UPDATED COMMENTARY ON THE THIRD GENEVA CONVENTION OF 1949 NEW FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS In 2011, the International Committee The treaty also contains the articles com- of the Red Cross (ICRC) and a team of mon to all the Conventions, setting out the renowned experts embarked on a major obligation to respect and ensure respect for project: updating the Commentaries on the Conventions and defining minimum the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their rules applicable in non-international Additional Protocols of 1977, which date armed conflicts. In addition, it requires back to the 1950s and 1980s respectively. States to establish universal jurisdiction Since then, the Geneva Conventions and over grave breaches and to suppress all Protocols have been put to the test, and other violations of the Convention. there have been significant developments in how they are applied and interpreted This updated Commentary takes into in practice. The new Commentaries seek account developments in law and practice to document these developments and over the past six decades gleaned from provide up-to-date interpretations. State practice, case law, legal writings and the ICRC archives. It has undergone This third volume is an article-by- an extensive peer review by practitioners article commentary on the Third Geneva and academics from around the world. Convention, which is a foundational text It is an essential resource for anyone for international humanitarian law (IHL). dealing with IHL. It contains rules for the protection of pris- oners of war who fall into enemy hands All six volumes of the updated Commen- during an international armed conflict. taries will be published electronically and The Third Convention requires humane in print in the coming years and will be treatment of prisoners of war, includ- translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, ing respect for their person and honour. Russian and Spanish. The new Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention can be consulted online at: www.icrc.org/ihl It is forthcoming in simultaneous hardback, paperback, and eBook formats from Cambridge University Press in autumn 2020: www.cambridge.org/academic/ subjects/law Cover photo: G. Bassignac/Getty Images 1000 International Committee of the Red Cross 19, avenue de la Paix 11.2019 1202 Geneva, Switzerland facebook.com/icrc T +41 22 734 60 01 shop.icrc.org twitter.com/icrc © ICRC, November 2019 instagram.com/icrc 4434/002.