6 Protection of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked
Jann K Kleffner
From: The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law (3rd Edition)
Edited By: Dieter Fleck
- Subject(s):
- Care for the sick and wounded — Armed conflict — Geneva Conventions 1949 — Protected persons and property — Prisoners of war — Treaties, interpretation
1. The protection of the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked during armed conflicts has a long history in various cultures and traditions1 and retains its universal relevance to the present day.2 However, much as in other areas of international humanitarian law in particular, and public international law more generally, the root of the codification in international legal instruments of this universal idea lies in Europe. It was there where a vast number of special agreements, which contained inter alia provisions on the protection of each other’s wounded and the...
