Editing War crime (section)

===Geneva Conventions===
{{Main|Geneva Conventions}}
The [[Geneva Conventions]] are four related treaties adopted and continuously expanded from 1864 to 1949 that represent a legal basis and framework for the conduct of war under international law. Every single member state of the United Nations has currently ratified the conventions, which are universally accepted as [[customary international law]], applicable to every situation of armed conflict in the world. The Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1977 containing the most pertinent, detailed and comprehensive protections of [[international humanitarian law]] for persons and objects in modern warfare are still not ratified by several states continuously engaged in armed conflicts, namely the United States, Israel, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, and others. Accordingly, states retain different codes and values about wartime conduct. Some signatories have routinely violated the Geneva Conventions in a way that either uses the ambiguities of law or political maneuvering to sidestep the laws' formalities and principles.

The first three conventions have been revised and expanded, with the fourth one added in 1949:
* The [[First Geneva Convention]] ''for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field'' was adopted in 1864 and then significantly revised and replaced by the 1906 version,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/INTRO/180?OpenDocument |title=Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 6 July 1906 |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]] |access-date=July 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222210023/http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/INTRO/180?OpenDocument |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> the [[Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field (1929)|1929 version]], and later the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cil.nus.edu.sg/1949/1949-geneva-convention-i-for-the-amelioration-of-the-condition-of-the-wounded-and-sick-in-armed-forces-in-the-field/|title=1949 Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field – Centre for International Law|work=nus.edu.sg|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221161712/http://cil.nus.edu.sg/1949/1949-geneva-convention-i-for-the-amelioration-of-the-condition-of-the-wounded-and-sick-in-armed-forces-in-the-field/|archive-date=February 21, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* The [[Second Geneva Convention]] ''for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea'' was adopted in 1906<ref>{{cite book |title=The International Committee of the Red Cross: A Neutral Humanitarian Actor |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalcom00rief |url-access=limited |date=2007 |author=David P. Forsythe |page=[https://archive.org/details/internationalcom00rief/page/n59 43] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-34151-6 }}</ref> and then significantly revised and replaced by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
* The [[Third Geneva Convention]] ''relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War'' [[Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (1929)|was adopted in 1929]] and then significantly revised and replaced by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
* The [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] ''relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War'' was first adopted in 1949, based on parts of the 1907 [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)|Hague Convention IV]].
[[File:Destroyed house in the south of Sanaa 12-6-2015-3.jpg|thumb|[[Human Rights Watch|HRW]] wrote that the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen|Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen]] that began on March 26, 2015, involved airstrikes in apparent violation of the laws of war.<ref>"[http://www.dw.com/en/human-rights-watch-saudi-stikes-in-yemen-violated-international-law/a-18554746 Human Rights Watch: Saudi strikes in Yemen violated international law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722074552/http://www.dw.com/en/human-rights-watch-saudi-stikes-in-yemen-violated-international-law/a-18554746 |date=July 22, 2015 }}". [[Deutsche Welle]]. June 30, 2015.</ref>]]
Two Additional Protocols were adopted in 1977 with the third one added in 2005, completing and updating the Geneva Conventions:
* [[Protocol I]] (1977) ''relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.''
* [[Protocol II]] (1977) ''relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts.''
* [[Protocol III]] (2005) ''relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem.''