Page 3190 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 18 August 2009
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apply to all the conventions and include the notion that in international conflicts the conventions will apply even when only one of the international parties is actually a signatory to the convention, thus extending the scope and reach of the protections. Also, they say that the conventions will apply to signatory nations even in the absence of a formal declaration of war, thereby removing an unnecessary bureaucratic impediment to a problem of imminent human suffering. The additions also introduced important concepts such as the inclusion of conventions related to non-international conflicts. We have seen several examples of intranational conflict that have shown the need for international intervention.
The fourth protocol, added in 1949, made the important extension to include civilians in the protection afforded, even in occupied territories. This was horrifically and tragically made clear in the occupied territories and the atrocities of the holocaust visited against civilian populations.
There have, of course, been other dreadful abuses of the rights protected by the Geneva conventions. Even today there are cases all around the world that beggar description and defy belief. That does not invalidate the law or the basis upon which they were built; it reinforces the need for them to be reviewed and reinforced. The fact that a law is broken or betrayed is no reason not to recognise its import or reaffirm its intent.
One aspect that shows that the Geneva conventions remain a relevant, important body of law are the additional protocols that have been added over the years, as mentioned previously. As the world changes, the conventions are capable of being changed to meet the new challenges.
In this way, it is no different from civil or internal criminal laws. There is no disputing that local laws have changed over time, but the fundamental belief in the importance and the validity of the rule of law itself is the foundation of freedom, the respect for humanity and the defence of democracy throughout the world. Similarly, noncompliance is a matter of concern and enforcement, not a rationale for abandonment.
It is, though, in this area that the challenges for the next 60 years will lie. The nature of conflict has changed, as has been outlined by my colleague Mr Hanson. It is arguable that the nature of the laws protecting the innocent in conflicts should change as well. However, the changing nature of the conventions themselves since the very first draft in 1864 shows that the conventions can and will be extended, adapted and organised to meet the challenges of a changing world.
Moreover, the original revolutionary intent to impose obligations at an international level has led to other conventions and treaties being developed and ratified on a whole host of issues. Without the Geneva conventions establishing the rights and benefits of international legal obligations, it is arguable that none of those other treaties or conventions would have been developed or would have the weight and authority they currently do.
In this way, an important victory of the Geneva conventions is not just the specific sanctions originally envisaged but the very recognition of fundamental legal rights and obligations on an international scale, as a matter of validity in its own right. While
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