What are the Geneva Conventions and what purpose do they serve?
The Conventions are the most important component of international humanitarian law, or IHL, as it is commonly known – the body of rules that protect civilians and people who are no longer fighting, including wounded and sick military personnel and prisoners of war. Their purpose is not to stop war but rather to limit the barbarity of armed conflict. The Geneva Conventions only apply to international armed conflicts, with the exception of Article 3 common to all four Conventions, which also covers non-international armed conflicts. The adoption of this article in 1949 was a breakthrough since previous IHL treaties had only covered situations of wars between States. As most of today’s wars are non-international armed conflicts, Article 3 remains vitally important because it sets a baseline for the protection of people who are not or no longer fighting, to which all sides – State and non-State parties to conflict – must abide. Remarkably, the Conventions have been universally ratified, me
