Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions are a series of international treaties established to ensure humanitarian treatment during war, particularly concerning the treatment of the wounded, sick, and prisoners of war, as well as civilians in conflict zones. The original conventions were first adopted in 1864 and have since been updated, with the most significant revisions occurring in 1949 following the atrocities of World War II. The four Geneva Conventions emphasize the protection of individuals who are not participating in hostilities, including civilians and captured soldiers, while outlining acceptable conduct in warfare.
During World War II, violations of these conventions were widespread, particularly by the Axis powers, who engaged in aggressive military actions and inhumane treatment of prisoners. This led to war crimes trials post-war, where officials were held accountable for these breaches. The conventions continue to evolve, with additional protocols addressing new types of conflicts and methods of warfare, reflecting the ongoing need for legal frameworks in addressing humanitarian issues during armed conflicts.
Today, the Geneva Conventions are recognized as fundamental to international humanitarian law, guiding military operations and influencing national laws regarding the conduct of armed forces. Despite their established status, concerns about adherence to these conventions persist, highlighting the ongoing challenges in enforcing humanitarian standards across diverse geopolitical landscapes.
Geneva Conventions
The Treaties Several international agreements, collectively known as the Geneva Conventions, that specified and clarified the internationally accepted laws of warfare
Date Adopted on August 12, 1949
The Geneva Conventions of 1949 stipulated how warfare would be conducted so as to prevent egregious practices. Prior Geneva Conventions had provided a framework for armed hostilities and military occupation of other countries, but these were notoriously violated by World War II aggressors Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
The Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Italy, and Imperial Japan engaged in acts of unprovoked aggression that began World War II. Although Canada supported Britain, which was under attack, American troops were not dispatched to join those forces. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered the war, joining the Allied powers, with the intention of abiding by the then-current Geneva Conventions.
Contrary to the Geneva Conventions, the aggressors engaged in indiscriminate, unannounced attacks on undefended military targets. Neither the Geneva nor the Hague conventions, however, prohibited attacks from airplanes. In addition, during the war both sides mercilessly bombed civilian targets, including Dresden, London, and Tokyo, with the war eventually ending following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
As the war progressed, soldiers were captured by enemy forces and held as prisoners of war (POWs). Allied armies scrupulously observed the Geneva Conventions in their POW camps. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan pretended to follow suit but in fact used some POW camps for interrogation, contrary to the Geneva Convention requirement that soldiers were required to provide only their names, ranks, and serial numbers to their captors. Some POWs were tortured, and medical experiments were performed on them. Germany also murdered about half of its Soviet POWs. Japan ordered American and Philippine soldiers on a death march after assuming control of the Philippines, a possession of the United States.
While occupying several countries militarily, Germany and Japan violated Geneva Conventions guidelines about the rules of occupation, notably diverting civilian facilities and expending civilian funds for military purposes and leaving many in the occupied population without necessities of life. Germany and Japan undertook wholesale reprisals against entire towns and villages, and their captured citizens were forced to work for the aggressors’ war effort. One notorious practice was forcing captives to work as “comfort women” for Japanese soldiers, providing sexual services.
Officials of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan faced judgment for violations of the Geneva Conventions in war crimes trials conducted soon after the war at Nuremberg, Tokyo, and elsewhere. Many were convicted in a series of trials from 1945 to 1949.
The four Geneva Conventions adopted in 1949 were designed with the excesses of World War II in mind. The First and Second Geneva Conventions focused on the conduct of warfare, including aerial warfare. These were known as the First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, an update of an 1864 convention, and the Second Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, an update of a 1906 convention. The Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, an update of a 1929 convention, banned interrogation camps and medical experiments on POWs, and it otherwise tightened the requirements of how prisoners were to be treated in time of war. The Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War provided extensive guidelines for civil-military occupation.
Impact
Although the U.S. military incorporated provisions of the four new Geneva Conventions in the training of soldiers, both in training manuals and in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Congress has been slow in passing laws to implement provisions of the Geneva Conventions. Whereas the military has engaged in courts-martial to enforce the Geneva Conventions, relevant cases in civilian courts have been insufficient to provide clear precedents. The Fourth Geneva Convention guided the United States as an occupying power of a portion of Germany during 1949 and most of Japan until 1952.
Violations of the Geneva Conventions occurring during military conduct of the Vietnam War resulted in several courts-martial but not in the prosecution of military or civilian leaders. The U.S. war in Iraq also generated complaints of violations of the Geneva Conventions, particularly with regard to the detainment camp at the Guantánamo naval station in Cuba. A Supreme Court ruling in 2006 required observance of article 3, common to all four Geneva Conventions, but violations of other provisions continued even after the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009.
The Geneva Conventions have been updated by several protocols. Protocol I (1977) relates to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts. Protocol II (1977) relates to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. Protocol III (2005) relates to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem, so that providers of medical services can be more clearly identified.
Bibliography
Best, Geoffrey. War and Law Since 1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Reviews the origins of the theory and concept of war crimes, the barbarities of World Wars I and II, the reconstruction of the law of warfare by the United Nations and the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the additions to the law of warfare since 1950.
Gutman, Roy, David Rieff, and Kenneth Anderson, eds. Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. Uses journalistic accounts of major war crimes to illustrate the law of international warfare.
Haas, Michael. George W. Bush, War Criminal? The Bush Administration’s Liability for 269 War Crimes. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2009. Uses the Geneva Conventions and other documents to compile a list of specific war crimes committed by the Bush administration.
Heaton, Colin D. Occupation and Insurgency: A Selective Examination of the Hague and Geneva Conventions on the Eastern Front, 1939-1945. Edited by Steve Greer. New York: Algora, 2008. Discusses Nazi policy regarding the territories Germany conquered and occupied from 1941 to 1944. Relates how Germany willfully disregarded international laws and treaties regarding the conduct of warfare, thus setting the stage for the Geneva Conventions.
Trombly, Maria. Reference Guide to the Geneva Conventions. Indianapolis: Society of Professional Journalists, 2000. An e-book that provides links to the relevant treaties.