Geneva Conventions I Article 19

Fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the Medical Service may in no circumstances be attacked, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict. Should they fall into the hands of the adverse Party, their personnel shall be free to pursue their duties, as long as the capturing Power has not itself ensured the necessary care of the wounded and sick found in such establishments and units. The responsible authorities shall ensure that the said medical establishments and units are, as far as possible, situated in such a manner that attacks against military objectives cannot imperil their safety. Commentary: To respect such units means, first of all, not to attack them or harm them in any way. It might therefore be thought unnecessary to specify, in the provision, that they may not "be attacked"; this strengthening of the general form of wording may not, however, be superfluous in view of the increasing scale of aerial bombardment. To respect such units means, secondly, not to interfere with their work.It is not enough for the enemy simply to refrain from taking action against them; he must also allow them to continue to give treatment to the wounded in their care, as long as this is necessary. To protect the units is to ensure that they are respected, that is to say to oblige third parties to respect them. It also means coming to their help in case of need.

Article 21
The protection to which fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the Medical Service are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after a due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit and after such warning has remained unheeded.

COMMENTARY
One thing is certain. Medical establishments and units must observe, towards the opposing belligerent, the neutrality which they claim for themselves and which is their right under the Convention. Being placed outside the struggle, they must loyally refrain from all interference, direct or indirect, in military operations.

The Diplomatic Conference of 1949 stated specifically that protection could only cease in the case of harmful acts committed by the units "outside their humanitarian duties".

B. ' Warning and time limit. ' -- The corresponding Article of the 1929 Convention merely provided that the protection to which medical units and establishments were entitled would cease if use were made of them to commit acts harmful to the enemy. The 1949 Conference added a further sentence with the object of tempering the possible consequences of too strict an application of the above principle. Safeguards had, in fact, to be provided in order to ensure the humane treatment of the wounded themselves, who could not be held responsible for any unlawful acts committed.

It is thus stipulated that protection may cease only after a due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit, and after such warning has remained unheeded. The enemy has therefore to warn the unit to put an end to the harmful acts and must fix a time limit, on the conclusion of which he may open [p.202] fire or attack if the warning has not been complied with. The period of respite is not specified. All that is said is that it must be reasonable. How is it to be determined? It will obviously vary according to the particular case. One thing is certain, however. It must be long enough either to allow the unlawful acts to be stopped or for the wounded and sick who are present with the unit to be removed to a place of safety. The respite will also give the unit an opportunity of replying to an unfounded accusation and clearing itself. As we have seen, a time limit is to be named "in all appropriate cases". There might obviously be cases where no time limit could be allowed. Suppose, for example, that a body of troops approaching a hospital were met by heavy fire from every window. Fire would be returned without delay.

ARTICLE 22 (1) & (3)

The following conditions shall not be considered as depriving a medical unit or establishment of the protection guaranteed by Article 19 (1) That the personnel of the unit or establishment are armed, and that they use the arms in their own defence, or in that of the wounded and sick in their charge.

(3) That small arms and ammunition taken from the wounded and sick and not yet handed to the proper service, are found in the unit or establishment.

ARTICLE 39
Under the direction of the competent military authority, the emblem shall be displayed on the flags, armlets and on all equipment employed in the Medical Service.

COMMENTARY:
the sign is a virtually constitutive element of protection

As opposed in Art 42, the emblems when used in such manner = the sign is purely indicatory, i.e. it is only
used to designate persons or objects connected with the Red Cross; this does not, and is not intended to, imply the protection of the Convention. Why virtually constitutive element of protection? Because, in the case of: A. Belligerents: there is no obligation on a belligerent to mark his units with the emblem. Sometimes, in frontline positions, a commander will camouflage his medical units in order to conceal the presence or real strength of his forces. But as the enemy can respect a medical unit only if he knows of its presence, respect for the camouflaged unit will be purely theoretical. The unit will be exposed to long-range enemy fire and will thus lose a large part of its security.

B.

Occupation - But in case of occupation, for instance, the enemy, recognizing the medical unit for what it is, must obviously respect it.

it is the military commander who controls the emblem and can give or withhold permission to use it; moreover, he alone, as we shall see, can order a medical unit to be camouflaged. The new wording also shows that the military authority is at all times responsible for the use made of the emblem, must keep a constant check on it, and see that it is not improperly used by the troops or by individuals. Again, the earlier expression could give rise to the false idea that special permission was necessary each time the sign was used, whereas, in actual practice, a general order is usually given once for all. So far as the Medical Service of the armed forces is concerned, the authorization must be largely presumed.

What is essential is that all armed forces should exercise official control over every use of the emblem.

ARTICLE 42
The distinctive flag of the Convention shall be hoisted only over such medical units and establishments as are entitled to be respected under the Convention, and only with the consent of the military authorities.

ARTICLE 44
With the exception of the cases mentioned in the following paragraphs of the present Article, the emblem of the Red Cross on a white ground and the words "Red Cross", or "Geneva Cross" may not be employed, either in time of peace or in time of war, except to indicate or to protect the medical units and establishments, the personnel and material protected by the present Convention and other Conventions dealing with similar matters

INDICATIVE USE: XX emblem of the Convention may be employed in time of peace to identify vehicles used as ambulances and to
mark the position of aid stations exclusively assigned to the purpose of giving free treatment to the wounded or sick.

XX
The following are entitled to protective sign under the Convention: (under the First Geneva Convention) (a) Mobile medical units and fixed medical establishments of the armed forces and of aid societies (Articles 19 & 42 ); (b) Medical units of neutral societies assisting a belligerent (Articles 27 & 43 ) ; (c) Permanent medical personnel and chaplains of the armed forces and of relief societies, including administrative staff (Articles 24 & 26 & 40 ) (d) Medical personnel of neutral societies assisting a belligerent (Articles 27 & 40 ); (e) Auxiliary medical personnel of the armed forces, while on medical duty (wearing the special armlet)(Articles 25 & 41); (f) Medical equipment of the armed forces and of aid societies (Articles 33, 34 & 39); (g) Medical convoys and transport (Articles 35 & 39);

(h) Medical aircraft (Article 36 ).

And the following, under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949: (a) Civilian hospitals (Article 18); (b) Staff of civilian hospitals (Article 20); (c) Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains on land or specially provided vessels at sea, conveying wounded and sick civilians (Article 21); (d) Civilian medical aircraft (Article 22 [ Link ] ).

The following organizations are the only ones entitled to the protection of the emblem:
(a) Medical Service of the armed forces (b) recognized aid societies which assist the Medical Service of the armed forces under the terms of Article 26 (National Red Cross Societies) (c) Societies authorized by the Government to assist the Medical Service (ex. Knights of Malta & the Order of St. John of Jerusalem) (d) Civilian Hospitals (e) Civilian Hospital Staff (f) Civilian Medical Convoys

4th Geneva Convention

Article 44 also provides in part that: xx The National Red Cross Societies and other Societies designated in Article 26 shall have the right to use the distinctive emblem conferring the protection of the Convention only within the framework of the present paragraph. xx

This emphasizes the fact that Red Cross Societies and other recognized societies are entitled to the protective sign only within the limits set out in the paragraph. This means that such societies may employ the ' protective ' sign only for that part of their personnel and material which assists the official Medical Service, is employed exclusively for the same purpose as the latter, and is subject to military laws and regulations -- or, in other words, which forms, for practical purposes, part of the Medical Service. Even then, they can use it only with the consent of the military authority.

4TH GENEVA CONVENTION ARTICLE 21

Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains on land or specially provided vessels on sea, conveying wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected in the same manner as the hospitals provided for in Article 18, and shall be marked, with the consent of the State, by the display of the distinctive emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949. COMMENTARY

The Article is restricted to transport in convoys; medical transport in the form of single vehicles is therefore excluded from its scope. To respect medical convoys means, in the first place, not to attack them, not to harm them in any way, which also means not to interfere with their running. The enemy should avoid interfering with them, but that is not enough; he must also allow them to carry out their work. To protect medical convoys etc. means to ensure that they are respected; it may even involve ensuring that they are respected by a third party. It also means giving them help in case of need. By the terms of this Article protection depends on certain restrictive conditions, but that does not in any way mean that where such conditions are not fulfilled, the means of transport, or the wounded and sick, are deprived of all protection. For example, the wounded and sick in vehicles which are moving singly, are still entitled to immunity and remain protected in theory. However, since a single vehicle is not allowed to display the red cross emblem, it is quite certain that its passengers will not in fact have the same guarantees of safety as those travelling in convoys. In short, Article 21, over and above the individual protection due to every wounded or sick person under Article 16 [ Link ] , confers general protection on medical convoys as such.

In Civilian Medical Convoys:

Use of the sign is only extended to well defined groups of people, forming organized units and subject to some form of discipline. It is therefore essential that there should be constant supervision of the use made of the sign. The greatest care should be taken to ensure that the emblem of a red cross on a white ground should only be displayed while the vehicle is used as medical transport and that it should be removed when the work is at an end.

Protocol 1 Article 12 - Protection of medical units

1. Medical units shall be respected and protected at all times and shall not be the object of attack. 2. Paragraph 1 shall apply to civilian medical units, provided that they: (a) belong to one of the Parties to the conflict; (b) are recognized and authorized by the competent authority of one of the Parties to the conflict; or (c) are authorized in conformity with Article 9, paragraph 2 [ Link ] , of this Protocol or Article 27[ Link ] of the First Convention. 3. The Parties to the conflict are invited to notify each other of the location of their fixed medical units. The absence of such notification shall not exempt any of the Parties from the obligation to comply with the provisions of paragraph 1. 4. Under no circumstances shall medical units be used in an attempt to shield military objectives from attack. Whenever possible, the Parties to the conflict shall ensure that medical units are so sited that attacks against military objectives do not imperil their safety.

Article 13 - Discontinuance of protection of civilian medical units

1. The protection to which civilian medical units are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian function, acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after a warning has been given setting, whenever appropriate, a reasonable time-limit, and after such warning has remained unheeded. COMMENTARY ON PAR. 1 if the medical unit were systematically used for purposes other than medical purposes, even if no acts harmful to the enemy were committed, it would lose its status as a medical unit within the meaning of the Protocol which ' defines ' these units as being ' exclusively ' dedicated to medical purposes. if acts which are harmful to the enemy are ascribed to them, these acts are accidental or sporadic and are not the result of any intention to use these units for military purposes. the definition of ' harmful ' is very broad. It refers not only to direct harm inflicted on the enemy, for example, by firing at him, but also to any attempts at deliberately hindering his military operations in any way whatsoever. 2. The following shall not be considered as acts harmful to the enemy: (a) that the personnel of the unit are equipped with light individual weapons for their own defence or for that of the wounded and sick in their charge; (b) that the unit is guarded by a picket or by sentries or by an escort; (c) that small arms and ammunition taken from the wounded and sick, and not yet handed to the proper service, are found in the units; (d) that members of the armed forces or other combatants are in the unit for medical reasons. COMMENNTARY ON PAR 2 If the medical unit is used to commit acts which are harmful to the enemy, it actually becomes a military objective which can legitimately be attacked, and even destroyed. Before resorting to this extreme action it is of paramount importance that the fate of the legitimate occupants of the medical unit is guaranteed. This is the aim of the warning referred to in the principle laid down here.

ICRC defines acts which are harmful to the enemy as :

Acts the purpose or effect of which is to harm the adverse Party, by facilitating or impeding military operations. Examples of acts which are harmful to the enemy which are provided in the commentaries of Art 21 of the 1 Geneva Convention:
st

1. 2.

the use of a hospital as a shelter for able-bodied combatants or fugitives, as an arms or ammunition dump, or as a military observation post deliberate siting of a medical unit in a position where it would impede an enemy attack

According to the Diplomatic Conference of 1949, acts which are harmful to the enemy are:
1. Those harmful acts committed by the units "outside their humanitarian duties

ARTICLE 21
Medical vehicles shall be respected and protected in the same way as mobile medical units under the Conventions and this Protocol.

COMMENTARY
The improvement created by the Protocol at the humanitarian level concerns civilian medical vehicles proceeding alone. Such single vehicles were not covered by the Conventions. (3) In addition, civilian medical vehicles, like any other form of medical transports, are also permitted to transport medical or religious personnel or medical materials, while Article 21 [ Link ] of the fourth Convention only permitted the transportation of "wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases". (4)

' Respect ' means "to spare, not to attack", while ' protect ' means "to come tosomeone's defence, to lend help and support". Thus it is prohibited to attack the wounded, sick or shipwrecked, to kill them, maltreat them or injure them in any way, and there is also an obligation to come to their rescue. (Commentary on Art 10, Protocol I)

To be entitled to respect and protection civilian medical vehicles must fulfill one of the following conditions: a) they must belong to one of the Parties to the conflict; b) they must be recognized and authorized by the competent authority of one of the Parties to the conflict; or c) they must be authorized in accordance with Article 9 (Field of application), paragraph 2, of this Protocol, or Article 27 of the first Convention.