Today, 12
August, is the 61st anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions of
1949, the international treaties designed to protect soldiers and civilians
during armed conflicts. The treaties
became the focus of international attention in 2002 when the Bush administration controversially concluded that al Qaeda and the Taliban were not
entitled to their protections. President
Obama has reaffirmed America's "commitment" to the Geneva Conventions
but has not been specific about how the Conventions apply to al Qaeda and
Taliban detainees. To re-assert U.S. leadership with respect to the laws of
war, the Obama administration should announce that the United States accepts specific
provisions of the Conventions and engage other countries to develop new rules
where the Geneva Conventions do not apply.
The 1949
Geneva Conventions consist of four separate treaties originally signed by 59
countries in Geneva, Switzerland. In
light of the horrific experiences of World War II, the first three agreements
revised previous treaties dating from 1864, 1906, and 1929 that provided
humanitarian protections for sick or wounded soldiers on land, sailors at sea,
and prisoners of war. The fourth
agreement, added in 1949, establishes protections for civilians in conflict
zones. The best known of the agreements
is the Third Geneva Convention, which provides detailed articles of protection
for those who qualify as Prisoners of War (POWs).
The Geneva
Conventions apply to conflicts between the 194 countries that are now party to
them. Since 1949, three Additional
Protocols have been added to the Conventions to provide further protections in
light of changes in modern warfare. The
United States has long objected to certain provisions in the First Protocol, although it
has stated its support for others. President Reagan submitted the Second Protocol to the Senate in 1987,
but the Senate has not acted on it. The
Bush administration was a driving force behind (and signed and ratified) the
Third Protocol, which created an alternative protective symbol (a Red Diamond)
for countries (primarily Israel) that do not use the Red Cross or Red Crescent.
Together,
the four 1949 Conventions and the three protocols form the bedrock of the international
laws of war.
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