Summary of Provisions
The treaty is a lengthy document consisting of 63 articles. The most essential provisions of the treaty are:
- Articles 12 and 18 requires all parties to protect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked.
- Article 21 allows appeals to be made to neutral vessels to help collect and care for the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked. The neutral vessels cannot be captured.
- Articles 36 and 37 protect religious and medical personnel serving on a combat ship.
- Article 22 states that hospital ships cannot be used for any military purpose, and owing to their humanitarian mission, they cannot be attacked or captured.
- Article 14 clarifies that although a warship cannot capture a hospital ship's medical staff, it can hold the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked as prisoners of war.
For a detailed discussion of each article of the treaty, see the original text and the commentary. There are currently 194 countries party to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including this second treaty but also including the other three.
Read more about this topic: Second Geneva Convention
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