Pros And Cons Of The Fourth Geneva Convention

The Fourth Geneva Convention was adopted in 1949, and it outlines a set of rules that concern the humanitarian protection for civilians in a war zone, and also outlaws the practice of a total war. It is considered as an improvement over the Hague Convention IV on the Law and Customs of War on Land, 1907. By virtue of Article 4 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the application of this convention is limited to those people, who, at a given moment and in any manner, 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. Article 6 further explains that this Convention will come into operation immediately following the outbreak of hostilities, or at the start
This negative form of definition is said to be faithful to a recogized principle international law: it does not interfere in a State’s relations with its own nationals.[ Commentary of 1958, (-- removed HTML --) Accessed 12 January 2018.] The civilians, by this Convention, are accorded the right to respect of person, honour, convictions and religious practices, the prohibition of torture and all forms of degrading, cruel and inhumane treatment, taking of hostages and conduct of reprisals, and right to judicial guarantees.[ IV Geneva Convention, Article 27 to 46.] Part III of the Convention concerns the treatment and status of the protected persons. Under Article 32, it is provided that a protected person shall not have anything done to them, of such a character so as to result in physical suffering or extermination, and the prohibition extends to murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not mandated for medical reasons. Article 33 also provides that protected person shall not be punished for an offence that he or she has not personally committed. Thus, all forms of collective penalties, intimidation of and pursuit of terrorism, reprisals and intimidation are