II.

The Four Geneva Conventions

There have been four Geneva Conventions, each of which has subsequently been amended. The name derives from Geneva, Switzerland, the city where the conventions were negotiated. The first Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864 and provided for the protection of sick and wounded soldiers on the field of battle. The second convention, formulated in 1906, extended those protections to sailors wounded in sea battles. The third convention, in 1929, protected prisoners of war (POWs). It legislated that POWs were not criminals, should be treated humanely, and should be released at the end of hostilities. The fourth convention, ratified in 1949, rewrote, expanded, and replaced the language of the first three conventions. The fourth convention also provided for the protection of civilians during wartime. It brought civilians under the protection of international laws that prohibit murder, torture, hostage-taking, and extra-judicial sentencing and executions.

What is now commonly called “the Geneva Conventions” refers to the three conventions that were recodified in 1949 and the fourth convention that was added that same year. Humanitarian law, also known as “the laws of war,” is comprised of the Geneva Conventions and the 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions. Whereas the Geneva Conventions primarily protect victims of war, the Hague Conventions and accompanying regulations primarily protect combatants and noncombatants by limiting the methods and means of combat. The Hague regulations protect prisoners of war; prohibit poisonous weapons and weapons calculated to cause unnecessary suffering; and killing or wounding an enemy who has surrendered. They also provide that an occupying power must respect ”the laws in force in the country.”