Third Geneva Convention was signed on July 27, 1929 at Geneva, Switzerland. It was made to protect the human rights of Prisoners of War (POW). These laws apply from the moment a combatant is imprisoned until the POW is released. The main point of this Convention was to protect the Prisoners of Wars from physical and mental torture.
Because of this law, torturing to prisoners was illegal and wrong on an international level. It states that prisoners should not be forced to reveal any other information related to their identity (like military unit, home town, address, relatives).
Third Geneva Convention was signed by 47 countries among all over the world. Countries like Brazil, America, Bulgaria, Belgium, Bolivia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Chile, Austria, China, Denmark, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Britain, Greece, France, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, India, Latvia, Mexico, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Persia, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Portugal, Croatia and Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Siam, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela, Uruguay, had signed the Third Geneva Convention. USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and Japan was (were) the two countries that did not sign the Geneva Convention.
The most essential General provisions written in the Third Geneva Convention are:
- According to Articles 1 and 2, if any armed conflicts occurred between two or more “High Contracting parties” then it should be covered by the Third Geneva Convention. It also specifies the countries name that signed the Third Geneva Convention.
- Article 3 is the only Article which is related to the non-international conflicts. According to it, protection must be given to all individuals during armed conflicts not of an international character: Combatants, non-combatant, hors de combat (out of the fight) should be treated humanely.
- Article 4 describes which POW should be included in this Convention:
- Members or militias of the armed forces of the conflicts party.
- Members of armed forces who are loyal to a government and are not recognized by the Detaining Power.
- Civilians with a valid identity card issued by the military, and have non-combat support roles with the military.
- Merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft.
- According to Article 5, these laws apply from the moment a combatant is imprisoned until the POW is released. If it is not known whether they are POW or not, they should be treated normally until their status has been determined.
- According to Article 12, POW is the liability of the state not the persons who capture them.
- According to Articles from 13 to 16, POW must be treated humanely, and their medical need must be met.
Captivity is another part of the Convention, and it is divided into several sections. It mostly states about the treatment and respect for the POW.
The most essential provisions written under this part are:
- According to Article from 8 and 9, prisoners must be evacuated from the combat zone as soon as possible.
- According to Article 10, conditions of POW camp must be similar to their own camp, and it should be in healthy location.
- According to Articles from 11 to 13, good quality of food must be given, and there should also be local canteen facility.
- According to Article 14 and 15, medical facilities should be given to POW.
- According to Article 16 and 17, extracurricular activities must be provided.
- Articles from 34 to 38 states that the religious and intellectual activities for the captivity of POW.
- According to Articles from 48 to 58, any money or valuables of a POW will be returned at the time of release.
This Convention was quite effective and worked well during the Second World War (1939 – 1945). This Convention is also followed by the United Nations. Organization like Information Bureau or Relief Societies must be set up by the Detaining Power to support the sharing of information by the parties to some other neutral power as required by the various provisions of Third Geneva Convention. Third Geneva Convention has been bought up in relation with the current situation in Iraq.
