4.

4 How are the wounded and sick protected?

How are wounded and sick protected? Under Geneva Convention I and Additional Protocol I,
wounded and sick people benefit from passive and active protection. Let’s analyse these two types
of protection separately.
Passive protection mainly refers to the obligation to respect. According to Article 12(1) of Geneva
Convention I, wounded and sick ‘shall be respected and protected in all circumstances’. The
obligation to respect entails that ‘(t)hey shall be treated humanely and cared for (…) without any
adverse distinction founded on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar
criteria’. Moreover, pursuant to Article 12(2), ‘(a)ny attempts upon their lives, or violence to their
persons, shall be strictly prohibited’. In other words, the obligation to respect imposes on the
belligerents to abstain from engaging any hostile acts or violence against the wounded and sick. In
turn, these persons must, by definition, refrain from any acts of hostility.
The notion of active protection encompasses the obligation to care, to protect, to search for, to
record and to forward information, to collect and to evacuate. As we have just seen, beyond
passive protection, Article 12(1) of Geneva Convention I also imposes on the belligerents an active
duty to ensure protection to wounded and sick, by taking all appropriate measures to protect
these persons against any hostile acts or harms posed by the hostilities. This active duty is further
specified by four obligations: (i) the obligation to care for the wounded and sick; (ii) the obligation
to search for them and collect them; (iii) the obligation to record and forward information on their
identity; and (iv) the obligation to evacuate them. Lets briefly review these obligations.

• Obligation to care. This obligation – which is enshrined in Article 12(2) of Geneva

Convention I – includes a wide range of activities which may vary upon the needs of the
person concerned, for instance, medical treatment, diagnosis, vaccination, transferal to
hospitals, provision of water, food, shelter, clothing or hygiene. It is interesting to note in
this regard that, although any discrimination is strictly prohibited under Article 12(1),
according to Article 12(3), ‘urgent medical reasons will authorize priority in the order of
treatment to be administered’. Article 10(2) of Additional Protocol I also recalls that ‘(t)here
shall be no distinction among (wounded and sick) founded on any grounds other than
medical one’. The nature and the extent of the obligation of care will vary in functions of the
capacities of the belligerents – for instance, the means and personal available in combat
zones where wounded and sick are located – and the concrete situation on the battlefield.
Article 10(2) of Additional Protocol I takes these factors into account when recognizing that
wounded and sick ‘shall receive, to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible
delay, the medical care and attention required by their conditions’.







• Obligation to search for and collect. This obligation – enshrined in Article 15 of Geneva
Convention I – entails that ‘(a)tall times, and particularly after an engagement, Parties to the
conflict shall, without delay, take all possible measures to search for and collect the
wounded and sick (…) and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled’. As
noted by the Pictet Commentary, ‘the obligation to act without delay is strict; but the action
to be taken is limited to what is possible’. Therefore, as is the case with the obligation to
care, the obligation to search for and collect is an obligation of means whose execution will
vary in function of the aptitudes of the belligerents and the situation on the ground.
• Obligation to record and transmit information. This obligation – which is enshrined in Article
16(1) and (2) of Geneva Convention I – obliges the belligerents to ‘record as soon as
possible, in respect of each wounded, sick and dead person of the adverse Party falling into
their hands, any particulars which may assist his identification. These records should if
possible include: (a) designation of the Power on which he depends; (b) army, regimental,
personal or serial number; (c) surname; (d) first name or names; (e) date of birth; (f) any
other particulars shown in his identity card or disc; (g) date and place of capture or death;
(h) particulars concerning wounds or illness, or cause of death’. According to Article 16(3),
this information shall be forwarded as soon as possible to the National Information Bureau
that must be established in every country to receive and transmit information related to the
dead, the wounded and sick, POWs and internees. I invite you to read in this regard Articles
122 and 123 of Geneva Convention III and Article 137 of Geneva Convention IV.
• Obligation to evacuate. Article 19 of Geneva Convention III imposes a general obligation on
belligerents to evacuate all POWs ‘(…) as soon as possible after their capture, to camps
situated in an area far enough from the combat zone for them to be out of danger.’ If POWs
cannot be evacuated because of wounds and sickness, they can be temporarily kept back in
a danger zone. However, they must not unnecessarily be exposed to danger. Article 20 of
Geneva Convention III sets up the conditions under which evacuation should take place.
These conditions must be similar to those of the forces of the Detaining Power in their
changes of station. Moreover, POWs must be provided with sufficient food and water and
with the necessary clothing and medical attention. A list of POWs who are evacuated must
be established as soon as possible.