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Book contents
- Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention
- International Committee of the Red Cross
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword by Peter Maurer
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Part I General Provisions
- Article 1 Respect for the Convention
- Article 2 Application of the Convention
- Article 3 Conflicts not of an international character
- Article 4 Prisoners of war
- Article 5 Beginning and end of application
- Article 6 Special agreements
- Article 7 Non-Renunciation of Rights
- Article 8 Protecting Powers
- Article 9 Activities of the ICRC and Other Impartial Humanitarian Organizations
- Article 10 Substitutes for Protecting Powers
- Article 11 Conciliation Procedure
- Part II General Protection of Prisoners of War
- Part III Captivity
- Part IV Termination of Captivity
- Part V Information Bureaux and Relief Societies for Prisoners of War
- Part VI Execution of the Convention
- Book part
- Sources
- Index
- References
Article 1 - Respect for the Convention
from Part I - General Provisions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 August 2021
- Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention
- International Committee of the Red Cross
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword by Peter Maurer
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Part I General Provisions
- Article 1 Respect for the Convention
- Article 2 Application of the Convention
- Article 3 Conflicts not of an international character
- Article 4 Prisoners of war
- Article 5 Beginning and end of application
- Article 6 Special agreements
- Article 7 Non-Renunciation of Rights
- Article 8 Protecting Powers
- Article 9 Activities of the ICRC and Other Impartial Humanitarian Organizations
- Article 10 Substitutes for Protecting Powers
- Article 11 Conciliation Procedure
- Part II General Protection of Prisoners of War
- Part III Captivity
- Part IV Termination of Captivity
- Part V Information Bureaux and Relief Societies for Prisoners of War
- Part VI Execution of the Convention
- Book part
- Sources
- Index
- References
Summary
In the very first article of each of the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, the HighContracting Parties ‘undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the presentConvention in all circumstances’. This clause attests to the special characterof the Conventions, a great many of whose rules give expression to ‘elementaryconsiderations of humanity’. The High Contracting Parties therefore deemed itappropriate to explicitly reiterate the general principle that the Conventionsare binding upon its Parties, which have ‘to respect’ them. Moreover, the HighContracting Parties commit themselves to do everything reasonably in their power‘to ensure respect’ for the Conventions. The phrase ‘to respect and to ensurerespect’ applies first and foremost to the High Contracting Parties themselves,their armed forces, other persons and groups acting on their behalf, and theirpopulations as a whole.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Commentary on the Third Geneva ConventionConvention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, pp. 47 - 80Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021