75 years on, are the Geneva Conventions as good as dead?

Today marks 75 years since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions on August 12, 1949. In theory, these rules of war are universally agreed by every nation. In practice, they are routinely violated everywhere.

With an estimated 120 armed conflicts worldwide, more than 450 armed groups and 195 million people living in areas under their control, the protection of the vulnerable is as vitally important as ever.

As the news headlines remind us daily, however, international humanitarian law can seem like too little, too late when faced with military might and political indifference.

This year also marks other, less hopeful, anniversaries: ten years since the genocide against the Yazidi by ISIS in Syria, and ten years of war in Ukraine. Geopolitical tensions are escalating in the Middle East and the South China Sea.

Given the modern technologies used on today’s battlefields (and in cyberspace), and the violation of even basic humanitarian protections, is there much to celebrate in 2024? Are the Geneva Conventions still fit for purpose for today’s wars – and tomorrow’s?

Humanitarian values

All societies have cultural, religious or legal rules of some kind around war. But in the aftermath of World War II’s extreme horrors, the world agreed to a detailed set of codified rules governing armed conflict.

Despite differing political views and experiences of war, countries agreed to the Geneva Convention rules by striking a balance between military need and humanitarian ideals for the treatment of civilians, captured enemy soldiers and the dead.

The 1949 Conventions remain the core of international humanitarian law, or the laws of armed conflict. This body of law has been expanded over the years by other treaties and protocols dealing