On 24th June, 1859, Henry Dunant witnessed the suffering of more than 38,000 wounded soldiers on the battlefield of Solferino. This was because of the lack of medical services. This moved Dunant to initiate the process that resulted in the adoption of the first Geneva Convention for the Duration of the Condition of the Wounded in War in 1864. From this moment onwards, sick and wounded combatants were under the protection of IHL. Initially, the IHL treaties limited their protection to wounded, sick, and shipwrecked members of the armed forces. It's only after World War II with the adoption of the Geneva Conventions that a new attempt was made to ensure medical care for all persons in need, including civilians. Contemporary IHL protects the wounded and sick in armed conflict through various instruments. The first 1949 Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, and Sick Armed Forces. The fourth Geneva Convention, Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and the two 1977 Additional Protocols. So, how are the wounded and sick defined? With the adoption of the additional protocols, the wounded and sick include all persons who because of trauma, disease, or other physical or mental disorder or disability are in need of medical assistance or care and who refrained from any act of hostility. This is irrespective of their military or civilian status. Expectant mothers and babies are also included in the definition. The requirement that the person must refrain from any act of hostility is key. This means that if a wounded person resumes fighting, he or she is no longer protected by IHL. Which rights do the wounded and sick have? According to Article 12 of the first Geneva Convention, the wounded and sick must be respected and protected in all circumstances and cared for. In this context, the term respected includes a duty to refrain from attack or other violent acts. The duty to protect entails a positive obligation to safeguard the sick and wounded. The belligerent parties must actively search for and collect the wounded and sick from the zone of hostilities to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment. Finally, the duty of care means that the parties of the conflict must provide the sick and wounded with the necessary medical treatment without distinction or priority on any grounds other than medical grounds. In other words, the belligerent should not distinguish between sick or wounded persons on the basis of ethnicity, race, political opinion, or any other similar criteria. One other thing to bear in mind is that the sick and wounded also retain other protections they might be entitled to under IHL. For example, injured civilians will also benefit from the protection flowing from their civilian status. IHL provides that in addition to the sick and wounded, the belligerent parties must respect and protect medical personnel. The underlying idea here is that the sick and wounded could not be adequately protected if medical personnel were to be exposed to attacks. What do we mean by medical personnel? Additional Protocol 1 describes medical personnel as military or civilian persons who have been assigned by a party to a conflict to take care of the sick and wounded, or to assist in medical missions. IHL recognizes three categories of medical personnel. Those of the parties to the conflict, voluntary aid societies, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross. The protection that IHL offers in the interests of the sick and wounded extends to medical unit, and medical transplants. Medical units are defined in API as establishments and other units that are organized for medical purposes. These units must search for, collect, transport, and diagnose, or treat the sick and wounded, or prevent diseases. They must be exclusively assigned to such purposes. Hospitals are a classic example of medical units, but they also include blood transfusion centers, medical depots, and pharmaceutical stores. They may be military or civilian, fixed or mobile, permanent or temporary. How do we define medical transports? Under API, medical transports are any means of transportation whether military or civilian, permanent or temporary, assigned exclusively to medical transportation. Examples of medical transports include; ambulances, hospitals, ships, and medical aircraft. Both medical units and medical transports must be respected and protected in all circumstances. They cannot form the object of attack or be used to shield military objectives from attack. The misuse of medical units and transport to harm the enemy results in loss of special protection. For example, hospitals which serve as military observation posts or ambulances which are used to transport weapons lose their special protection under IHL. Now, I have a question for you. Does that mean that these objects may be directly attacked? If you want, you can pause the video take a moment to think about it and write down the answer. IHL also provides for the establishment of special zones, which aim to protect the wounded and sick from the effects of war. The Geneva Conventions differentiate between two types of zones. First, hospitals and safety zones, and second, neutralized zones which are situated in combat areas. Both can be established with the agreement of the belligerents. The belligerents must ensure that the medical personnel unit and transports as well as any other special zones are easily identifiable as such. To that end, three distinctive emblems are used, namely; The Red Cross, The Red Crescent, and The Red Crystal. The emblems do not assign protected status. However, they help to identify persons and objects entitled to protection under IHL. So far, we've mainly referred to provisions of the Geneva Conventions and API regulating international armed conflicts. However, the protection of the wounded and sick in non-international armed conflicts is just as important. Common Article 3 explicitly mentions that persons taking no active part in hostilities, including members of the armed forces who have laid down their arms as a result of sickness or wounds, should be treated humanely. Furthermore, Common Article 3 stipulates that the wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. APII builds upon this minimum standard of protection by providing that the wounded and sick, as well as medical personnel, units, and transport, shall be respected and protected. Moreover, the distinctive emblems that we've discussed are also recognized in non-international armed conflicts. Let me summarize the main points. Sick and wounded soldiers and civilians must be respected protected and cared for in both international and non-international armed conflicts. To give effect to these protections, medical personnel units and transports must also be respected and protected at all times.
