The updated ICRC Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention: A new tool to protect prisoners of war in the twenty-first century

Abstract

Since their publication in the 1950s and 1980s respectively, the Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 have become a major reference for the application and interpretation of those treaties. The International Committee of the Red Cross, together with a team of renowned experts, is currently updating these Commentaries in order to document developments and provide up-to-date interpretations of the treaty texts. This article highlights key points of interest covered in the updated Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention. It explains the fundamentals of the Convention: the historical background, the personal scope of application of the Convention and the fundamental protections that apply to all prisoners of war (PoWs). It then looks at the timing under which certain obligations are triggered, those prior to holding PoWs, those triggered by the taking of PoWs and during their captivity, and those at the end of a PoW's captivity. Finally, the article summarizes key substantive protections provided in the Third Convention.

The Updated Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention: A New Tool for Generating Respect for International Humanitarian Law

“…Updating the commentaries on each of the 143 articles of GC III required consideration of a wide range of historical, legal, military, ethical, socio-cultural and technological issues (Jemma Arman et al, 2000). There was a collaborative effort in the development of the updated commentary on GC III with contribution from the ICRC and non ICRC lawyers, specialists with subject matter expertise Jemma Arman et al, 2000). The records of ICRC were quite useful in this development particularly the old records on ICRC's visitation of POWs in the past seven decades.…”

“…The records of ICRC were quite useful in this development particularly the old records on ICRC's visitation of POWs in the past seven decades. This work has made it possible for the ICRC to note measures taken by States to comply with GC III and also the challenges with implementation Jemma Arman et al, 2000).…”

“…GC III remains relevant today as there continue to be prisoners of war. Its rules have informed parallel provisions protecting civilian internees under Geneva Convention IV (Arman et al, 2000). It was difficult to find recent practice in relation to some topics for instance financial resource for POW's (Arman et al, 2000).…”

“…Its rules have informed parallel provisions protecting civilian internees under Geneva Convention IV (Arman et al, 2000). It was difficult to find recent practice in relation to some topics for instance financial resource for POW's (Arman et al, 2000). Having noted the background that led to the update of GC III, the next section of the paper will trace the history of the GC III this will help the readers appreciate the utility of the update of the GC III.…”

“…It defines humanitarian protection for prisoner of war (ICRC, 2020). Customary rules and codes regulating the capture and detention of enemy soldiers have existed for thousands of years and drew from a number of cultural, religious and ethical standards (Arman et al, 2000) which includes humanity principles (Sparrow, 2017) and dictates of public conscience. The Brussels Draft Declaration of 1874 was adopted after the conference of fifteen European states held (ICRC, Geneva Conventions Preliminary Remarks 2010).…”