The Geneva Conventions of August 12th 1949 were born with the aim of protect the wounded, the sick, the prisoners of war and the population civilian involved in a armed conflictsafeguarding human dignity and avoiding the use of violent, inhuman and degrading practices. I am fourto which they are added two Protocols additions of 1977 and a of 2005. Together they constitute the legal basis of humanitarian law and are part of customary international law: they therefore have binding value for i 196 states who signed and ratified them. Nowadays, given the numerous active wars in the world, starting from those we hear most about in the West, such as the Russian-Ukrainian war and the conflict in the Middle East, it becomes important to know the content of the Conventions to understand which actions they could be condemned as crimes and which ones aren’t.
What the four Geneva Conventions say
The four Conventions of Geneva were signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 12, 1949 and replaced and integrated the previous legal rules on the matter. In fact, the first Convention was adopted on August 22, 1864 in Geneva, following the Battle of Solferino, by twelve governments: Hesse, Baden, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Spain, Switzerland, Württemberg. The Conventions of 1949 they replaced and expanded the rules already signed previously. There first Convention it was about the conditions of the wounded and sick of the Armed Forces, there second Convention the improvement of the conditions of the wounded, the sick and the shipwrecked Armed forces at sea. There third Convention had as its object the treatment of prisoners of war and the fourth Convention focused on protecting the civilized people during a conflict.
The parties to the conflict must in fact ensure protection especially gods most vulnerable subjects such as sick, injured, medical personnel, hospitals, schools and personnel employed there. In particular, the civilians hey prisoners who are in enemy territory or occupied territory, avoiding arbitrary acts that could harm their physical and psychological integrity.
The three additional protocols
Following the decolonization process and the change in the methods of armed conflicts, very different compared to the era of the two world wars, theJune 8, 1977 they were adopted in Geneva two additional protocols, which integrate the Four Conventions of 1949. The first Protocol concerns the protection of victims during international armed conflictswhile the second the protection of victims during non-international armed conflicts. The Protocols therefore focus on the rules of humanitarian law which concern the principles to be respected during the conduct of the conflict: prohibition on attacking areas populated by civilians, the so-called principle of discrimination and the means to be used or not to be used, for example prohibiting the use of weapons that may cause unnecessary suffering or serious environmental damage such as chemical, biological, blinding laser and similar weapons.
The third Protocol of theDecember 8, 2005 concerns the introduction of a new distinctive sign: The Red crystal. In addition to the symbols provided by the Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and the Red Lion and Sun (used only by Iran), a symbol composed of a square red frame resting on an edge on a white field (called Crystal), which signals the presence of people or structures (such as schools, hospitals, ambulances) which must be safeguarded and protected with particular attention. This symbol was thought of because it cannot be traced back to nor can it be confused with religious symbols.
Are the Geneva Conventions binding?
All parties involved in an armed conflict are required to respect the obligations and norms contained in the Geneva Conventions, “regardless of motivation” for which one has become part of a conflict or on its side nature. In fact, in the second Additional Protocol of 1977, the indication of armed conflicts “not international” refers to some particular cases, such as hostilities between armed forces of a State and dissident armed forces or organized armed groups that “under the conduct of a responsible command, exercise, over a part of its territory, such control as to enable them to conduct prolonged and concerted military operations.” (Art.1). Particularly in recent years with the technological developments and with the use of new weapons and cyber attacksthe evolution of the consequences of these is also being studied in armed conflicts to integrate these cases from the point of view humanitarian And legal.
