Why is it in the news?

• Ukraine accuses Russia of violating the Geneva Convention in the ongoing conflict.
• Russia executed two unarmed Ukrainian soldiers who had signalled their intention to surrender.

About the Geneva Convention

• The Geneva Conventions are a set of treaties and protocols established to guide countries during wartime.
• Objective is to protect individuals not participating in the fighting (civilians, medics, aid workers) and those unable to fight (wounded, sick, shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war).

Four Geneva Conventions (1949)

• First Convention: Protection of wounded and sick soldiers on land during war.
• Second Convention: Protection of wounded, sick, and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war.
• Third Convention: Applies to prisoners of war (POWs), outlining humane treatment during captivity.
• Fourth Convention: Offers protections to civilians, including those in occupied territories.

Three Additional Protocols

• Protocol I (1977): Addresses victims in international conflicts, including wars of liberation and conflicts against racist regimes.
• Protocol II (1977): Focuses on protecting victims in non-international armed conflicts, such as civil wars.
• Protocol III (2005): Introduces the Red Crystal emblem, having the same international status as the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems.

Signatories to the Geneva Convention

• Ratified by 196 states, including all UN member states.
• India: Signatory to the Geneva Conventions and ratified Protocol III (2005) but did not ratify Protocols I and II (1977).