Bibliography- Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bibliography- - Essay Example The Geneva Conventions basically constitutes of international humanitarian regulations that seek to control the behavior of soldiers during armed conflict. Durham, Helen.  The Changing Face of Conflict and the Efficacy of International Humanitarian Law. The Hague u.a: Nijhoff, 1999. Print. Why did it come about? During the First and Second World Wars, prisoners from different nations across Europe were taken captive and brutally mistreated. The Second World War is perceived by most to be the worst war in history in terms of civilian casualties. The fact that so many innocent people in so many nations suffered from unspeakable brutalities inspired the proposals concerning respecting human dignity in the Geneva Convention. The source describes the fact that many countries were concerned about the cruelty meted out on defenseless men as well as civilians and began looking for ways in which they could maintain basic human dignity even in times of war (Durham 34). The Geneva Convention was the result of joint musings between nations on the right way to address violations of human rights that were common during war time. What is its purpose? Focarelii, Carlo. â€Å"Common Article 1 of the1949 Geneva Conventions: A Soap Bubble?† The European Journal of International Law 21.1 (2010): 136 The Geneva Convention binds all the states that signed it to a pledge that states that all civilians as well as prisoners of war captured in their nations in times of conflict shall be treated humanely. The source describes the Geneva principles as regarding the maintenance of the sanctity of human life were immediately accepted by the attending nations (Focarelli 136). This agreement essentially allowed the nations that signed it to pledge their agreement to ensuring that civilians as well as prisoners of war in any future conflicts would have their basic human rights respected. There were further endorsements by more than one hundred nations during the 1950’s and 60â €™s. The disintegration of the USSR during the early 90s would bring additional ratifications. The source further states that it is vital for all nations to understand the different policies that they have to ratify in order to implement the policies that were agreed upon during the Geneva Convention in 1949 (Focarelii 136). In the Geneva Convention, the member nations basically swore to maintain the prisoners of other nations in the best circumstances possible. To this day, it is basically this pledge of both negative and positive reciprocity that upholds the significance of the Convention. Have all nations upheld the Geneva Convention? Bennet, Angela. The Geneva Convention: The Hidden Origins of the Red Cross. London: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2005. Not all nations have maintained this promise, but most nations actively work towards ensuring that they follow all the statues of the Geneva Convention. Apart from seeking to maintain human dignity, the convention also introduced equa lity in the treatment of different peoples. The source affirms that in the Second World War, American prisoners captured by Germans were often treated better than those of the USSR (Bennet 124). This trend was quite common in