Fourth Geneva Convention

The Fourth Geneva Convention (or '''GCIV''') relates to the protection of Civilian s during times of War "''in the hands''" of an enemy and under any occupation by a foreign power. This should not be confused with the better known Third Geneva Convention , which deals with the treatment of Prisoners Of War . The convention was published on August 12 , 1949, at the end of a conference held in Geneva from April 21 to August 12 , 1949 . The convention entered into force on October 21 , 1950 .

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

This sets out the overall parameters for GCIV:

Which parties are bound by it

Article 3 covers internal armed conflict (''not of an international character'') and it provides similar protections to the population as those described in the rest of this document for a Protected person. That ''Persons taking no active part in the hostilities'', including POWs; ''shall in all circumstances be treated humanely''.

Article 4 defines who is a Protected person ''Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.'' But it '''explicitly excludes''' ''Nationals of a State which is not bound by the Convention'' and the citizens of a neutral state or an allied state.

A number of articles specify how ''Protecting Powers'', '' ICRC '' and ''other humanitarian organizations'' may aid Protected persons.

Protected person is the most important definition in this section because many of the articles in the rest of GCIV only apply to ''Protected persons''.

Article 5 is currently one of the most controversial articles of GCIV, because it forms, (along with Article 5 of the GCIII and parts of GCIV Article 4,) the Administration of the USA 's interpretation of Unlawful Combatant s.

PART II. GENERAL PROTECTION OF POPULATIONS AGAINST CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

''Article 13. The provisions of Part II cover the whole of the populations of the countries in conflict, without any adverse distinction based, in particular, on '''race''', '''nationality''', '''religion''' or '''political opinion''', and are intended to alleviate the sufferings caused by war. ''

PART III. STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS

Section I. Provisions common to the territories of the parties to the conflict and to occupied territories

''Article 32.'' A protected person/s shall not have anything done to them ''of such a character as to cause physical suffering or extermination ... the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishments, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment''.

While popular debate remains on what constitutes a legal definition of torture (see discussion on the Torture page), the ban on Corporal Punishment simplifies the matter; even the most mundane physical abuse is thereby forbidden by Article 32, as a precaution against alternate definitions of ''torture.'' (See Abu Ghraib Torture And Prisoner Abuse .)

The section on scientific experiments was considered necessary because of such actions carried out by German and Japanese "doctors" during World War II, the most infamous of whom was Josef Mengele .

''Article 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.''

''Pillage is prohibited.''

''Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.''

Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions Collective Punishment s are a war crime. Article 33 states: "''No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed,''" and "''collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.''"

By collective punishment, the drafters of the Geneva Conventions had in mind the reprisal killings of World Wars I and II . In the First World War, Germans executed Belgian villagers in mass retribution for resistance activity. In World War II, Nazis carried out a form of collective punishment to suppress resistance. Entire villages or towns or districts were held responsible for any resistance activity that took place there. The conventions, to counter this, reiterated the principle of individual responsibility. The International Committee Of The Red Cross (ICRC) Commentary to the conventions states that parties to a conflict often would resort to "intimidatory measures to terrorize the population" in hopes of preventing hostile acts, but such practices "strike at guilty and innocent alike. They are opposed to all principles based on humanity and justice."

Additional Protocol II of 1977 explicitly forbids collective punishment. But as fewer states have ratified this protocol than GCIV, GCIV Article 33. is the one more commonly quoted.

REFERENCES

SEE ALSO

First Geneva Convention of 1864 on the treatment of Battlefield casualties

Second Geneva Convention of 1906 extending the first convention to war at sea

Third Geneva Convention of 1929 on the treatment of Prisoners Of War

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 , and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts ( Protocol I ). Adopted on June 8 , 1977 by the ''Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts''. It has been rejected by several nations, including the United States , Afghanistan and Iraq .

EXTERNAL LINKS

Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (available at Wikisource ).

1949 Conventions, 1977 Protocols, and 2005 Protocol - Full Text

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Fourth Geneva Convention