The four Geneva agreements of 1949 became under the impression 2. World war closed. They replaced the past Geneva conventions:

• 1864 (10 articles),
• 1906 (33 further articles) and
• 1929 (revised version of the wounding agreement and regulation the war shank, up to then in that Hague Land Warfare Convention of 1907)

The conference

1948 was invited 70 governments to the conference. 59 governments followed this invitation. Twelve further governments and international organizations, under it the United Nations participated than observers. The international committee of the red cross and the league of the Red Cross Societies were loaded on resolution of the conference as experts.

The conference met from 21 April to 12 August 1949, the agreements came into force on 21 October 1950.

Important definitions of the agreements

Prohibitions are among other things:

• Attacks on persons, vehicles and mechanisms, who are marked with one of the protection characters that Geneva conventions
• the abuse of the protection characters
• shooting of soldiers, who surrendered
• Executions of Nichtkombattanten without normal legal proceedings
• Plunderings of the occupied area and acts of violence opposite the civilian population
• Retaliatory measures, which are directed against the civilian population
• consulting of prisoners of war for dangerous works and/or activities in the combat area
• the extortion of information from prisoners of war, who beyond the denomination of name, first name, rank, date of birth and if necessary service number go

The definitions of the agreements obligate beyond that the conflict parties:

• to the impartial and neutral assistance for all wounded ones, patients and ship-fragile on the country and to sea
• Prisoners of war, who are placed before a military court to grant the right to anwaltlichen assistance
• Delegated the IKRK unhindered and not supervised entrance to prisoners of war to grant
• schwerstverwundete and seriously ill person prisoner after possibility still before end of war home to dismiss

The agreements

I. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949 for the improvement of the lot of the wounded ones and patient of the armed forces in the field.

II. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949 for the improvement of the lot of the wounded ones, patients and shipwrecked ones of the armed forces to sea

III. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949 over the treatment of the prisoners of war

IV. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949 to the protection of civilians in times of war

The IVTH agreement Geneva in particular represents an innovation, because up to then the protection of the civilian population was hardly regulated.

Reservations

Since the new agreements are very many in more detail contrary to the conventions of 1929, many governments signed only with reservations. E.g. the socialist and/or stalinistischen states of reservations expressed against the recognition barness of a protecting power and in questions of the prisoners of war, during some English-language states reservations in relation to the regulation out IV./kind 68 exp. 2 had, according to which the imposition of the death penalty ties to the legal standard in the occupied area before occupation. Example: (Country A (death penalty illegitimately) is occupied by country B. B cannot condemn in the occupied area a person to death, except own citizens and persons no Contracting State belongs.)

The supplementary protocols from 8 June 1977

Supplementary protocol to that Geneva agreements over the protection of the victims of international armed conflicts (minutes I)

Supplementary protocol to that Geneva agreements over the protection of the victims not international armed conflicts (minutes II)

Literature

• Dietrich Schindler, Toman (Eds.): The laws OF armed conflicts: A collection OF conventions, resolution, and OTHER document. Sijthoff & Noordhoff internationally Publishers, Alphen aan the Rijn 1984, ISBN 9-02-860199-6
• de Mulinen: Handbook on the Law OF was for Armed Forces. ICRC, Geneva 1987, ISBN 2-88-145009-1

Related links

• I. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949
• II. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949
• III. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949
• IV. Geneva agreements from 12 August 1949
• I. Supplementary protocol from 8 June 1977 to that Geneva agreements
• II. Supplementary protocol from 8 June 1977 to that Geneva agreements

Articles in category "Geneva agreements"

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