Geneva Conventions

COM(91j268 Proposal on the Geneva Convention on Long Range Air Pollution... 

UN/ECE, United Nations/Economic Council for Europe (1979) The 1979 Geneva convention on long-range transboundary air pollution. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, http //www.unece.org/env/lrtap/lrtap hl.html... 

We are not embarking upon gas warfare in Vietnam. We are not talking about agents or weapons that are associated with gas warfare in the military arsenals of many countries. We are not talking about gas that is prohibited by the Geneva convention of 1925 or any other understandings about the use of gas.85... 

Some may argue that it was the existence of the Geneva Convention that prevented chemical weapon use in the Second Word War but the size of the stockpiles in various countries does not really support this argument. When one looks at the size of the US and USSR stockpiles declared under the Chemical Weapons Convention 1997, it becomes apparent that very large quantities were considered necessary to be militarily effective. There is such a significant logistic burden in deploying such stocks that any commander would like to be confident about the outcome. This may be another reason why chemicals were not used. 

What must one think of historians who, like Thomas A. Schwartz, claimed as late as 1990 and in Germany s foremost periodical on contemporary history, that the American trials had been conducted in accordance with the stipulations of the Geneva Convention that the main problem with these trials had merely been the lack of opportunity for appeal and the uncertain future treatment of the convicted that the cases of Ilse Koch63 and Malmedy were the only ones of particular signifi-... 

Therefore, under certain circumstances — especially in cases where civilians have violated the orders of the Geneva Convention — the threat expressed by General Leclerq may be enforced, but not against prisoners of war. ... 

At times this common law has been disputed in the subject literature. However, the overwhelming number of examples from the first half of the 20th century proves the fundamental permissibility of reprisal measures during the Second World War. It was not until the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, that this state of affairs was changed, but of course only for the time following, not retroactively for the past. 

Let us hope that the abolition of reprisals, as decided at the Geneva Convention of August 12,1949, will be carried through and that the reprisals of recent years (cf. prev. pp. 20f.) will remain exceptions and will not re-establish the old common law. 

Similar considerations apply to other international organizations and regimes with comparable levels of membership to the OPCW. There are more than 120 members in common with the WTO and more than 130 in common with the ICRC s Additional Protocols I and II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the laws of armed conflict in the case of the WCO, the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the 1989 Basel Convention, there are 140 members or more that are also States Parties to the CWC. Again, the majority of States not Party to the CWC have joined the treaties or constituent instruments administered by these other organizations. 

United States Senate ratifies the first Geneva Convention. 

An International Congress revises the original Geneva Convention of 1864, expanding it to include protection of the war wounded at sea as approved by a Hague conference of 1899. 

National level - against regional, supra-national problems (e.g. acidification, eutrophication, ground ozone - processes covered by the Geneva Convention). 

Unlike these ships, which were entitled to protection from attack under the Geneva Convention, the Franconia and nineteen other vessels like her were classed as ambulance transports or black hospital ships . These were also equipped to convey and treat sick and wounded but they doubled as troop and stores carriers on return voyages... 

As to the auxiliaries that tornied part ol the Falklands Task Force, only one, the U ancla, was repainted and this was into the rej>ulation hospital ship colours stipulated by the Geneva Convention. No colour obscuration or concealment was even considered for the converted troopships for the ability of modern missile systems to seek out targets electronically, over the horizon il necessary, rendered visual camouflage largely irrelevant. 

A third type of hospital ship was the hospital carrier. These vessels also wore the regulation hospital ship colours and were protected under the Geneva Convention, but they were not fully fitted out with wards, surgery, dispensary and so on. Outwardly they could not be distinguished from full hospital ships and ultimately many were completely converted. 

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