Overview

In 1859, Henry Dunant, a Swiss citizen, witnessed the horrific aftermath of the Battle of Solferino, in which thousands of wounded soldiers lay abandoned, dying in excruciating pain. Four years later, in 1863, he convened an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to form a medical relief organization for assisting the wounded during wartime and protecting medical relief personnel. This was the first Geneva Convention and the birth of the International Red Cross. Since then, after major global conflicts in which the nature and conduct of wars have evolved, there have been three additonal Geneva Conventions. The latest was held in 1949 just after the end of World War II. Taken together, the Conventions set the standards for international law and humanitarian concerns regarding the treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war. Nearly 200 nations, virtually every state in the world, have signed and accepted these as the code of conduct. Until now, the Conventions have only been available to the public online, with no published book on the market. With an introduction by Gary Solis, and explanatory notes and annotations throughout, this edition will be an essential guide for anyone interested in the conduct of wars as well as the many controversies swirling around Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharaib.

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9781607145547

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Gary Solis is an adjunct Professor of Law at both Georgetown University Law Center and the United States Military Academy, and is on the teaching faculty of The International Institute of Humanitarian Law, in Sanremo Italy. He teaches the law of war. He was a 2006-2008 Library of Congress Scholar in Residence. He has been a law of war expert witness in general courts-martial, and in civilian Guantanamo Bay-related habeas corpus hearings, and often provides expert commentary for the media. He is a retired U.S. Marine with twenty-six years active duty, having twice served in Vietnam, twice as a company commander. After Vietnam service he attended law school at the University of California at Davis, from where he is a Distinguished Graduate. Returning to active duty, he was a Marine judge advocate, then a court-martial judge. His Master of Laws degree (in criminal law) is from George Washington University School of Law. After military retirement, he earned a Ph.D. (law of war) from the London School of Economics & Political Science, then taught in The LSE's Law Department for three years, before moving to the United States Military Academy in 1996. He directed West Point's law of war program for six years and retired as a USMA professor of law in 2006. He was awarded the 2006 Apgar Award as West Point's outstanding professor. His books are Marines and Military Law in Vietnam, and Son Thang: An American War Crime, and a law of war textbook to be published by Cambridge University Press. He has published numerous law of war-related articles in American and international law journals. Karen Barrett, JD, is the managing editor of I*CON, the International Journal of Constitutional Law. She served for eleven years as a public information officer with the United Nations, working extensively with the various human rights bodies of the UN.

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