GENEVA CONVENTIONS, 1949
The horrors of WORLD WAR II led nations to recognize
that existing rules governing the conduct
of warfare were inadequate to cover a prolonged
and expanded conflict. The resulting efforts to
codify new restrictions on belligerent conflict
led to the four conventions concluded at
Geneva, Switzerland, in 1949. These four treaties
related to (1) the treatment of prisoners of war;
(2) the alleviation of the suffering of wounded
and sick combatants in the field; (3) the alleviation
of the suffering of the wounded, sick, and
shipwrecked members of the armed forces at
sea; and (4) the protection of civilian persons
during war.
The International Committee of the Red
Cross was active in organizing the conferences
and preparing draft treaties that resulted in the
final conventions. In addition, the International
Red Cross assumed responsibility under portions
of the conventions to serve as a neutral
party to observe compliance with the conventions
and to perform humanitarian tasks.
According to Swedish researchers, 95 percent
of all deaths in WORLD WAR I were suffered by
soldiers. In World War II, the figure dropped to
50 percent—the remaining deaths were those of
civilians when their cities (e.g., London, Coventry,
Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki) were
bombed. Unfortunately, the statistics worsened.
The civilian deaths from the Korean War is usually
estimated at two to three million, and estimates
place the number of civilian deaths from
the VIETNAM WAR at approximately 365,000.
Between 1974 and 1977, the Diplomatic Conference
on the Reaffirmation and Development of
International Humanitarian Law, meeting in
Geneva, adopted two protocols to be added
to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. One applies to
international armed conflicts and the other to non-international armed conflicts. Both significantly
provide for enhanced protection of the
non-combatant, civilian populations.
Yet another concern for the effectiveness of
the Geneva Conventions surfaced over the years.
It became increasingly evident that, despite
“grave breaches” of protocols, the Geneva Conventions
lacked enforcement power. Moreover,
those nations ratifying the conventions (59 initial
signatories in 1949) were usually not the
offenders. (With the end of the COLD WAR and
the collapse of the Soviet Union, each of the
newly independent states that succeeded the former
Soviet Union has adhered to the conventions
and, excepting Lithuania and Azerbaijan,
the additional protocols.) Many of the crimes
against humanity were (and are) being committed
by warring factions within a country, resulting
in genocides, ethnic or religious antagonism,
and ultimately the collapse of state structures. In
these circumstances, ratification by the prior
state entity means little.
With a world community that, in 2000,
comprised more than 180 sovereign states, a
major overhaul of the Geneva Conventions
remained elusive. However, the world community
has united to create newer entities such as
the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia in 1993 and the adoption in
Rome of the Statute of the International Criminal
Court in 1998. These entities have adjudication
and sentencing authority, which gives some
enforcement power to prosecute and punish
those who commit the crimes against humanity
outlined in the conventions and protocols.
However, the power to identify, pursue, and
apprehend suspected violators varies, depending
on the circumstances.
FURTHER READINGS
Bugnion, Francis. 2000. “The Geneva Conventions of 12
August 1949: From the 1949 Diplomatic Conference to
the Dawn of . . .” International Affairs 76.
Goldstein, Richard. 2002. “International Law and Justice in
America’s War on Terrorism.” Social Research 69.
CROSS-REFERENCES
International Court of Justice; International Law.
