Photograph: Abid Katib/Getty ImagesThe Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are international treaties that contain the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war. They protect people who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war). Links to selected resources.
The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are part of international humanitarian law – a whole system of legal safeguards that cover the way wars may be fought and the protection of individuals.
They specifically protect people who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, chaplains, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war).
The Conventions and their Protocols call for measures to be taken to prevent (or put an end to) what are known as "grave breaches"; those responsible for breaches must be punished.
The Geneva Conventions have been acceded to by 194 States and enjoy universal acceptance.
International Red Cross
The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols
The first Geneva Convention of 1864 dealt exclusively with care for wounded soldiers; the law was later adapted to cover warfare at sea and prisoners of war.
In 1949 the Conventions were revised and expanded:
1st Convention - wounded soldiers on the battlefield
In 1977 two Additional Protocols were added: 1st Protocol - international conflicts
2nd Protocol - non-international conflicts
In 2005 Additional Protocol III was adopted: 3rd Protocol - additional distinctive emblem
In 1949 the Conventions were revised and expanded:
2nd Convention - wounded and shipwrecked at sea
3rd Convention - prisoners of war
4th Convention - civilians under enemy control
In 1977 two Additional Protocols were added:
2nd Protocol - non-international conflicts
In 2005 Additional Protocol III was adopted:
The essential rules
Humanitarian law: your questions answered
The Geneva Conventions and the emblems
Who is bound by the Geneva Conventions?
Humanitarian law and human rights
How the founding of the ICRC led to the first Geneva Convention
