Legal Committee - World Model United Nations

II. The conditions and places of captivity were more
precisely defined, particularly with regard to the
labor of prisoners of war, their financial resources,
the relief they receive, and the judicial proceedings
instituted against them. The Convention establishes
the principle that prisoners of war shall be released
and repatriated without delay after the cessation of
active hostilities. The Convention has five annexes
containing various model regulations and identity
and other cards. 29
• Fourth Convention: The final convention protects
civilians, including those in occupied territory. This
convention differed from its predecessors due to
the fact that the former Geneva Conventions were
only concerned with combatants. Due in part to the
aftermath of World War II, in which the absence of
a convention for the protection of civilians led to
horrible consequences, this convention was adopted
in 1949. 30 It is comprised of 159 articles, including
a short section concerning the general protection
of populations against certain consequences of war,
but it does so without addressing the conduct of
hostilities, which are later examined in the Additional
Protocols of 1977. The bulk of the Convention deals
with the status and treatment of protected persons,
distinguishing between the situation of foreigners
on the territory of one of the parties to the conflict
and that of civilians in occupied territory. It spells
out the obligations of the occupying power and the
civilian population and contains detailed provisions
on humanitarian relief for populations in occupied
territory. It also contains a specific regime for the
treatment of civilian internees. It has three annexes
containing a model agreement on hospital and safety
zones, model regulations on humanitarian relief,
and model cards. 31
• Protocol I: Additional to the Geneva Conventions
of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of
Victims of International Armed Conflicts. It extends
protections to victims of wars against racist regimes
and wars of self-determination.
• Protocol II: Additional to the Geneva Conventions
of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of
Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. It
extends protections to victims of internal conflicts
in which an armed opposition controls enough
territory to enable them to carry out sustained
military operations. 32
The Evolution of the Conventions: the 1977 Additional
Protocols
The growing rise of two new elements of warfare led to
the addition of the 1977 Protocols: the possibility of
extending the battlefield ad infinitum, which would put
civilians at an obvious risk, and the new forms of armed
conflict that could not go unnoticed (nuclear weapons).
Thus, the need came about to supplement the Conventions.
Protocol I, which deals with the victims of international
armed conflicts, seems to be a collection of unrelated texts.
Part II addresses the wounded, sick and shipwrecked,
missing and dead persons, and medical services, while Part
III focuses on defining the term “combatants” and discusses
their conduct. Part IV concerns the conduct of hostilities but
also mentions civil defense, relief, and other human rights
matters. 33 The heterogeneous composition highlighted the
irrelevance of the outdated distinction between the Law
of Geneva (law for the protection of victims of conflicts)
and the Law of the Hague (law relative to the conduct of
hostilities and the administration of occupied territories). It
finally defined the law of armed conflict as a single entity.
The most crucial point of the protocol is the protection of
civilians against the effects of hostilities and is addressed
throughout the entire Protocol. 34 After World War I, the new
issue of aerial weapons arose, as they can strike virtually
anywhere on enemy territory and are subject to practically
no regulations. The issue has gotten even more threatening
today.
The safety of citizens is dependent on law, which led to the
need to add to the 1949 Conventions, which, despite the
horrible air raids in the Second World War, failed to address
this issue. The memory of bombings and atrocious crimes
committed against civilians in occupied territories made the
primary objective of the Geneva Convention relative to the
protection of civilian persons in time of war (Fourth Geneva
Convention of 1949) the protection of civilians against
abuses of power and arbitrary measures by foreign rulers.
It tackles war crimes against civilians in enemy countries
and the inhabitants of occupied territories. 35 Protocol I is
supplemental, as it contains rules for the safety of the most
vulnerable categories of civilians and comprises a list of
fundamental guarantees amounting to a summary of human
rights that are applicable to anyone affected by a situation of
armed conflict. Those who drafted Protocol I were concerned
with the most vulnerable parties, and were thus drawn to
consider the lack of protection of civilians against the effects
of hostilities. Protocol I features three types of provisions
to mend these deficiencies: basic rules, rules of application,
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