Abhinandan; The warrior in enemy captivity set to free @ Geneva Convention

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was in custody of Pakistan after captured by its forces recently has now set to return India tomorrow. 

Yes...Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has hinted in the  parliament in Pakistan today in this regard.

 Certainly the mounting pressure across the world and it was the Geneva Convention whihc forced Pakistan to give a safe passage to Abhinandan for returning to India. 


Now we must know what is the Geneva Convention which provided a passage to Abhinandan to India. 

The Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of International Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War, convened by the Swiss Federal Council, as trustee of the Geneva Conventions, was held in Geneva from April 21 to August 12, 1949. 

It was an International treaty in which it was discussed the basis of modern international humanitarian law, setting out how soldiers and civilians should be treated during the war. Here are the details behind the formation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

The first meeting of experts was held in October 1945 and comprised the neutral members of the Mixed Medical Commissions which, during the conflict,

After careful editing early in the year, the Draft Conventions were sent by the Committee, in May 1938, to all Governments and National Red Cross Societies, in preparation for the XVIIth International Red Cross Conference.

This Conference sat in Stockholm from August 20 to 31, 1948; the representatives of fifty Governments and fifty-two National Red Cross Societies were present. With some amendments, the drafts were adopted. 

The Geneva Conventions of 1949. Although they were adopted in 1949, to take account of the experiences of the Second World War, the four Geneva Conventions continue to apply to armed conflicts today.

Aprt from these, there were two additional protocols were adopted in 1977, which expanded the rules.Also it was the a third protocol which was agreed in 2005, which recognised an additional emblem, the red crystal. 

First Geneva Convention: 

The traditional “Geneva Convention”, brought into being by the newly created International Committee of the Red Cross in 1864, is the source of the “Geneva

Conventions” which are now universally accepted. 

Second Geneva Convention: 

The 1868 Diplomatic Conference, at Geneva, formulated the first provisions for the adaptation to maritime warfare of the principles of the Geneva Convention. This draft was not ratified, but later became The Hague Convention of 1899, and afterwards the Xth Hague Convention of 1907, which was ratified by forty-seven States and still remains in force. 

Third Geneva Convention: 

The Third Convention contains one hundred and forty-three Articles, besides the Annexes. The corresponding 1929 Convention had ninety-seven

Articles, and the Chapter on prisoners of war in the Hague Convention, only seventeen. This extension is no doubt due, in part, to the fact that, in modern warfare, prisoners are held in very large numbers, but it also interprets the desire of the 1949 Conference, representing all nations, to submit all aspects

of captivity to humane regulation by International Law.  

Fourth Geneva Convention:

The Fourth Convention forms an important contribution to written International Law in the humanitarian domain. Strictly speaking, this Convention introduces nothing new in a field where the doctrine is sufficiently well established. 

It adds no specifically new ideas to International Law on the subject, but aims at ensuring that, even in the midst of hostilities, the dignity of the human person, universally acknowledged in principle, shall be respected.

The original humanitarian legislation represented by the First Geneva Convention of 1864 provided only for combatants, as at that time it was considered evident that civilians would remain outside hostilities. 

The Geneva Conventions are a series of treaties on the treatment of civilians, prisoners of war (POWs) and soldiers who are otherwise rendered or incapable of fighting.

According to media reports, total 196 countries have signed and ratified the 1949 conventions over the years, including many that did not participate or sign until decades later. 

International humanitarian law (IHL) is a set of international laws that establish what can and can't be done in an armed conflict.

It also protects all victims of armed conflicts, including civilians, and combatants who are injured, have been captured or have laid down their arms. 

It ensures all parties to an armed conflict to value and support the war victims on humanitarian grounds whether states or organised non-state armed groups - are bound by International humanitarian law.