Geneva conventions and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Why in news?

• Russian troops have been accused of violating Geneva conventions in ongoing war.
• Geneva Conventions are a set of four treaties (formalised in 1949) and three additional protocols, the first two of which were formalised in 1977 and the third in 2005, which codify widely accepted ethical and legal international standards for humanitarian treatment of those impacted by any ongoing war.
• Geneva Conventions have been ratified by 196 states, including all UN member states.
• Three Protocols have been ratified by 174, 169 and 79 states respectively.

About Geneva Conventions

• First Geneva Convention
• Protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war. • Also extends to medical and religious personnel, medical units, and medical transport.
• Second Geneva Convention
• Protects wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war.
• Also extends to hospital ships and medical transports by sea.
• Third Geneva Convention
• Applies to prisoners of war, including a wide range of general protections such as humane treatment, maintenance and equality across prisoners etc.
• Fourth Geneva Convention
• Protects civilians, including those in occupied territory.

Three Additional Protocols

Protocol I and II

• They strengthen the protection of victims of international (Protocol I) and non-international (Protocol II) armed conflicts and place limits on the way wars are fought.

Protocol III

• Created an additional emblem, the Red Crystal, which has the same international status as the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems.