A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LAWS OF WAR

Attempts to put limits on wartime behavior have been around since the beginning of recorded history and there have been numerous attempts to codify the rules of appropriate military conduct.

In the sixth century BCE, Chinese warrior Sun Tzu suggested putting limits on the way that wars were conducted.

Around 200 BCE, the notion of war crimes as such appeared in the Hindu code of Manu.

In 1305, the Scottish national hero Sir William Wallace was tried for the wartime murder of civilians.

Hugo Grotius wrote "On the Law of War and Peace" in 1625, focusing on the humanitarian treatment of civilians.

In 1865, Confederate officer Henry Wirz was executed for murdering Federal prisoners of war at the Andersonville prisoner of war camp. He was only one of several people who were tried for similar offenses.

In fact, it's been the past century and a half that has really seen a qualitative jump in the degree to which constraints have been placed on warring parties, and only this century that an international body has been formed to police the nations of the world.

The first Geneva Convention was signed in 1864 to protect the sick and wounded in war time. This first Geneva Convention was inspired by Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross. Ever since then, the Red Cross has played an integral part in the drafting and enforcement of the Geneva Conventions.

These included the 1899 treaties, concerning asphyxiating gases and expanding bullets. In 1907, 13 separate treaties were signed, followed in 1925 by the Geneva Gas Protocol, which prohibited the use of poison gas and the practice of bacteriological warfare.

In 1929, two more Geneva Conventions dealt with the treatment of the wounded and prisoners of war. In 1949, four Geneva Conventions extended protections to those shipwrecked at sea and to civilians.

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property was signed in 1954, the United Nations Convention on Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Techniques followed in 1977, together with two Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, extending their protections to civil wars.

There is no one "Geneva Convention." Like any other body of law, the laws of war have been assembled piecemeal, and are, in fact, still under construction.

It is impossible to produce a complete and up-to-date list of war crimes. Even today, weapon systems such as land mines are being debated at the highest levels of international policy.

What follows is a basic reference to the most common protections and prohibitions, as provided for in the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and the two 1977 protocols.

The Geneva Conventions and supplementary protocols make a distinction between combatants and civilians.

The two groups must be treated differently by the warring sides and, therefore, combatants must be clearly distinguishable from civilians.

Although this obligation benefits civilians by making it easier for the warring sides to avoid targeting non-combatants, soldiers also benefit because they become immune from prosecution for acts of war.

For example, a civilian who shoots a sholdier may be liable for murder while a soldier who shoots an enemy soldier and is captured may not be punished.

In order for the distinction between combatants and civilians to be clear, combatants must wear uniforms and carry their weapons openly during military operations and during preparation for them.

The exceptions are medical and religious personnel, who are considered non-combatants even though they may wear uniforms. Medical personnel may also carry small arms to use in self-defense if illegally attacked.

The other exception are mercenaries, who are specifically excluded from protections. Mercenaries are defined as soldiers who are not nationals of any of the parties to the conflict and are paid more than the local soldiers.

Combatants who deliberately violate the rules about maintaining a clear separation between combatant and noncombatant groups — and thus endanger the civilian population — are no longer protected by the Geneva Convention.

Combatants who do fall within the guidelines of the Geneva Conventions enjoy the following protections:

Prisoners of war must be treated humanely. Specifically, prisoners must not be subject to torture or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind. They must also be protected against violence, intimidation, insults and public curiosity. The public display of POWs is also prohibited. When questioned — in the prisoner's native language — prisoners of war must only give their names, ranks, birth dates and serial numbers. Prisoners who refuse to answer may not be threatened or mistreated. Prisoners of war must be immediately evacuated away from a combat zone and must not be unnecessarily exposed to danger. They may not be used as human shields. Finally, and most importantly, prisoners of war may not be punished for the acts they committed during the fighting unless the opposing side would have punished its own soldiers for those acts as well.

Both the fourth Geneval Convention and the two Additional Protocols extend protections to civilians during war time.

Civilians are not to be subject to attack. This includes direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks against areas in which civilians are present. There is to be no destruction of property unless justified by military necessity. Individuals or groups must not be deported, regardless of motive. Civilians must not be used as hostages. Civilians must not be subject to outrages upon personal dignity. Civilians must not be tortured, raped or enslaved. Civilians must not be subject to collective punishment and reprisals. Civilians must not receive differential treatment based on race, religion, nationality, or political allegiance. Warring parties must not use or develop biological or chemical weapons and must not allow children under 15 to participate in hostilities or to be recruited into the armed forces.

Customs have changed since the 1949 conventions were signed. In the first half of this century, journalists were considered civilian members of military, often wore uniforms, and became prisoners of war when captured.

The first, second and third Geneva Conventions extend to war correspondents all the protections due to combatants. They were not to be treated as spies and, even though their notebooks and film could be confiscated, they did not have to respond to interrogation. If they were sick or wounded, they must receive medical treatment and, if they were captured, they must be treated humanely.

This changed with the adoption of the 1977 Protocols, which explicitly recognized journalists to be civilians and due to all the civilian protections.

Now, journalists must not be deliberately targeted, detained, or otherwise mistreated any more than any other civilian.

This means that journalists now have an obligation to differentiate themselves from combatants by not wearing uniforms or openly carrying firearms.

"There is no one "Geneva Convention." Like any other body of law, the laws of war have been assembled piecemeal, and are, in fact, still under construction. "

I'd be willing to wager that the SPJ feels the same way in regards to the "Second Greatest Document" ever pened

I think the Society of Professional Journalists should spend a little more time reviewing and memorizing their own code of behavior. The entire journalism community has drifted as far afield from their original Code of Ethics as Hollywood has from the Ten Commandments.

The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at the Diplomatic Conference held at Geneva from April 21 to August 12, 1949, for the purpose of revising the Convention concluded at Geneva on July 27, 1929 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, have agreed as follows:

Part Seven

Behavior On The Field Of Battle

Article 144

Section One

Behavior resembling that of an animal on the field of battle will result in being treated as such upon detainment.

the Society of Professional Journalists should spend a little more time reviewing and memorizing their own code of behavior. The entire journalism community has drifted as far afield from their original Code of Ethics as Hollywood has from the Ten Commandments.

If you look at journalism dispassionately, the only conclusion you can reach is that it is the business of irresponsibility. Its known rules for story selection inherently select for anticonservative messages, yet it presumes to call itself wise.
You wouldn't presume to call yourself objective, because objectivity is impossible without wisdom - but if you have the nerve to say that a journalist is not objective, all of a sudden you are a heel.
The upshot is that a journalist code of ethics is simply boob bait for the bubbas - it tells you what you want to hear, but it has nothing to do with the real operation of journalism.

Rules of war are a nice idea but the nature of war is such that it brings out the worst in people. Dishonor is the norm- honor the exception in warfare. Even the highly coded military culture of Medevil Knights fell into orgies of killings of civilians (when this was expressly against their established codes and values). At the first fall of Jerusalem in 1098- these Christian soldiers- who only days earlier had piously walked barefooted around the walls of the city, holding up relics, Giving prayer to the Lord, and whipping their backs til they bleed- then proceeded to slaughter nearly 40,000 Moslem citizens of the city (and even some Jews and Christians). These "Crusaders" did the same thing to other Christian sects in Europe- notably the Cathar Christians in Southern France.

You can make "rules" all you want. But in the end- war has no rules and never has.

Giving prayer to the Lord, and whipping their backs til they bleed- then proceeded to slaughter nearly 40,000 Moslem citizens of the city (and even some Jews and Christians).

As reported by one Muslim historian about 100 years after the fact. It may have never happened and if you have a more info, please post.

The fall of Jerusalem in the First Crusade was perhaps the biggest victory for Christians- it was WWII times 3 for Europe. The list of Chronicles are plentiful.

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