Geneva Conventions

Series of agreements formulated at several international conventions held in Geneva, Switzerland, [Page 283]which established rules for the treatment of prisoners of war, the sick, and the wounded, and for the overall conduct of war between warring states.

The notion of regulating war has been around as long as wars have been recorded. As early as the sixth century BCE, Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, in his book The Art of War (often considered the oldest military treatise in the world), referred to the necessity of putting constraints on the conduct of war. However, an attempt to codify a set of rules on war that would be applicable worldwide or to establish an organization to implement such rules did not take place until the Geneva Conventions in the mid-1800s.

The First Geneva Convention

The signing of the first treaty at a Geneva Convention took place not long after the founding of the Red Cross by Henri Dunant in 1863. Dunant called for international recognition of the Red Cross and the protection of medical services administered on the battlefield.

Responding to Dunant's call for action, the Swiss government sponsored a convention in Geneva in 1864, at which representatives from 12 nations agreed on an international treaty on humanitarian law, the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded of Armies in the Field. In signing this treaty, the signatories agreed to care for all sick and wounded soldiers, regardless of nationality. They also agreed to recognize during wartime the neutrality of medical personnel, ambulances, and hospitals, all of which would be identified by the symbol of a red cross on a white background. The signing of the 1864 Geneva Convention marked the beginning of a body of rules that would eventually grow to encompass not only combatants, but everyone involved in all aspects of military conflicts.

During World War I, the Red Cross focused some of its attention on banning the use of poisonous gases, which it called a “barbarous innovation.” The Red Cross also organized an International Prisoners of War Agency, which received lists of soldiers captured by various countries that could be used to inform families about their loved ones and to organize relief shipments. In addition, the Red Cross began to receive requests for information about civilians who were missing during the war. From this effort emerged a new awareness of the necessity of accounting for the rights of civilians during wartime.

Other Conventions and Protocols

Three other Geneva Conventions followed, with the purpose of expanding and amending the original agreements. The Second Geneva Convention, held in 1906, extended the principles agreed to at the first convention to include wars held at sea, and the Third Geneva Convention (1929) dealt with prisoners of war. The Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) revised the agreements and rules established by the first three conventions and added a fourth dealing with the treatment of civilians during wartime. It is this fourth set of conventions that is usually referred to by the general term “Geneva Conventions.”

The Fourth Geneva Convention was held in the context of attempts to develop a comprehensive and enforceable definition of war crimes in the aftermath of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials held after World War II. Accusations of violations of the Geneva Conventions are brought before the International Court of Justice (also known as the World Court), the judicial organ of the United Nations. Since the Fourth Geneva Convention was established in 1949, other conferences have added provisions prohibiting certain kinds of warfare and addressing the issue of civil war. There are also two protocols that were adopted by the Geneva Convention signatories in 1977.

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