The Geneva Convention governs the activities of armies of sovereign nations/countries. The LTTE is not an army of a country as defined by the convention and therefore the convention does not apply as it does not apply in any conflict that results from a country that is acting against an internal insurgency. You can take that to the Hauge
Bassa,
Please give me the link or paragraph where it says that the Geneva convention applies to the activities of armies of sovereign nations/countries only. The US fought with Vietnamese guerillas in the Vietnam war. Are you saying the Geneva convention didn't apply to them? Nice try :)))
One of the war crime charges against the Sudanese president is that he allowed the Sudanese government forces to abuse and mutilate the dead bodies of Sudanese rebels. :))))
The Geneva Conventions take the customary rules further. In Article 16 of the First Geneva Convention, we find an obligation for the PARTY that has the body to send to the OTHER PARTY (usually through a neutral power or the ICRC) written evidence of death. Where the body is identified with the required double identity disk, one half of the disk, along with any personal effects found on the body, is to be sent to the other side.
Article 17 of the First Geneva Convention is concerned specifically with the burial of the battlefield dead. The bodies are to be examined, preferably by a person with medical skills, so as to confirm death. Burial is to be, where possible, in individual graves. The idea is that individual graves would be more consistent with the general requirement that the dead be respected, and also that individual burial would make subsequent exhumation easier. The requirement, however, is not absolute. Climate, sanitation, and hygiene may make mass burial the only proper action. The remaining half of the double identity disk must remain with the body. Cremation is prohibited except where it is based on the religion of the deceased or where imperative reasons of hygiene justify cremation.
Where possible, the burial or cremation is to be done in accordance with the religious rites of the deceased. The bodies are to be grouped according to nationality and the cemeteries mapped in such a way as to make later exhumation easier. This is the core of the Geneva Convention duty to the dead they are to be treated honorably and their graves protected. Mutilation of the dead is actually a fairly rare occurrence in well-disciplined armies.
Edited By - Thivya - 13 Jan 2009 23:11:05 GMT |