Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Commentary
Chapter II : Wounded and sick
[p.150] ARTICLE 15 -- SEARCH FOR CASUALTIES. EVACUATION
With Article 15 the Convention quits the terrain of general principles, and enters the new domain of
practical realization. Having proclaimed the inviolability of the wounded and sick, having defined who they are and given them a legal status, the Convention now proceeds to lay down the actual steps to be taken for their benefit from the moment they fall on the battlefield.
In this connection Articles 15, 16 and 17 may be said to form a single unit, covering as they do the search for casualties and for the dead, their removal, and the recording and forwarding of information about them. The 1929 Convention had already attempted, for the sake of clarity, to draw a distinction between these different stages by dealing first with the operations taking place at the front, and then with those in the rear where it is possible to have recourse to installations of a more permanent character. The 1949 Convention maintained this distinction, and at the same time dealt more fully with the whole subject, adding a considerable number of useful details.
Article 15 applies exclusively to operations which take place at the front -- namely, the search for the wounded and dead and arrangements for their protection and evacuation and the possible exchange of the wounded.
PARAGRAPH 1 -- SEARCH, PROTECTION AND FIRST AID
The wounded and dead lying out on a field of battle or between the [p.151] lines must all be searched for, collected and protected, and the wounded must receive attention. That is a bounden duty, which must be fulfilled
as soon as circumstances permit.
A. ' Extent of the obligation. ' -- The 1929 Convention made the obligation applicable only "after each engagement", and imposed it only on "the occupant of the field of battle", whereas henceforward both belligerents are required to comply, or to attempt to comply, with it ' at all times. ' The paragraph actually begins with the words: "At all times, and particularly after an engagement...".
This wording is adapted to the conditions of modern war, in which hostilities are more continuous in character than they were in the past. The effect is to increase the obligations of the belligerents in respect of the wounded. Indirectly
the task of the medical personnel may be rendered more arduous, and also more dangerous.
But there are times when military operations will make the obligation to search for the fallen impracticable. There will be cases which exceed the limits of what the medical personnel can be expected to do, however great their courage and devotion. It was not possible, therefore, to make the obligation absolute. It was accordingly provided that "Parties to the conflict shall, without delay, take all possible measures..." The obligation to act without delay is strict;
but the action to be taken is limited to what is possible, and it is left to the military command to judge what is possible, and to decide to what extent it can commit its medical personnel.
B. ' Search. ' --
The search for the fallen combatants and their collection may present different aspects according to circumstances. The commonest and the most important case will be that of enemy troops retiring in the face of an attack. The occupant of the battlefield must then, without delay, make a thorough search of the captured ground so as to pick up all the victims.
The dead must also be looked for and brought back behind the lines with as much care as the wounded. It is not always certain that death has taken place. It is, moreover, essential that the dead bodies should be identified and given a decent burial. When a man has been hit with such violence that there is nothing left of him but scattered remains, these must be carefully collected.
In all these different operations it is the undoubted duty of the combatants [p.152] themselves to give the medical personnel all possible assistance.
When picking up the wounded and dead, care should be taken to collect all their belongings (which may be scattered about); for such objects may inter alia be of assistance in establishing their identity (1).
C. ' Protection. ' -- It will not always be possible to evacuate the wounded at once, and it will be necessary to protect them in the meantime against pillage and ill-treatment, and also to prevent despoiling of the dead.
The purpose of this paragraph was not to assert the principle of the respect and protection of the wounded. That had already been done by Article 12 . But provision had to be made for the effective application of the principle. Pillage of the dead had also to be prohibited (2). In other words, the wounded and the dead must be guarded and, if necessary, defended against all parties, whether military or civilian, who may seek to lay hands on them. Combatants, like medical personnel, are called upon to prevent this, going, if necessary, to the length of using their arms for the purpose (3).
The presence of hordes of pillagers, who used to be called the "hyena of the battlefield" may not seem likely today; but the possessions of the wounded and dead are still liable to excite the greed of soldiers or unscrupulous civilians. Such hateful spoliation must be prevented.
D. ' First aid. ' -- The general obligation to care for the wounded irrespective of their nationality arises out of Article 12 of the Convention. The reason for repeating this idea in the present paragraph of the 1949 [p.153] Convention was to emphasize the necessity of immediately giving first aid to the wounded on the battlefield.
Recent developments of medical science have clearly shown that first aid, if given by qualified personnel and with the least possible delay, may exercise a preponderating influence on the cure of the patient. New techniques of a quick and simple character have been perfected, which not only induce a physical condition on the part of the wounded enabling them to support evacuation, but above all increase their chances of survival and even of complete recovery to an extent which even at the beginning of the Second World War would never have been thought possible (4). The work of medical personnel in and near the front line thus assumes added importance. It will no longer be merely a case of moving the wounded to the rear in the condition in which they are picked up. They will have first to receive medical attention -- blood transfusions, injections, etc. Medical Services will consequently have to give medical orderlies working in the front, who hitherto have often been no more than stretcher-bearers, a more advanced professional training of a semi-medical character.
Originally Posted by SJPONeill
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