Question

What are the policies implemented on Geneva Convention

Answer 1

The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are international treaties that contain the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war. They protect people who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war).

The First Geneva Convention protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war. This Convention represents the fourth updated version of the Geneva Convention on the wounded and sick following those adopted in 1864, 1906 and 1929. It contains 64 articles. These provide protection for the wounded and sick, but also for medical and religious personnel, medical units, and medical transports.

The Second Geneva Convention protects wounded, sick, and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war. This Convention replaced Hague Convention of 1907 for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention. It closely follows the provisions of the First Geneva Convention in structure and content. It has 63 articles specifically applicable to war at sea. For example, it protects hospital ships.

The Third Geneva Convention applies to prisoners of war. This Convention replaced the Prisoners of War Convention of 1929. The conditions and places of captivity were more precisely defined, particularly with regard to the labor of prisoners of war, their financial resources, the relief they receive, and the judicial proceedings instituted against them. The Convention establishes the principle that prisoners of war shall be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities.

The Fourth Geneva Convention protects civilians, including those in occupied territory. The Geneva Conventions, which were adopted before 1949. were concerned with combatants only, not with civilians.The bulk of the Convention deals with the status and treatment of protected persons, distinguishing between the situation of foreigners on the territory of one of the parties to the conflict and that of civilians in occupied territory. It spells out the obligations of the Occupying Power vis-à-vis the civilian population and contains detailed provisions on humanitarian relief for populations in occupied territory. It also contains a specific regime for the treatment of civilian internees. It has three annexes containing a model agreement on hospital and safety zones, model regulations on humanitarian relief and model cards.