Geneva Conventions

Cultural  

1. A set of international rules that govern the treatment of prisoners, the sick and wounded, and civilians during war. Under the Geneva Conventions, for example, ambulances and military hospitals and their staff are officially neutral and are not to be fired upon. Nearly all countries of the world have agreed to the Geneva Conventions.

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The first Geneva Convention was drawn up in the late nineteenth century and concerned only the sick and wounded in war. It has been revised several times since to accommodate new wartime conditions.

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Geneva Conventions

Unlike the Genocide Convention, neither the Geneva Conventions or other law-of-war treaties provide the ICJ with any jurisdiction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

I think we need a commitment to, at a bare minimum, the Geneva Conventions.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

The Geneva Conventions governing the laws of war, agreed following World War II, prohibit destruction of "objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population."

From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026

Amid the war’s devastating wake, Francis Lieber, a German American jurist, proposed a philosophy of amendments and humanitarian principles, the Lieber Codes, templates for the Hague and Geneva Conventions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2025

The Red Cross had its origin in Switzerland and the Geneva Conventions have done much to bring about the adoption of better rules of war.

From Face to Face with Kaiserism by James W. (James Watson) Gerard