The Ethics of War
Rules and conventions
At various times in history rules have been laid down to govern the conduct of war - more specifically to say what behaviour was forbidden. The list below is only a selection...
1439
In 1439, Charles VII of Orleans laid down a law that said that officers would be held responsible for "the abuses, ills and offences" committed by the men they commanded. If an officer didn't take action promptly, or allowed an offender to escape punishment, then the officer would be punished as if they were the original offender.
1815
The Congress of Vienna ruled in the case of Napoleon that it was a crime to go to war in breach of a treaty.
1863
The Lieber Code was an early American code of conduct for armies, implemented by President Lincoln during the Civil War.
1864
The first Geneva Convention protects the sick and wounded by giving protection to medical facilities and their staff and any civilians helping the wounded. The convention also recognised the Red Cross as a neutral medical group. 10 countries signed the Convention at first, (the UK signed in 1865, and the USA in 1882).
1865
Captain Henry Wirz, commander of a Confederate prison camp was tried and executed for "conspiracy to destroy prisoners' lives in violation of the laws and customs of war" and "murder in violation of the laws and customs of war".
This trial confirmed the principles of the Lieber Code and established the consequences of giving illegal orders.
1874
The Brussels Protocol laid down that war should not 'inflict unnecessary suffering' upon an enemy.
1880
The "Manual on the Laws of War on Land" is drafted in England.
1899 - 1907
The Hague Conferences create "The Convention on Laws and Customs of War" - based on the manual referred to above.
1906
Second Geneva Convention gives protection to wounded combatants at sea, and to victims of shipwreck.
1919
The "Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on the Enforcement of Penalties" lays down a clear doctrine of criminal responsiblity for war crimes.
It states that "all persons belonging to enemy countries, however high their position may have been, without distinction of rank, including Chiefs of Staff, who have been guilty of offenses against the laws and customs of war or the laws of humanity, are liable to criminal prosecution".
1925
Geneva Gas Protocol bans the use of poison gas and biological warfare.
1929
Third Geneva Convention lays down rules to protect prisoners of war.
1946
The Nuremberg tribunal tries Nazi war criminals on the basis that the Hague Convention of 1907 is customary international law.
1948
The United Nations General Assembly adopts the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide".
1949
Fourth Geneva Convention brings together the elements of the first three Geneva Conventions and adds rules to protect civilians during war.
1993
Establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and violations of the laws or customs of war committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991.
1997
Two protocols to the Geneva Convention give protection to guerrillas in civil wars or wars of national liberation.
1998
An international conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, opening the way to the establishment of an International Criminal Court.
(I belive they are missing a convention or two pursuant to the ban on indiscriminate biochemical weapons, but I may be misremembering.) |
