Editing First Geneva Convention (section)

==Summary of provisions and revisions==
[[Image:Parties to the Geneva Conventions.svg|upright=1.8|thumb|alt=A political map of the world|Parties to Geneva Conventions and Protocols
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|{{legend|#008000|Parties to GC I–IV and P I–III}} || {{legend|#0000FF|Parties to GC I–IV and P I–II}}
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|{{legend|purple|Parties to GC I–IV and P I and III}} || {{legend|#EEEE00|Parties to GC I–IV and P I}}
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|{{legend|orange|Parties to GC I–IV and P III}} || {{legend|#FF1111|Parties to GC I–IV and no P}}
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The original ten articles of the 1864 treaty<ref name=GC>{{cite web |url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/States.xsp?xp_viewStates=XPages_NORMStatesParties&xp_treatySelected=120 |title=Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 22 August 1864 |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC |location=Geneva, Switzerland |access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref> have been expanded to the current 64 articles. This lengthy treaty protects soldiers that are [[hors de combat]] (out of the battle due to sickness or injury), as well as medical and religious personnel, and civilians in the zone of battle. Among its principal provisions:
* Article 12 mandates that wounded and sick soldiers who are out of the battle should be humanely treated, and in particular should not be killed, injured, tortured, or subjected to biological experimentation. This article is the keystone of the treaty, and defines the principles from which most of the treaty is derived,<ref name=commentary/> including the obligation to respect medical units and establishments (Chapter III), the personnel entrusted with the care of the wounded (Chapter IV), buildings and material (Chapter V), medical transports (Chapter VI), and the [[protective sign]] (Chapter VII).
* Article 15 mandates that wounded and sick soldiers should be collected, cared for, and protected, though they may also become prisoners of war.
* Article 16 mandates that parties to the conflict should record the identity of the dead and wounded, and transmit this information to the opposing party.
* Article 9 allows the [[International Red Cross]] "or any other impartial humanitarian organization" to provide protection and relief of wounded and sick soldiers, as well as medical and religious personnel.

Due to significant ambiguities in the articles with certain terms and concepts and even more so to the rapidly developing nature of war and military technology, the original articles had to be revised and expanded, largely at the Second Geneva Conference in 1906 and [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907]] which extended the articles to [[maritime warfare]].<ref name=brit/> The 1906 version was [[Geneva Convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armies in the field (1929)|updated and replaced by the 1929 version]] when minor modifications were made to it. It was again updated and replaced by the 1949 version, better known as the Final Act of Geneva Conference, 1949.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Treaty.xsp?documentId=A0B2F6B37BB094C7C12563CD002D6ADA&action=openDocument |title=Final Act of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva, 12 August 1949 |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC |location=Geneva, Switzerland |access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref> 

However, as [[Jean Pictet|Jean S. Pictet]], Director of the International Committee of the Red Cross, noted in 1951, "the law, however, always lags behind charity; it is tardy in conforming with life's realities and the needs of humankind", as such it is the duty of the Red Cross "to assist in the widening the scope of law, on the assumption that…law will retain its value", principally through the revision and expansion of these basic principles of the original Geneva Convention.<ref name=pictet/>

For a detailed discussion of each article of the treaty, see the original text<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Treaty.xsp?documentId=4825657B0C7E6BF0C12563CD002D6B0B&action=openDocument |title=Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. Geneva, 12 August 1949. |location=Geneva, Switzerland |access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref> and the commentary.<ref name=commentary>{{cite book | last = Pictet | first = Jean | title = Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949: Commentary  | publisher = International Committee of the Red Cross | year = 1958 | url = https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Geneva_conventions-1949.html | access-date = 20 November 2009}}</ref> There are currently 196 countries party to the 1949 [[Geneva Conventions]], including this first treaty but also including the other three.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/party_main_treaties | title = States party to the main treaties | publisher = The American National Red Cross | access-date = 5 December 2009 | archive-date = 15 August 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090815153327/http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/party_main_treaties | url-status = dead }}</ref>