DOCSLIB.ORG

Representing Foreign Interests: Rebirth of a Swiss Tradition?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Representing Foreign Interests: Rebirth of a Swiss Tradition? CSS Analysis in Security Policy CSS ETH Zurich No. 108 • February 2012 REPRESENTING FOREIGN INTERESTS: REBIRTH OF A SWISS TRADITION? The importance of Switzerland’s work as a protecting power, once a central element in its repertoire of good offices, has diminished. This general loss of significance contrasts with the great diplomatic relevance of individual mandates. One current example is the reciprocal representation of Russia’s and Georgia’s interests. A general trend reversal is not imminent, though. Switzerland should make use of advantageous opportunities without overestimating the strategic importance of protecting power activities for its foreign policy. Is this traditional instrument of Swiss for- eign policy about to experience a renais- sance? This is not to be expected, despite headlines to the contrary. The number of Swiss protecting power mandates has re- mained at a continuously low level for the past 15 years. The structural factors that brought about the demise of this instru- ment after 1989/91 remain in effect: De- clining demand and the decrease of the in- ter-state wars that necessitate protecting power activities. Nevertheless, this is not to say that Switzerland should not contin- ue to offer its services as a representative of other parties’ interests, provided circum- stances are promising. For such mandates not only benefit the countries in questions, but occasionally are also useful for Swit- Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Livia Leu Agosti successfully lobbied for the release of US citizens Shane Bauer zerland: Mandates as protecting power and Josh Fattal, who were being held in Iran. Tehran, 21 September 2011. REUTERS/Handout can be a starting point for further-reach- ing Swiss peace initiatives. Also, from time On a number of occasions in 2011, Swit- matic ties in the aftermath of their war in to time, this role gives Switzerland access zerland generated positive headlines with the summer of 2008. to the highest levels of power, such as in its activities as a protecting power. One the White House or the Kremlin. outstanding diplomatic success was the Switzerland was also actively involved in mediation between Russia and Georgia. the release of US citizens Shane Bauer The instrument of the Based on Swiss proposals, the remaining and Josh Fattal in 2011. The two had been protecting power stumbling blocks preventing Russia’s WTO arrested after crossing the border to Iran The instrument of engaging a protect- accession were removed. After agreement while hiking on the Iranian-Iraqi border ing power serves to ensure a minimum of had been reached, Russia was admitted in 2009. Because Washington has main- mutual contact between two states that to the organization on 16 December 2011. tained no official diplomatic relations with maintain no diplomatic and/or consu- Switzerland’s mediation efforts contrib- Tehran since the Iranian revolution and lar relations or have broken off relations. uted significantly to this breakthrough. Its the hostage crisis of 1978/79, Switzerland There are two basic types of mandate, the acceptance as a third party rested mainly as the representative of US interests had “Geneva Mandate” and the “Vienna Man- on its function as a protecting power rep- strongly lobbied for their release. The year date”. The “Geneva Mandate” is based on resenting the mutual interests of both 2011 also marked the 50th “anniversary” of international humanitarian law. The pri- Russia and Georgia in the respective coun- the longest mandate of a protecting pow- mary task of the protecting power is to tries. Switzerland had accepted this role er in history: Since 1961, Switzerland has ensure the correct application of the 1949 after the two states had broken off diplo- been representing US interests in Cuba. Geneva Conventions and the appropriate © 2012 Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich 1 CSS Analysis in Security Policy No. 108 • February 2012 ment of its good offices that is of great Legal basis of protecting power engagements historical importance. The roots of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 18 April 1961 Swiss Confederation’s tradition as a pro- Art. 45 tecting power go back to the 19th century. If diplomatic relations are broken off between two States, or if a mission is permanently or However, Switzerland laid the main foun- temporarily recalled: dations of its reputation as a “protecting (a) The receiving State must, even in case of armed conflict, respect and protect the premises power par excellence” in the first half of of the mission, together with its property and archives; (b) The sending State may entrust the custody of the premises of the mission, together with the 20th century. During the First World its property and archives, to a third State acceptable to the receiving State; War, it accepted 36 mandates for repre- (c) The sending State may entrust the protection of its interests and those of its nationals to a senting interests. During the Second World third State acceptable to the receiving State. War, by 1943/44, Switzerland’s activities as Art. 46 a protecting power reached its apex with A sending State may with the prior consent of a receiving State, and at the request of a third 219 mandates for 35 states. After the end State not represented in the receiving State, undertake the temporary protection of the inter- of the Second World War, the number of ests of the third State and of its nationals. mandates rapidly dwindled. Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 24 April 1963 Art. 8 Exercise of consular functions on behalf of a third State During the Cold War, too, representation of Upon appropriate notification to the receiving State, a consular post of the sending State interests was a highly sought after Swiss may, unless the receiving State objects, exercise consular functions in the receiving State on service, even though the number of man- behalf of a third State. dates never again reached the high war- time numbers. Switzerland was by far the treatment of civilians, prisoners of war, provision, it may occasionally result in a country most frequently contacted about and injured persons. It is rare, however, for further-reaching mediation activity by the such mandates because of its experience, a state to serve as protecting power under protecting power, which will have estab- its neutral stance, its extensive network of the Geneva Mandate. This task is usually lished close contacts to both sides. representations, and Switzerland’s inter- taken on by the ICRC. Most contemporary est in signalling availability and demon- discussions of protecting power mandates The representation of interests by a third strating the usefulness of neutrality to a apply to the representation of interests state only takes effect if the governments sceptical environment. However, Switzer- under the “Vienna Mandate”. Such ar- of the protecting power, of the sending land never had a monopoly on the role of rangements refer to the diplomatic and state, and of the receiving state agree to protecting power: Between 1952 and 1991, consular relations between two states and the conferral of the mandate. These man- Sweden served 21 times as representative are based on Articles 45 and 46 of the 1961 dates may be more or less comprehensive, of foreign interests; while Austria took on Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Rela- depending to some extent on whether the the same role six times between 1960 and tions and Article 8 of the 1963 Vienna Con- protecting power also handles the con- 1991. A number of other countries such as vention on Consular Relations (see Box). sular activities of a state or whether an the UK, Czechoslovakia, Poland, or Brazil interest section is established. The precise accepted individual mandates for such ser- As far as the substance of a protecting scope and tasks of the protecting power vices during the Cold War and later. power engagement is concerned, we can are established in an agreement. Defining distinguish between more technical- the mandate and securing the required The high point during the Cold War was humanitarian and more political aspects. consent of all governments may be an ex- the year 1973, when Switzerland held 24 The technical-humanitarian side is mostly tended procedure. Occasionally, de-facto mandates (cf. illustration: Number of Swiss concerned with taking on traditional dip- mandates establish themselves. protecting power mandates, 1950 to 2011). lomatic and consular tasks on behalf of a The numerical development was influ- represented state, such as delivery of mes- In principle, a protecting power is entitled enced by several clearly identifiable events sages, providing care to citizens, protect- to reimbursement of its expenditures by and processes. For instance, the Suez Crisis ing the property of a represented state, the sending state. However, if the consular of 1956, the Cuban Revolution of 1956/60 handling passport and visa issues, and ex- work is handled by interest sections of the (with some delay), the Six-Day War of ecuting civil registry functions. In practice, sending states, the financial expenditures 1967, and the October War of 1973 brought consular tasks are today often handled by and personnel requirements of the protect- about a clear increase of interest represen- the “interest sections” of the represented ing power are usually limited. This is why tations. At the beginning of the 1980s, an- states. For example, as part of Switzer- Switzerland, for example, to some extent other increase resulted in particular from land’s mandate for the US in Cuba, a US waives its right to be reimbursed for its the Iran-Iraq War and the Falklands War. interests section attached to the Swiss mandates, for instance in the mutual repre- embassy has been handling the demand- sentation of interests of the US and Cuba or After the end of the Cold War, the instru- ing consular work since 1977.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Protecting Power
    Protecting Power drishtiias.com/printpdf/protecting-power Why in News? An American drone has killed Iranian military and intelligence commander Major General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad (capital of Iraq). The Iranian government has registered its protest against the killing with the Embassy of Switzerland in Tehran. Switzerland represents the interests of the US in Iran (capital of Iran). This is because the US itself does not have an embassy there. In an arrangement such as this, Switzerland is the “Protecting Power” of the United States’ interests in Iran. Iran’s interests in the United States, on the other hand, are represented by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington. How is the Above Arrangement Possible? The instrument of Protecting Powers is provided for under the 1961 and 1963 Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations. The 1961 Vienna Convention states that if diplomatic relations are broken off between two States, or if a mission is permanently or temporarily recalled, the sending State may entrust the protection of its interests and those of its nationals to a third State acceptable to the receiving State. E.g.: In this case, where Switzerland is the “Protecting Power” of the United States’ interests in Iran, sending state would be US, third state would be Switzerland; and receiving state would be Iran. The 1963 Convention reiterates that a sending State may with the prior consent of the receiving State, and at the request of a third State not represented in the receiving State, undertake the temporary protection of the interests of the third State and of its nationals.” The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 provides a complete framework for the establishment, maintenance and termination of diplomatic relations on the basis of consent between independent sovereign States.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs
    The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project ARTHUR L. LOWRIE Interviewed by: Patricia Lessard and Theodore Lowrie Initial interview date: December 23, 1989 Co yright 1998 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background arly interest in Foreign Service Army service in Korean War Foreign Service exam Aleppo, Syria 1957-1959 Vice Consul ,oy Atherton as Consul -eneral Formation of .nited Arab ,epublic 0asser1s crackdo2n on communism Beirut 1931 Arabic language training Situation in 4iddle ast Khartoum 1932-1934 Political Officer Arabi7ation in the Sudan Declared P0- shortly before Abboud overthro2 Tunis 1934-1937 Political89abor Officer Ambassador ,ussell Impression of labor movement in Tunisia Assignment to Armed Forces Staff College I0,8Algerian Desk 1938-1972 Analy7ing the Sudanese guerilla force Algerian natural gas contract Dealing 2ith corporate America Baghdad 1972-1975 1 Chargé d1Affaires ,eopening the .S post in Baghdad Assessment of Belgian representation 0ationali7ation of Iraq Petroleum Company Kurdish struggle against government Improvement in ..S.-Iraqi relations Impression of Saddam Hussein Police state atmosphere in Iraq 0 A Chief of 4ission meeting Commercial relations 2ith Iraq Cairo 1975-1978 Political Counselor Sadat1s November 1977 trip to Jerusalem Briefing Israeli diplomats Impression of Sadat .nited Nations 1978-1979 4iddle ast Officer Camp David Accords Problems 2ith negotiations ..S. 4ission to uropean Communities 1979-1983 0ATO Defense College Differences bet2een urope and 4iddle ast posts PO9AD to Central Command 1983-1983 Working 2ith military Development of the ,apid Deployment Joint Task Force Difficulty gaining 4iddle ast cooperation Problem of support for Israel Conclusion -reatest achievement8disappointment ,easons for retiring INTERVIEW $: Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Foreign Missions Act 22 U.S.C. 4301-4316
    Foreign Missions Act 22 U.S.C. 4301-4316 a PREFACE The office of Foreign Missions was created by the 1982 Foreign Missions Act. Its mission has evolved into four major areas: • Employment of reciprocity to ensure equitable treatment for United States diplomatic and consular missions abroad and their personnel • Regulation of the activities of foreign missions in the United States in a manner that will pro- tect the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States; • Protection of the United States public from abuses of privileges and immunities by members of the foreign missions; and • Provision of service and assistance to the foreign mission community in the United States to assure appropriate privileges, benefits, and services on a reciprocal basis. Office of Foreign Missions regional offices are located in: – New York – Chicago – San Francisco – Los Angeles – Honolulu – Miami The material that follows was reprinted from the United States Code Annotated or Westlaw with per- mission of West Group. TABLE OF CONTENTS • § 4301. CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF FINDINGS AND POLICY. 1 o (a) Findings. o (b) Policy. o (c) Treatment of foreign missions in United States. • § 4302. DEFINITIONS. 2 • § 4303. AUTHORITIES OF SECRETARY OF STATE. 5 • § 4304. PROVISION OF BENEFITS. 7 o (a) Request by foreign mission; terms and conditions as approved by Secretary. o (b) Benefits through Secretary as mandatory; compliance with terms and conditions. o (c) Surcharge or fee; waiver of recourse. o (d) Agent for waiver of recourse. o (e) Secret Service protection. o (f) In-kind exchange of properties with foreign government; transfer of funds; reciprocal agreement; regulations.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs
    The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project ARNOLD DENYS Interviewed by: Self Copyright 1998 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements A out the Author Note to the Reader Preface A Crisis in the Life of a Foreign Service Officer My Beginnings (S Citi)enship Return to Civilian Life Panama Assignment Crisis in Panama London Egypt Athens Mexico Canada ,ashington, DC Antwerp ,ashington to Tijuana Tijuana Tijuana to Retirement Conclusion DIARY Son of Flanders The Making of a Consul. Diary of an American Foreign Service Officer In Memory of Emiel Denys 01103411767 8odelieve Maria Denys 01101411117 AC9NO,LED8MENTS 1 I feel deep gratitude to my late parents for their encouragement to write this memoir. The late Mrs. 9atherine McCook 9nox, an art historian from ,ashington, DC, was in great part responsi le for my efforts in compiling letters and notes on the American Foreign Service. My thanks also go to Rhoda Riddell, Ph.D., a writer and teacher, who transcri ed and edited my handwritten account, which was taken from my diary. I also wish to thank Art Drexler, who completed the editing and prepared the book for printing. I wish also to thank the following persons, whom I have known in the long course of my foreign service career, and who have meant so much to me both personally and professionally, and deserve special acknowledgment. Consul 8eneral John D. Barfield Vice Consul 0Ret.7 Frank J. Barrett Miguel Angel 8arcia Charles Stuart 9ennedy, Director of the Association for Diplomatic Studies, who inspired me with his work on the Foreign Affairs Oral History Program.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuba Policy Reform CSIS Americas Program and Center for International Policy December 2, 2014
    Getting to Normal: A Legal Pathway for U.S. – Cuba Policy Reform CSIS Americas Program and Center for International Policy December 2, 2014 Presidential Power to Normalize Relations: Protection of New U.S. Investment Mark B. Feldman Robert has asked me to consider what steps a willing President might take to normalize relations with Cuba on his own authority under the Constitution and existing law without further measures by Congress. As a teacher of U.S. foreign relations law, I know this to be a complex question and a fluid one. Congress and the Executive have been debating the scope of Presidential power in foreign affairs since the first days of the Republic when Hamilton and Madison argued over the legality of Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation in 1793. While the Congress has important enumerated powers, including control of appropriations, foreign commerce and the power to declare war, as John Marshall famously said, “The President is the sole organ of the nation in its external relations, and its sole representative with foreign nations.”i In modern times, as the United States became a world power, the President has become the dominant force in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy, and has frequently made critical decisions on his own authority as Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief. To cite just a few examples, the Yalta and Potsdam agreements that reshaped Europe after World War II, the Korean Armistice Agreement, and dozens of instances dating back to Commodore Perry when the President has engaged U.S. forces abroad without prior Congressional authorization.
    [Show full text]
  • Protecting Power Timor-Leste of Japan Empire
    24 September 2019 Taihoku, Formosa (Taipei, Taiwan) To: President S.E Dr. Francisco Guterres Lú Olo The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste From: Mr. Selig S.N. Tsai The Plenipotentiary Prime Minister The Government of the Japan Empire; President of the Red Cross of Japan Empire (United Nations’ NGO Rescue Committee for the people of Japan Empire; RCJE) Address: No.263, Sec. 6, Yanping N. Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei City 111, Taiwan Email Address: [email protected], [email protected] Website: http://www.RCJE.org Dear Mr. President, On behalf of the Government of the Empire of Japan (JPE ), I pray with the utmost respect and sincerity to your country, and congratulate your ascension to the highest esteem office in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, at the same time I designate the JPE Government’s Minister of Foreign Affairs – Dr. Shih Po Liu as our foreign representative to your country in advising matter on how to be a Protecting Power. With regards to your history, we understand that your country too had suffered oppression from the colonial past; however, our people are still under the imperialism and genocide from the USA and its dispatched Chiang Kai-shek armed group (Republic of China, ROC). Under such grave situation, we at the JPE Government and the Red Cross of Japan Empire (RCJE) would like to request Mr. President to protect our people’s human rights by becoming our Protecting Power which is allowed by the international humanitarian law as stated in the Fourth Geneva Convention. We request Mr. President to execute this law in our occupied territories in Formosa (Taiwan) and the Pescadores Islands (Penghu), until such a time the sovereign right of the Japan Empire is fully restored.
    [Show full text]
  • ABC of Diplomacy (Out of Print, Available in PDF Format)
    ABC of Diplomacy ABC of Diplomacy Contents Introduction 3 Glossary 6 Publisher Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) 3003 Bern www.eda.admin.ch Design Swiss Federal Chancellery / Peter Auchli Print Cavelti AG, Gossau Orders FDFA Information Tel. 03 3 3 53 E-mail: [email protected] Contact FDFA, Directorate of International Law Tel. 03 3 30 8 E-Mail: [email protected] This publication is also available in German, French and Italian. Bern, 008 ABC of Diplomacy Introduction Diplomacy is the means by which States throughout the world conduct their affairs in ways to ensure peaceful relations. The main task of indi- vidual diplomatic services is to safeguard the interests of their respec- tive countries abroad. This concerns as much the promotion of political, economic, cultural or scientific relations as it does international commit- ment to defend human rights or the peaceful settlement of disputes. Diplomacy takes place in both bilateral and multilateral contexts. Bilat- eral diplomacy is the term used for communication between two States, while multilateral diplomacy involves contacts between several States often within the institutionalised setting of an international organisation. Negotiation is the one of most important means of conducting diplo- macy, and in many cases results in the conclusion of treaties between States and the codification of international law. The aim of such interna- tional treaties is primarily to strike a balance between State interests. Diplomacy has existed since the time when States, empires or other centres of power dealt with each other on an official basis. Numer- ous diplomatic archives have been found in Egypt dating back to the 3th century BC.
    [Show full text]
  • The English School on Diplomacy
    DISCUSSION PAPERS IN DIPLOMACY The English School on Diplomacy Iver B. Neumann Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ ISSN 1569-2981 DISCUSSION PAPERS IN DIPLOMACY Editor: Spencer Mawby, University of Leicester Managing Editor: Jan Melissen, Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ Desk top publishing: Birgit Leiteritz Editorial Board Karin Aggestam, Lund University Geoff Berridge, University of Leicester Erik Goldstein, Boston University Donna Lee, University of Nottingham Paul Sharp, University of Minnesota, Duluth ABSTRACT Dominant schools of International Relations theorising such as neo-realism and neo- liberalism have bracketed the study of diplomacy in favour of abstract studies of the states system and the functioning of specific institutions such as the UN. Among the discipline’s research programmes, the English School specifically lists diplomacy as one of five broad institutions which constitute its chosen subject matter. This Discussion Paper details the School’s findings and concludes that interest in the subject appears to be declining. Two fairly recent studies by Der Derian and Reus- Smit, which are written at the margins of the school, seem to point the way forward by crossing key School insights and historical findings with more overriding general concerns in the social sciences. Diplomacy should be studied concretely, as a specific practice which is carried out by human beings acting inside a web of historically emergent norms and organisations. Inasmuch as these norms and organisations seem to be changing, so does diplomacy. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Iver B. Neumann, D.Phil. ([email protected]) is on leave from his job as research professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs to work as a policy planner in the Norwegian Ministry of International Affairs.
    [Show full text]
  • Security in a Small Nation Scotland, Democracy, Politics
    Security in a Small Nation Scotland, Democracy, Politics EDITED BY ANDREW W. NEAL To access digital resources including: blog posts videos online appendices and to purchase copies of this book in: hardback paperback ebook editions Go to: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/524 Open Book Publishers is a non-profit independent initiative. We rely on sales and donations to continue publishing high-quality academic works. Security in a Small Nation Scotland, Democracy, Politics Edited by Andrew W. Neal Centre for Security Research University of Edinburgh https://www.openbookpublishers.com © 2017 Andrew W. Neal. Copyright of each chapter is maintained by the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work; to adapt the work and to make commercial use of the work providing attribution is made to the authors (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information: Andrew W. Neal (ed.), Security in a Small Nation: Scotland, Democracy, Politics. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2017. https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0078 In order to access detailed and updated information on the license, please visit https:// www.openbookpublishers.com/product/524#copyright Further details about CC BY licenses are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/ All external links were active at the time of publication unless otherwise stated and have been archived via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine at https://archive.org/web Digital material and resources associated with this volume are available at https://www.
    [Show full text]
  • Exchange of Notes
    Treaty Series No. 50 (2012) Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden concerning the Assumption of Responsibility for the Protection of the Diplomatic and Consular Interests of the United Kingdom Government in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden Stockholm, 11 July 2012 [The Exchange of Notes entered into force on 11 July 2012] Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by Command of Her Majesty December 2012 Cm 8510 £6.25 © Crown copyright 2012 You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or e-mail: [email protected]. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Treaty Section, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH This publication is also available on http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/ ISBN: 9780101851022 Printed in the UK by The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID P002528177 12/12 25326 19585 Printed on paper containing 30% recycled fibre content minimum. EXCHANGE OF NOTES BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN CONCERNING THE ASSUMPTION OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR INTERESTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM GOVERNMENT IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN No.
    [Show full text]
  • Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949
    THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 12 AUGUST 1949 CO-MMENTARY published under the general editorship of Jean S. PICTET Doctor of Laws Director for General Affairs of the International Committee of the Red Cross GENEVA CONVENTION FOR THE AMELIORATION OF THE CONDITION OF WOUNDED, SICK AND SHIPWRECKED MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES AT SEA Inter + ama caritas GENEVA INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS 1960 COMMENTARY published under the general editorship of Jean S. PICTET Doctor of Laws Director for General Affairs of the International Committee of the Red Cross GENEVA CONVENTION FOR THE AMELIORAT~ONOF THE CONDITION OF WOUNDED, SICK AND SHIPWRECKED MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES AT SEA by Jean S. PICTET Doctor of Laws with the co-operation of Rear-Admiral Mi W. MOUTON Doctor of Laws and FrBdBric SIORDET Claude PILLOUD Advocate Advocate Vim-President of the ICRC Assistant Director for General Affairs of the ICRC Jean-Pierre SCHOENHOLZER RenB- Jean WILHELM Member of the Legal Department Member of the Legal Department of the ICRC of the ICRC Oscar M. UHLER Doctor of Laws Former Member of the Legal Department of the ICRC Translated into English from the original French by A. P. de HENEY GENEVA INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS 1960 CONTENTS Page FOREWORD........................ 1 INTRODUCTION...................... 3 1. The " Maritime Convention " : its origin and progressive development ...................... 2. Revision of the Geneva Conventions ........... TITLEOF THE CONVENTION................ PREAMBLE........................ CHAPTERI GENERAL PROVISIONS ARTICLE1. -Respect for the Convention ........... ARTICLE2. -Apfilication of the Convention .......... Paragraph 1. - Armed conflicts involving the application of the Convention ................... Paragraph 2. -Occupied territories ........... Paragraph 3. - Conflicts in which the belligerents are not all parties to the Convention ..............
    [Show full text]
  • H E a L Î H Organisation Mondiale
    W O R L D H E A L Î H ORGANISATION MONDIALE IRGA N ZAT I ON DE LА SANTÉ ELEVENTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY All /AFL /5 28 April l58 Provisional agenda item 7.12 ORI•INAL: FRENFH CONSIDERATION OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ACTION BEING TAKEN UNСER THE AEGIS OF WHO FOR THE CONTROL OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949 COMPARADLE WITH THE ACTION UNESCO HAS AGRERn TO TAKE CONCERNING CULTURAL ASSES (ITEM PROPOSED BY MONACO) Memorandum submitted by the Government of the Principality of Monaco It is in its capacity as the directing and co- ordinating authority on inter - natiгΡsnal health work that the World Health Organization has been asked by the Government of the Principality of Monaco to consider a proposal relating to the supervision of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The proposal suggests that a study be made of action which might be taken, under the auspices of WHO, for the supervision of the application of the Conventions in question - on the same lines as that undertaken by UNESCO in relation to the protection of cultural property. It should be noted that the Geneva Conventions all contain the following 1 provisions: "The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree to entrust to an organization which offers all guarantees of impartiality and efficacy the duties incumbent on the Protecting Powers by virtue of the present Convention." Adoption of the four Conventions was followed by that of Resolution No. 2 which reads: "The Conference recommends that consideration be given as soon as possible to the advisability of setting up an international body, its functions to be, in the absence cf a Protecting Power, to fulfil the duties performed by Protecting Powers in regard to the appl'.- onof the Conventions for the protection of victims of war." 1 See Annex I 2 Since 1949 the Geneva Conventions have officially /j°L.
    [Show full text]