In So Far From The Bamboo Grove, Yoko and her family are treated poorly by both the Koreans and the Japanese soldiers, even though they are protected under the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions. The Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions are laws that dictate how civilians and prisoners of war are to be treated, as well as how armies are allowed to act. Countries that break these laws can be punished for their crimes.
Laws of war have always existed. Individual armies have their own rules about how they engage in combat and what they aren’t allowed to do. However, until the nineteenth century, these rules were often molded or discarded depending on the battle. The initial Geneva treaty was created by the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which is now called the International Committee of the Red Cross, for protecting wounded and sick troops in battle. The treaty was amended multiple times, and in 1949 the treaty became what we know it to be today. The 1949 treaty adopted four conventions: “I. Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field II. Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea III. Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War IV. Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.”1 The three Hague Conventions cover peace, land warfare, and maintaining cultural artifacts. These conventions comprise majority of the laws of war.
There are four main categories of rules: combat, POWs (Prisoners of War), civilians and occupation, and cultural property. In combat, it is illegal to misuse a white flag. It is illegal for armed forces to use the enemy’s uniform, symbol, insignia, or the Red Cross, for their own uses. Enemy’s property, art, science and charitable buildings, and historic or cultural objects are off-limits unless they are being used for military operations. Weapons that maximise pain and suffering aren’t allowed; this includes chemical and/or biological warfare. Any wounded or sick troops that are unable to fight aren’t targets and are to be helped. Wounded or sick troops are to be treated with respect. The dead to to be respectfully collected and buried according to their religion, and the location of burial must be given to the opposing side so the body can be exhumed and sent home, along with anything found on the body.
Prisoners of war are prisoners of the country that captures them, not the individual or group that captures the person. All capture individuals are treated as prisoners of war until proven otherwise. Prisoners get medical attention, but military hierarchy is observed in treatment. All prisoners of war are treated with respect. Prisoners of war can’t be held in cells unless it is for their protection, but they can be kept within certain boundaries, preferably far away from combat. Prisoners of war get all the same privileges as members of the armed force that captured them, and must follow the same rules.
Civilians are are protected by the same laws as prisoners of war and sick and wounded troops. Neutral zones are provided for children under 15, the sick, elderly, pregnant women, and mothers with children under the age of seven. Enemy forces can not seize property from civilians unless it is being used against them, and the property must be returned or compensation provided at the end of the war. Communication between civilians, especially family, is to be allowed. Civilians can not be moved to another location or country unless it is for their safety, and the civilians must be moved back afterwards.
Objects that symbolize the culture of a group of people are protected. Cultural property includes buildings, works of art or science, archeological sites, manuscripts, and any place that houses such items. This convention was put into place after WWII, when the Nazis destroyed many buildings and pieces of art throughout Europe.
The laws of war can help diminish the violence of wars, but work still needs to be done on making people accountable for breaking the laws. Hopefully in the future these laws will be followed and rule-breakers will be punished.
Sources
1 = http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions
http://people.howstuffworks.com/rules-of-war.htm
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