect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked. The inert vessels cannot be buzz offd. * 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 improver mission, they cannot be attacked or captured. * Article 14 clarifies that although a warship cannot capture a hospital ships medical staff, it can hold the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked as prisoners of war. It was adopted by 33 countries, including China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. However, at the aforesaid(prenominal) time it was rejected by Great Britain, Japan and Korea.The Third Geneva ConventionSo, the third one of four conventions was mainly related to prisoners of war and their treatment. According to this Geneva Convention no prisoner of war could be forced to disclose to his captor any information other than his individualism (i.e., his name and rank, but not his military unit, home town, or target of relatives). Every prisoner of war was entitled to adequate food and medical care and had the right to exchange correspondence and receive parcels. He was inevitable to observe ordinary military discipline and courtesy, but he could sample to escape at his own risk. Once recaptured, he was not to be penalise for his attempt. Officers were to receive pay either according to the pay graduated table of their own country or to that of the ir captor, whichever was less they could not be necessary to work. Enlisted men might be required to work for pay, but the reputation and location of their work were not to expose them to danger, and in no facial expression could they be required to perform work directly related to military operations.Camps were to be open to inspection by happend representatives of a so-so(p) power (during World War II, Switzerland and Sweden acted as protecting powers). Article 4defines who could be called prisoner of war. Article 5 specifies that prisoners of war (as defined in article 4) are protected from the time of their capture until their final repatriation. It also specifies that when there is any doubt whether a combatant belongs to the categories in article 4, they should be treated as such until their location has been determined by a competent tribunal. Article 12 states that prisoners of war are the obligation of the state not the persons who capture them and that they may not be transferred to a state that is not party to the Convention. Articles 13 to 16 state that prisoners of war must be treated humanely without any adverse difference and that their medical needs must be met. The Convention was signed by 47 governments.Chief among the nations that did not adhere to the Geneva Convention of 1929 were Japan and the USSR. Japan, however, gave a qualified promise (1942) to abide by the Geneva rules, and the USSR announce (1941) that it would observe the terms of the Hague Convention of 1907, which did not provide (as does the Geneva Convention) for neutral inspection of prison camps, for the exchange of prisoners names, and for correspondence with prisoners. So, that could help to change the spot, including time during World War II. The United States and Great Britain mostly honored the Convention and its rules. At the same time, Germany didnt treat all prisoners equally. While American and British prisoners got good treatment in Germany, people from P oland got probably the finish up possible. The International Red Cross at Geneva tried to collect as much information about prisoners as it could, so situation was under control.The Fourth Geneva ConventionThe Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, also known as The Fourth Geneva Convention, was adopted in 1949. Not only it had many new points, but also points from all previous Geneva Conventions were reviewed and expanded. The actual document consists of four partsPart I. familiar Provisions. It includes the basic things, interchangeable explanation who is a protected person Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict orOccupying post of which they are not nationals. Document also demands a lawful treatment of noncombatants, soldiers who laid down their arms, or wounded, unable to continue the fight, combatants. Part II. General Protection of Populations Against Certain Consequences of War. Here text says about shield of civilians. master(prenominal) thing is that no kind of discrimination by nationality, race, religion, or political views is appropriate. Part III. Status and Treatment of Protected Persons. This part includes many diametric things about actions on occupied territories, like population transfer, care and discipline of children, destruction of property, medical services, etc.It also includes topic of collective penalization Article 33. No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and besides all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited. Part IV. Execution of the Convention. This part is almost the same in documents of all four conventions and it says that this part contains the formal or diplomatical provisions which it is customary to place at the end of an international Convention to settle the procedure for bringing it into effect are grouped together under this heading. This time the amount of countries signed was even bigger than before, consisting of 194 countries.However, 16 countries didnt sign it those were Aruba, Bouvet Island, Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Heard and Mc Donald Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mayotte, Norfolk Island, blue Mariana Islands, National Authority, Reunion Island, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, and Tibet. Even if the Convention included almost everything that was needed, later it was updated with 3 protocols added as amendments protocol I (1977) relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts communications protocol II (1977) relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts Protocol III (2005) relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem.Protocol ISo, in 1977 Geneva Convention was updated with two surplus protocols added as amendments. It was necessary because since 1949 worldwide weaponry and conditions have changed. Logically, its related to the justification of victims of international armed conflicts. By the moment Protocol I was ratified by governments of 170 countries. The actual document consists of 102 articles. Mostly it just rephrases statements from pilot Geneva Conventions, but it also includes many new interesting thingsArticles 51 and 54 outlaw indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, and destruction of food, water, and other materials needed for survival. Indiscriminate attacks include directly attacking civilian (non-military) targets, but also using technology such as biological weapons, nuclear weapons and land mines, whose ambit of destruction cannot be limited. A total war that does not distinguish between civilian and military targets is considered a war crime. Articles 56 and 53 outlaw attac ks on dams, dikes, nuclear generating stations, and places of worship. The first three are works and installations containing chanceful forces and may be attacked but only in ways that do not threaten to release the dangerous forces (i.e., it is permissible to attempt to capture them but not to try to annul them).Articles 76 and 77, 15 and 79 provide special protections for women, children, and civilian medical personnel, and provide measures of protection for journalists. Article 77 forbids conscription of children under age 15 into the armed forces. It does allow, however, for persons under the age of 15 to participate voluntarily. Articles 43 and 44 straighten out the military status of members of guerrilla forces. Combatant and prisoner of war status is granted to members of dissident forces when under the command of a central authority.Such combatants cannot conceal their allegiance they must be placeable as combatants while preparing for or during an attack. Article 35 ban s weapons that cause free injury or unnecessary suffering, as well as fashion of warfare that cause widespread, long-term, and severe damage to the natural environment. Article 85 states that it is a war crime to use one of the protective types acknowledge by the Geneva Conventions to deceive the opposing forces (perfidy). Articles 17 and 81 authorize the ICRC, national societies, or other impartial humanitarian organizations to provide assist to the victims of war.Protocol IIWhile Protocol I was related to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts, Protocol II, also added in 1977, was related to theprotection of non-international armed conflicts. After all those Conventions many rules existed, related to international warfare, but somehow, before the Protocol II was added, nobody thought much about internal conflicts even though many countries had them. So, even since the last Geneva Convention, some delegates wanted to make laws and set a new debar for minim al humanitarian standards in cases when the situation had all the properties and characteristics of war whilst not being an international conflict.Even before the addition of Protocol II Geneva Conventions of 1949 had Article 3 related to non-international conflicts taking place in bounds of a single country. However, it wasnt enough. Article 3 had only few basic things to protect victims of non-international conflicts, like * Persons taking no expeditious part in hostilities should be treated humanely (including military persons who have ceased to be active as a result of sickness, injury, or detention). * The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.Since Article 3 was too outline and didnt cover many important aspects, many diplomats wanted to clarify it all in a new Protocol and to extend the scope of international law to cover additional humanitarian rights in the scene of internal conflicts. However, the debate around this new protocol had two totally different ide as 1) First said that for victim of a conflict there is no difference if that conflict is international or not, so all the distinction for those people can only be artificial.2) And another one said that in case of internal conflict international laws should not apply, meaning that country had all rights to do whatever it wants inside its boundaries. As for now, Protocol 3 had been ratified by governments of 165 countries. Even though The United States was among few countries who just signed the protocol with the intention of ratifying it, the International Committee of the Red Cross made an appeal in 1997, expression that a number of the articles contained in both protocols are recognized as rules of customary international law valid for all states, whether or not they have ratified them.Protocol IIIThe third and the last additional protocol of Geneva Conventions was added in 2005. It was devoted to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem. It was really needed in cases of war for soldiers to know who they should not attack. Actually, the attribute itself was established much earlier, during the first Geneva Convention of 1864. It was really needed, because weapons at those times already were quite deadly, and often medics and people of other financial backing professions were shot right on the battlefield while trying to help wounded soldiers. So a part of the first Geneva Convention was just right about creating a distinctive emblem for people of those professions.However, it wasnt easy. The first symbol was just a red fluff on the white background, but it looked very similar to the Christian Cross. That was the reason why Muslim nations totally rejected it. But in 1876 the pouffe Empire introduced another symbol the Red Crescent, as more neutral and less Christian emblem. After that additional emblems were proposed by the Red Cross Society of Eritrea, such as sun of Persia or the red lion. At the same time Magen David Adom of Israel proposed the Red Shield of David as another secondary emblem. After all, the world needed the new symbol for medics to be * immaterial and free of religious, cultural or political connotations.Otherwise it would conflict with the building block idea of giving the medical personnel neutral humanitarian status in armed conflicts. * Officially acclaimed. Even if the Red Shield of David was used in some places after Magen David Adoms efforts, it wasnt officially acclaimed by the National Societies. And without membership in one of those people were not bailable for certain protections under the Geneva Conventions. Fortunately a comprehensive origin was found at last with the adoption of Protocol III in 2005.For Magen David Adom there was a nice alternative the Red Crystal, so they shouldve just displayed it in the context of international conflict to have all protection needed. All three emblems are appointed the same legal status, which gist they are totally equal. Emblems can have a pro tective use, as well as an indicative use. Medical and religious personnel may mark themselves, their vehicles, ships and buildings as a sign of their humanitarian mission and protected status under the Geneva Conventions. Members of armed forces can also use it to show thatthey are protected by Geneva Conventions. However, the misuse of the emblem may be considered as a war crime.Conclusion give thanks to all these conventions and their protocols, world is safer and more civilized nowadays, even I the times of war. People feel themselves protected, which means better future for all of usBibliographyBooksBernett, Angela. The Geneva Convention The Hidden Origins of the Red Cross. The History Press, Stroud, 2006. Borch, Fred L., and Solis, Gary. Geneva Conventions. Kaplan Publishing, newfangled York City, 2010. Grossman, Dave. On Killing The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. Back Bay Books, New York City, 2009. Byers, Michael. War Law accord International La w and Armed Conflict. Grove Press, New York City, 2007.Web Siteshttp//supportgenevaconventions.org/. Citizens religious Coalition to Reaffirm and Extend the Geneva Conventions. Dennis Rivers. 11/11/2011. http//en.wikipedia.org/. Geneva Conventions. Multiple authors. 11/23/2011. http//www.icrc.org/. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols. International Committee of the Red Cross. 11/12/2011.