The Second Geneva Convention

The Second Geneva Convention was adopted to protect the human rights of wounded, sick, and shipwrecked soldiers that were found at sea. This act was made because of the growing number of battle ship fleets being formed and the mass amounts of war occurring at sea.

The First Geneva Convention only covered the wars on land and now it covered international battles at sea. This bill extended all rights that a wounded soldier received from the first convention to soldiers at sea and made it illegal to not take in shipwrecked crewmen. The Second Geneva Convention was an important step considering the First World War was soon to come.

The Second Geneva Convention was created because of the new threat of large naval fleets. The only difference between the First and Second Geneva Conventions is that the Second calls for the protection of human rights of soldiers that are at sea. Because of the future battles at sea, this plan proved to be highly necessary in order to make sure no cruelties were occurring over the deep blue sea. This plan was effective but did not cover very many scenarios or occurrences. This addition to the First Convention was necessary and without it, there would have been thousands of more casualties during the two World Wars.

So, the Convention was adopted in 1906, right after Russo-Japanese war, and was later updated two times. The actual document contained 63 articles, covering many aspects related to treating people during the wars, both on the land and on the sea.

Now let’s look at the most important provisions:

• Articles 12 and 18 require all parties to protect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked.

• Article 21 allows appeals to be made to neutral vessels to help collect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked. The neutral vessels cannot be captured.

• Articles 36 and 37 protect religious and medical personnel serving on a combat ship.

• Article 22 states that hospital ships cannot be used for any military purpose, and owing to their humanitarian mission, they cannot be attacked or captured.

• Article 14 clarifies that although a warship cannot capture a hospital ship's medical staff, it can hold the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked as prisoners of war.

It was adopted by 33 countries, including China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. However, at the same time it was rejected by Great Britain, Japan and Korea.

The Third Geneva Convention

So, the third one of four conventions was mainly related to prisoners of war and their treatment. According to this Geneva Convention no prisoner of war could be forced to disclose to his captor any information other than his identity (i.e., his name and rank, but not his military unit, home town, or address of relatives).

Every prisoner of war was entitled to adequate food and medical care and had the right to exchange correspondence and receive parcels. He was required to observe ordinary military discipline and courtesy, but he could attempt to escape at his own risk. Once recaptured, he was not to be punished for his attempt. Officers were to receive pay either according to the pay scale of their own country or to that of their captor, whichever was less; they could not be required to work.

Enlisted men might be required to work for pay, but the nature and location of their work were not to expose them to danger, and in no case could they be required to perform work directly related to military operations. Camps were to be open to inspection by authorized representatives of a neutral power (during World War II, Switzerland and Sweden acted as protecting powers).

Article 4 defines who could be called prisoner of war. Article 5 specifies that prisoners of war (as defined in article 4) are protected from the time of their capture until their final repatriation. It also specifies that when there is any doubt whether a combatant belongs to the categories in article 4, they should be treated as such until their status has been determined by a competent tribunal. Article 12 states that prisoners of war are the responsibility of the state not the persons who capture them and that they may not be transferred to a state that is not party to the Convention. Articles 13 to 16 state that prisoners of war must be treated humanely without any adverse discrimination and that their medical needs must be met.

The Convention was signed by 47 governments. Chief among the nations that did not adhere to the Geneva Convention of 1929 were Japan and the USSR. Japan, however, gave a qualified promise (1942) to abide by the Geneva rules, and the USSR announced (1941) that it would observe the terms of the Hague Convention of 1907, which did not provide (as does the Geneva Convention) for neutral inspection of prison camps, for the exchange of prisoners' names, and for correspondence with prisoners.

So, that could help to change the situation, including time during World War II. The United States and Great Britain mostly honored the Convention and its rules. At the same time, Germany didn’t treat all prisoners equally. While American and British prisoners got good treatment in Germany, people from Poland got probably the worst possible. The International Red Cross at Geneva tried to collect as much information about prisoners as it could, so situation was under control.