Second Geneva Convention
| Geneva Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea | |
|---|---|
| Type | Multilateral treaty |
| Signed | 12 August 1949 |
| Location | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Effective | 21 October 1950 |
| Parties | 196 states[1] Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Ivory Coast Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic DR Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Finland France Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea-Bissau Guinea Guyana Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Gambia Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe |
| Depositary | Swiss Federal Council |
The Geneva Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea (French: Convention pour l'amélioration du sort des blessés, des malades et des naufragés des forces armées sur mer), more commonly referred to as the Second Geneva Convention or Geneva Convention II and abbreviated as GCII, is one of the four treaties of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.[2] It was first adopted in 1949, replacing the Hague Convention (X) of 1907.[3] It adapts the main protective regime of the First Geneva Convention to combat at sea.[4]
Summary of provisions
Geneva Convention II is a lengthy document consisting of 63 articles. The most essential provisions of the treaty are:
- Articles 12 and 18 require all parties to protect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked.
- Article 14 clarifies that although a warship cannot capture a hospital ship's medical staff, it can hold the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked as prisoners of war.
- Article 21 allows appeals to be made to neutral vessels to help collect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked. The neutral vessels cannot be captured.
- Articles 36 and 37 protect religious and medical personnel serving on a combat ship.
- Article 22 states that hospital ships cannot be used for any military purpose, and owing to their humanitarian mission, they cannot be attacked or captured.
For a detailed discussion of each article of the treaty, see the original text[5] and the commentary.[6] There are currently 196 countries party to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including this second treaty but also including the other three.[7]
See also
- Geneva Conventions of 1949
- Geneva Convention I
- Geneva Convention III
- Geneva Convention IV
- International humanitarian law
- Non-combatants
- Hors de combat
- List of parties to the Geneva Conventions
References
- Back to citation "Treaties, States parties, and Commentaries - States Parties - Geneva Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea. Geneva, 12 August 1949". ihl-databases.icrc.org. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- Back to citation "Treaties, States parties, and Commentaries - Geneva Convention (II) on Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked of Armed Forces at Sea, 1949 - -". ihl-databases.icrc.org. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- Back to citation ICRC. "Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea. Geneva, 12 August 1949". Retrieved 5 March 2017. “The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at the Diplomatic Conference held at Geneva from April 21 to August 12, 1949, for the purpose of revising the Xth Hague Convention of October 18, 1907 for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention of 1906 [...]”
- Back to citation Fleck, Dietrich (2013). The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-19-872928-0.
- Back to citation "Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea. Geneva, 12 August 1949". The American National Red Cross. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
- Back to citation Pictet, Jean (1958). Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949: Commentary. International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
- Back to citation "States party to the main treaties". The American National Red Cross. Archived from the original on 15 August 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
External links
- Final Act of the Second Peace Conference, The Hague, 18 October 1907