geneva convention definition of armed conflict

It also made the repatriation of captured belligerents a recommendation instead of mandatory. The amendments extended protections for those wounded or captured in battle as well as volunteer agencies and medical personnel tasked with treating, transporting and removing the wounded and killed. In 1906, the Swiss government arranged a conference of 35 states to review and update improvements to the First Geneva Convention. This meeting and its resultant treaty signed by 12 nations became known as the First Geneva Convention.ĭespite playing an important role in the progression of what became the International Committee of the Red Cross, continuing his work as champion for the battle-wounded and prisoners of war and winning the first Nobel Peace Prize, Dunant lived and died in near poverty.

In October 1863, delegates from 16 countries along with military medical personnel traveled to Geneva to discuss the terms of a wartime humanitarian agreement. Red CrossĪ committee was formed-which included Dunant and an early iteration of the Red Cross-in Geneva to explore ways to implement Dunant’s ideas.

But he didn’t just write about what he’d observed, he also proposed a solution: All nations come together to create trained, volunteer relief groups to treat battlefield wounded and offer humanitarian assistance to those affected by war.

The horrific suffering Dunant saw impacted him so greatly he wrote a first-hand account in 1862 called A Memory of Solferino. He got much more than he bargained for, however, when he found himself a witness to the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino, a gory battle in the Second War of Italian Independence. In 1859, Genevan businessman Henry Dunant traveled to Emperor Napoleon III’s headquarters in northern Italy to seek land rights for a business venture. While some civilizations showed compassion for the injured, helpless or innocent civilians, others tortured or slaughtered anyone in sight, no questions asked. For much of mankind’s history, the ground rules of warfare were hit or miss, if they existed at all.

Geneva convention definition of armed conflict