Geneva Conventions

V

The Fourth Geneva Convention

The Fourth Geneva Convention adopted in 1949, known as the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, made explicit the protections that should be extended to civilians during wartime. It requires that protected persons—civilians, the wounded, and POWs—be treated humanely. Such persons are, in all circumstances, entitled to respect for their honor and religion, and must be protected against insults and public curiosity. No physical or moral coercion shall be exercised to obtain information from them or third parties. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.

VI

Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions

Article 3 applies to all four Geneva Conventions and is often referred to as Common Article 3. Article 3 prohibits “at any time and in any place whatsoever” the use of specific acts on persons taking no active part in hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms, or who have become sick, wounded, or detained. The acts are violence to life and person, including murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture, and outrages upon personal dignity, such as humiliating and degrading treatment. Protected persons must be treated humanely at all times.

By its terms, Article 3 explicitly protects persons during an internal armed conflict, such as a civil war. However, it is now well established that Common Article 3 also applies to international conflicts. The International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda all consider the protections of Common Article 3 to apply to international conflicts. Article 3 is also considered to be part of customary international law. This means that countries are bound to follow the protections of Common Article 3, unless a country has expressly disapproved of those protections during their development.

A

Countries Belonging to the Conventions

As of 2005, 192 countries had ratified (thus becoming parties to) all four of the Geneva Conventions. Additional Protocol I had been ratified by 161 states, and 156 countries had ratified Additional Protocol II. Nearly every country has ratified the Geneva Conventions, so they are now considered customary international law. The United States is a party to the four Geneva Conventions, but has not ratified the two Additional Protocols. The United States refuses to ratify Protocol I because it claims the protocol will legitimize groups involved in wars of national liberation. Although the United States has not ratified Protocol I, it has indicated that most of its provisions are incorporated into customary international law. The United States also decided not to ratify Protocol II, fearing that it might enhance the status of rebels, even though there was little objection by the U.S. military to ratification of this protocol. Without the Additional Protocols, recent conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo might not have been covered by humanitarian law.

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VII

Grave Breaches and War Crimes

The Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I require the ratifying parties to repress grave breaches of the conventions, which are classified as war crimes under statutes of the International Criminal Court and the U.S. War Crimes Act of 1996. States parties—that is, the ratifying parties—are required to search for persons who have allegedly committed or ordered the commission of grave breaches of the conventions and bring those persons before their own courts, or hand them over to another state party for trial.

Grave breaches of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions include the following acts if committed against a person protected by the convention: willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health; compelling one to serve in the forces of a hostile power; and willfully depriving one of the right to a fair trial. Also considered grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention are the following: taking of hostages; extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; and unlawful deportation, transfer, or confinement.

VIII

History of Compliance and Noncompliance

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Noncompliance During World War II

Many countries that have signed and ratified and thereby agreed to abide by the Geneva Conventions have nevertheless failed to live up to their commitments. Germany, for example, was a signatory to the 1929 Geneva Convention, and yet the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler killed nearly half of the POWs it captured in fighting the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during World War II (1939-1945). The Nazis executed Soviet POWs at concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Sobibór. Japan, which was not a signatory to the 1929 agreement, announced in 1942 that it would abide by its terms but nevertheless was known for its brutal treatment of POWs, including experimenting with the use of biological and chemical weapons on POWs and other captives.

Many of the provisions created by the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding the protection of civilians were added in response to war crimes committed during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II. The prohibition against collective punishment, for example, resulted from wholesale reprisals taken by the German Army against entire towns and villages in retaliation for partisan activity.

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