Formation of the Red Cross, 1863
In 1859, Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman, witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solforino in Northern Italy between Napoleon III and the French against the Austrians. Shocked by the large number of wounded and dying soldiers with no one to help them, he campaigned for action. He proposed the creation of national relief societies, made up of volunteers, trained in peacetime to provide neutral and impartial help to relieve the suffering in war.

In 1863, he arranged an unofficial international conference at which it was agreed that each country should form a relief organisation capable of assisting the Army Medical Services in wartime. In response to these ideas, the International Committee of the Red Cross was established in Geneva and the founding charter of the Red Cross was drawn up.

First Geneva Convention, 1864
Henry Dunant also proposed that countries should adopt an international agreement, which would recognise the status of medical services and of the wounded on the battlefield. Representatives from 13 nations met in Geneva to discuss the possibility of making warfare more ‘humane’. On 22 August 1864, the delegates signed the First Geneva Convention. The agreement provides for

• the neutral status of ambulance and military hospitals and those who helped the sick and wounded of any nationality
• the return of prisoners to their own countries if they are incapable of serving
• the adoption of a white flag with a red cross for use on hospitals, ambulances and evacuation centres whose neutrality would be recognized by this protective emblem.

Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Switzerland ratified the Convention in 1864. Britain, Greece, Prussia and Turkey signed up in the following year.

Later signatories, 1886-1907
Austria and Portugal (1866), Russia (1867), Persia (1874), Serbia (1876), Argentina and Chile (1879), Peru (1880), America (1882), Bulgaria (1884), Japan (1886), Luxemburg (1888), Venezuela (1894), South Africa (1896), Uruguay (1900), Guatemala (1903), Mexico (1905), Brazil, China and Germany (1906), and Cuba, Panama and Paraguay (1907).

First Hague Conference, 1899
The Conference created regulations respecting the laws and customs of war on land, setting out agreed principles including:

the definition and treatment of

• ‘belligerents’ - those at war
• POWs
• the sick and wounded

the definition of hostilities

• the means of injuring the enemy
• the treatment of spies
• the use of flags of truce
• the use of capitulations
• the use of armistices

Second Geneva Convention, 1906
The Second Convention gave protection to wounded combatants at sea, and to victims of shipwreck.

The main points of the first two Geneva Conventions are:

• the sick, wounded and shipwrecked must be cared for adequately
• belligerents must treat members of the enemy force who are wounded, sick or shipwrecked as carefully they would their own
• all efforts should be made to collect the dead quickly; to confirm death by medical examination; to identify bodies and protect them from robbery
• medical equipment must not be intentionally destroyed and medical establishments and vehicles must not be attacked, damaged or prevented from operating even if, for the moment, they do not contain patients.

Second Hague Convention, 1907
The Second Convention refined the 1899 regulations.

Geneva Gas Protocol, 1925
This protocol banned the use of poison gas and biological warfare.

Third Geneva Convention, 1929
47 countries agreed on rules on the treatment, protection and rights of prisoners of war.

Prisoners of war must be:

• treated humanely with respect for their persons and their honour
• enabled to inform their next of kin and the Central Prisoners of War Agency (ICRC, the International Red Cross) of their capture
• allowed to correspond regularly with relatives and to receive relief parcels
• allowed to keep their clothes, feeding utensils and personal effects
• supplied with adequate food and clothing
• provided with quarters not inferior to those of their captor's troops
• given the medical care their state of health demands
• paid for any work they do
• repatriated if certified seriously ill or wounded, (but they must not resume active military duties afterwards)
• quickly released and repatriated when hostilities cease.

Prisoners of war must not be:

• compelled to give any information other than their name, age, rank and service number
• deprived of money or valuables without a receipt (and these must be returned at the time of release)
• given individual privileges other than for reasons of health, sex, age, military rank or professional qualifications
• held in close confinement except for breaches of the law, although their liberty can be restricted for security reasons
• compelled to do military work, nor work which is dangerous, unhealthy or degrading

Formation of the United Nations, 1945
After the end of the Second World War, over 50 countries formed the United Nations and signed the UN Charter to preserve peace through international cooperation. The Charter sets out to safeguard human rights and prohibit the unnecessary suffering of soldiers and civilians, and the inhumane treatment of prisoners captured by the opposition.

Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949
The Fourth Convention agreed to extend the existing provisions from the first three Geneva Conventions - covering the sick and wounded, shipwrecked sailors, prisoners of war and civilians in territory occupied by an army - to protect civilians and all individuals ‘who do not belong to the armed forces, take no part in the hostilities and find themselves in the hands of the Enemy or an Occupying Power’.

It states that protected civilians must be:

• treated humanely at all times and protected against acts or threats of violence, insults and public curiosity
• entitled to respect for their honour, family rights, religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs
• specially protected in safety zones i.e. the wounded, sick, old, children under 15, expectant mothers or mothers of children under 7
• allowed to practise their religion with ministers of their own faith
• housed together and provided with the facilities to continue normal family life if interned
• placed under protection of the red cross/crescent emblem if wounded or sick

Protected civilians must not be:

• discriminated against because of race, religion or political opinion
• forced to give information
• used to shield military operations or make an area immune from military operations
• punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed
• women must not be indecently assaulted, raped, or forced into prostitution.