DEFINING GENEVA'S 'RULES OF WAR'
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March 24, 2003 -- What is commonly referred to as the "Geneva Convention" is actually four linked treaties that protect prisoners of war, ensure medical treatment for wounded combatants, and guard civilians.
Ratified by the United Nations in 1949, the treaty dates to 1864, when 12 European nations agreed that wounded troops would be cared for, regardless of nationality. The treaty was later expanded to cover anyone injured in war.
The current Geneva Conventions, which have been accepted by 189 countries, including Iraq, state that:
* Prisoners - whether civilians or soldiers - must be protected against acts of violence, insults and public curiosity.
* POWs must not be forced to give information other than name, age, rank and serial number; used as human shields; punished for an offense that they have not personally committed.
* POWs must be treated humanely, allowed to contact their next of kin, allowed to receive relief parcels, allowed to keep their clothes and personal effects, supplied with adequate food, and quickly repatriated when hostilities cease. They must be allowed to practice their religion.
* The wounded must be cared for as carefully as a country's own soldiers.
* Prisoners of war must not be subjected to mutilation or to medical experimentation; they cannot be held in close confinement.
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March 24, 2003 -- What is commonly referred to as the "Geneva Convention" is actually four linked treaties that protect prisoners of war, ensure medical treatment for wounded combatants, and guard civilians.
Ratified by the United Nations in 1949, the treaty dates to 1864, when 12 European nations agreed that wounded troops would be cared for, regardless of nationality. The treaty was later expanded to cover anyone injured in war.
The current Geneva Conventions, which have been accepted by 189 countries, including Iraq, state that:
* Prisoners - whether civilians or soldiers - must be protected against acts of violence, insults and public curiosity.
* POWs must not be forced to give information other than name, age, rank and serial number; used as human shields; punished for an offense that they have not personally committed.
* POWs must be treated humanely, allowed to contact their next of kin, allowed to receive relief parcels, allowed to keep their clothes and personal effects, supplied with adequate food, and quickly repatriated when hostilities cease. They must be allowed to practice their religion.
* The wounded must be cared for as carefully as a country's own soldiers.
* Prisoners of war must not be subjected to mutilation or to medical experimentation; they cannot be held in close confinement.
