Protection of medical personnel, hospitals, ambulances, etc.

, and cultural
property

Introduction {SAME AS 2.1}

What are Geneva Conventions ? {SAME AS 2.1}

The Four Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols -

Protection of medical personnel, hospitals, ambulances, etc.

Who is Medical Personnel ?

According to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols,
“medical personnel” are persons assigned exclusively to medical duties, whether
such assignments are permanent or temporary.

The term also designates the persons assigned to medical units, which are
structures such as hospitals and other similar units dedicated to the aforementioned
medical purposes. It also covers the military and civilian medical personnel of a party
to a conflict, the medical personnel of international relief organisations, and the one
of civil defence organisations.

In times of conflict, humanitarian law establishes a multitude of provisions aimed at

protecting members of medical personnel in the exercise of their functions:
Protection of Medical personnel
● Protecting and respecting
● Provision of care
● Impartial care
● Medical ethics

Protecting and respecting

Personnel engaging in medical tasks must always be respected and protected,
unless they commit, outside of their humanitarian function, acts that are harmful to
the enemy. When they carry and use weapons to defend themselves or to protect
the wounded and sick in their charge, medical personnel do not lose the protection to
which they are entitled to. The wounded and sick under their care remain protected
even if the medical personnel themselves lose their protection.

Provision of care
Parties to an armed conflict may not break the provision of care by preventing the
passage of medical personnel. They must facilitate access to the wounded and sick,
and provide the necessary assistance and protection to medical personnel.

Impartial care
Medical personnel may not be punished for providing impartial care.

Medical ethics
Some medical professionals, such as physicians, have certain ethical duties to fulfil.
These duties are protected by various provisions of IHL. Parties to an armed conflict
should not compel medical professionals to carry out activities that are contrary to
medical ethics or prevent them from fulfilling their ethical duties. Further, parties
should not prosecute medical professionals for acting in accordance with medical
ethics.

Medical professionals must protect the confidentiality of information obtained in

connection with the treatment of patients: this is one of the most important principles
of medical ethics.

Under Protocols I and II of the Geneva Conventions, persons engaged in medical

activities may not, unless required to do so by law, be compelled to give information
concerning the wounded and sick who are or have been under their care either to
their own party or to an adverse party, if this information would prove harmful to the
patients or their families.
Protection of Medical Units and transports
Medical units
Medical units, such as hospitals and other facilities that have been set up for medical
purposes, must be respected and protected in all circumstances. Medical units may
not be attacked and access to them may not be limited. Parties to an armed conflict
must take measures to protect medical units from attacks, such as ensuring that they
are not situated in the area of military objectives.

Medical units will lose the protection to which they are entitled if they are used,
outside their humanitarian function, to commit acts harmful to the enemy, such as
sheltering able-bodied combatants or storing arms and ammunition. However, this
protection can be withdrawn only after due warning has been given with a
reasonable time limit and only after that warning has gone unheeded.

Medical transports
Any means of transportation that is assigned exclusively to the conveyance of the
wounded and sick, medical personnel and/or medical equipment or supplies must be
respected and protected in the same way as medical units. If medical transports fall
into the hands of an adverse party, that party becomes responsible for ensuring that
the wounded and sick in their charge are cared for.

Protection of Cultural Property

Meaning of Cultural Property

The term ‘cultural property’ refers to any movable or immovable property dedicated
to
● religion,
● art,
● science,
● education or charitable purposes,
● or to historic monuments.

Property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people – such as

architectural or historic monuments, archaeological sites,works of art, books or any
building whose main and effective purpose is to contain cultural property, and
centres containing a large amount of cultural property

Protection of cultur property-

The protection of cultural property during armed conflict is based on the principle that
damage to the cultural property of any people means, "damage to the cultural
heritage of all mankind".
Legal basis
The legal basis for providing special protection for cultural property is found in
● the 1907 Hague Regulations
● the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols
● and in the Additional Protocols of 1977.

The obligation to respect and protect cultural property also exists in customary law
governing both international and non-international armed conflict.

In the obligation to respect and protect cultural property:

Respect --means that special care must be taken in military operations to avoid
damage to cultural property, unless they are turned into military objectives;

Protect-- means that all seizure of or destruction or willful damage done to cultural
property is prohibited.

Cultural property is protected during war in two ways.

● General Protection
● Special Protection

General Protection- Because it is normally civilian in nature, the general provisions

of humanitarian law protecting civilian property apply.

Special Protection- Specific protection recognizing the cultural heritage given in

the 1954 Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property during armed
conflict will apply.
They are as follows-.

● Under the 1954 Hague Convention, each State must act to safeguard its own
cultural property against armed attack. This can be done, for example, by
moving such property away from potential or actual military action, or in the
case of historical sites, by avoiding placing military objectives near to them.

● Parties to an armed conflict are not allowed to direct hostilities against cultural
property and must avoid incidental damage to such property. Using cultural
property for military purposes is prohibited.

● The Hague Convention does, however, recognize situations where an attack

on cultural property may be lawful, namely if such property has been turned
into a military objective and an attack would be required by "imperative
military necessity".
 ● Occupying powers must protect cultural property under their control from theft,
pillage or misappropriation. If cultural property is removed from occupied
territory for its own protection, it must be returned at the end of hostilities.

● Responding to events during World War II, international law also prohibits the
destruction of cultural property as a means of intimidating people under
occupation or as a reprisal.

Conclusion
To conclude, we can say that Armed conflict is a situation where a person’s life is completely
changed. Their legal, as well as human rights, are violated to a great extent. Still at that time,
medical personnels do not fail to perform their duties. So, Their protection in Humanitarian
Law's major concern and therefore, we have specific provisions for their protection and also
protection of our cultural properties because cultural property of a country is its heritage that
needs to be protected at any cost.