JENEWA 12 August 1949

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II)
Adopted on 8 June 1977 by the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts
entry into force 7 December 1978, in accordance with Article 23

Preamble
The High Contracting Parties,
Recalling that the humanitarian principles enshrined in Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 constitute the foundation of respect for the human person in cases of armed conflict not of an international character,
Recalling furthermore that international instruments relating to human rights offer a basic protection to the human person,
Emphasizing the need to ensure a better protection for the victims of those armed conflicts,
Recalling that, in cases not covered by the law in force, the human person remains under the protection of the principles of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience,
Have agreed on the following:
PART I
SCOPE OF THIS PROTOCOL
Article 1.-Material field of application
1. This Protocol, which develops and supplements Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 without modifying its existing conditions of application, shall apply to all armed conflicts which are not covered by Article 1 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) and which take place in the territory of a High Contracting Party between its armed forces and dissident armed forces or
other organized armed groups which, under responsible command, exercise such control over a part of its territory as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations and to implement this Protocol.
2. This Protocol shall not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence and other acts of a similar nature, as not being armed conflicts.
Article 2.-Personal field of application
1. This Protocol shall be applied without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, sex, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth, birth or other status, or on any other similar criteria (hereinafter referred to as "adverse distinction") to all persons affected by an armed conflict as defined in Article 1.
2. At the end of the armed conflict, all the persons who have been deprived of their liberty or whose liberty has been restricted for reasons related to such conflict, as well as those deprived of their liberty or whose liberty is restricted after the conflict for the same reasons, shall enjoy the protection of Articles 5 and 6 until the end of such deprivation or restriction of liberty.
Article 3.-Non-intervention
1. Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked for the purpose of affecting the sovereignty of a State or the responsibility of the government, by all legitimate means, to maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or to defend the national unity and territorial integrity of the State.
2. Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked as a justification for intervening, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the armed conflict or in the internal or external affairs of the High Contracting Party in the territory of which that conflict occurs.
PART II
HUMANE TREATMENT
Article 4.-Fundamental guarantees
1. All persons who do not take a direct part or who have ceased to take part in hostilities, whether or not their liberty has been restricted, are
entitled to respect for their person, honour and convictions and religious practices. They shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction. It is prohibited to order that there shall be no survivors.
2. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the following acts against the persons referred to in paragraph I are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever:
(a) Violence to the life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular murder as well as cruel treatment such as torture, mutilation or any form of corporal punishment;
(b) Collective punishments;
(c) Taking of hostages;
(d) Acts of terrorism;
(e) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault;
(f)Slavery and the slave trade in all their forms;
(g) Pillage;
(h) Threats to commit any of the foregoing acts.
3. Children shall be provided with the care and aid they require, and in particular:
(a) They shall receive an education, including religious and moral education, in keeping with the wishes of their parents, or in the absence of parents, of those responsible for their care;
(b) All appropriate steps shall be taken to facilitate the reunion of families temporarily separated;
(c) Children who have not attained the age of fifteen years shall neither be recruited in the armed forces or groups nor allowed to take part in hostilities;
(d) The special protection provided by this Article to children who have not attained the age of fifteen years shall remain applicable to them if they take a direct part in hostilities despite the provisions of sub-paragraph (c) and are captured;
(e) Measures shall be taken, if necessary, and whenever possible with the consent of their parents or persons who by law or custom are primarily responsible for their care, to remove children temporarily from the area in which hostilities are taking place to a safer area within the country and ensure that they are accompanied by persons responsible for their safety and well-being.
Article 5.-Persons whose liberty has been restricted
1. In addition to the provisions of Article 4, the following provisions shall be respected as a minimum with regard to persons deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict, whether they are interned or detained:
(a) The wounded and the sick shall be treated in accordance with Article 7;
(b) The persons referred to in this paragraph shall, to the same extent as the local civilian population, be provided with food and drinking water and be afforded safeguards as regards health and hygiene and protection against the rigours of the climate and the dangers of the armed conflict;
(c) They shall be allowed to receive individual or collective relief;
(d) They shall be allowed to practise their religion and, if requested and appropriate, to receive spiritual assistance from persons, such as chaplains, performing religious functions;
(e) They shall, if made to work, have the benefit of working conditions and safeguards similar to those enjoyed by the local civilian population.
2. Those who are responsible for the internment or detention of the persons referred to in paragraph I shall also, within the limits of their capabilities, respect the following provisions relating to such persons:
(a) Except when men and women of a family are accommodated together, women shall be held in quarters separated from those of men and shall be under the immediate supervision of women;
(b) They shall be allowed to send and receive letters and cards, the number of which may be limited by the competent authority if it deems necessary;
(c) Places of internment and detention shall not be located close to the combat zone. The persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall be evacuated when the places where they are interned or detained
become particularly exposed to danger arising out of the armed conflict, if their evacuation can be carried out under adequate conditions of safety;
(d) They shall have the benefit of medical examinations;
(e) Their physical or mental health and integrity shall not be endangered by an unjustified act or omission. Accordingly, it is prohibited to subject the persons described in this Article to any medical procedure which is not indicated by the state of health of the person concerned, and which is not consistent with the generally accepted medical standards applied to free persons under similar medical circumstances.
3. Persons who are not covered by paragraph I but whose liberty has been restricted in any way whatsoever for reasons related to the armed conflict shall be treated humanely in accordance with Article 4 and with paragraphs 1 (a), (c) and (d), and 2 (b) of this Article.
4. If it is decided to release persons deprived of their liberty, necessary measures to ensure their safety shall be taken by those so deciding.
Article 6.-Penal prosecutions
1. This Article applies to the prosecution and punishment of criminal offences related to the armed conflict.
2. No sentence shall be passed and no penalty shall be executed on a person found guilty of an offence except pursuant to a conviction pronounced by a court offering the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality. In particular:
(a) The procedure shall provide for an accused to be informed without delay of the particulars of the offence alleged against him and shall afford the accused before and during his trial all necessary rights and means of defence;
(b) No one shall be convicted of an offence except on the basis of individual penal responsibility;
(c) No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under the law, at the time when it was committed; nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than that which was applicable at the time when the criminal offence was committed; if, after the
commission of the offence, provision is made by law for the imposition of a lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby;
(d) Anyone charged with an offence is presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law;
(e) Anyone charged with an offence shall have the right to be tried in his presence;
(f) No one shall be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.
3. A convicted person shall be advised on conviction of his judicial and other remedies and of the time-limits within which they may be exercised.
4. The death penalty shall not be pronounced on persons who were under the age of eighteen years at the time of the offence and shall not be carried out on pregnant women or mothers of young children.
5. At the end of hostilities, the authorities in power shall endeavour to grant the broadest possible amnesty to persons who have participated in the armed conflict, or those deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict, whether they are interned or detained.
PART III
WOUNDED, SICK AND SHIPWRECKED
Article 7.-Protection and care
1. All the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, whether or not they have taken part in the armed conflict, shall be respected and protected.
2. In all circumstances they shall be treated humanely and shall receive, to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay, the medical care and attention required by their condition. There shall be no distinction among them founded on any grounds other than medical ones.
Article 8.-Search
Whenever circumstances permit, and particularly after an engagement, all possible measures shall be taken, without delay, to search for and collect the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, to protect them against pillage and ill-
treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead, prevent their being despoiled, and decently dispose of them.
Article 9.-Protection of medical and religious personnel
1. Medical and religious personnel shall be respected and protected and shall be granted all available help for the performance of their duties. They shall not be compelled to carry out tasks which are not compatible with their humanitarian mission.
2. In the performance of their duties medical personnel may not be required to give priority to any person except on medical grounds.
Article 10.-General protection of medical duties
1. Under no circumstances shall any person be punished for having carried out medical activities compatible with medical ethics, regardless of the person benefiting therefrom.
2. Persons engaged in medical activities shall neither be compelled to perform acts or to carry out work contrary to, nor be compelled to refrain from acts required by, the rules of medical ethics or other rules designed for the benefit of the wounded and sick, or this Protocol.
3. The professional obligations of persons engaged in medical activities regarding information which they may acquire concerning the wounded and sick under their care shall, subject to national law, be respected.
4. Subject to national law, no person engaged in medical activities may be penalized in any way for refusing or failing to give information concerning the wounded and sick who are, or who have been, under his care.
Article 11.-Protection of medical units and transports
1. Medical units and transports shall be respected and protected at all times and shall not be the object of attack.
2. The protection to which medical units and transports are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit hostile acts, outside their humanitarian function. Protection may, however, cease only after a warning has been given setting, whenever appropriate, a reasonable time-limit, and after such warning has remained unheeded.
Article 12.-The distinctive emblem
Under the direction of the competent authority concerned, the distinctive emblem of the red cross, red crescent or red lion and sun on a white ground shall be displayed by medical and religious personnel and medical units, and on medical transports. It shall be respected in all circumstances. It shall not be used improperly.
PART IV
CIVILIAN POPULATION
Article 13.-Protection of the civilian population
1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against the dangers arising from military operations. To give effect to this protection, the following rules shall be observed in all circumstances.
2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.
3. Civilians shall enjoy the protection afforded by this Part, unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities.
Article 14.-Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population
Starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited. It is therefore prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless, for that purpose, objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works.
Article 15.-Protection of works and installations containing dangerous forces
Works or installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population.
Article 16.-Protection of cultural objects and of places of worship
Without prejudice to the provisions of The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 14 May 1954, it is prohibited to commit any acts of hostility directed against historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples, and to use them in support of the military effort.
Article 17.-Prohibition of forced movement of civilians
1. The displacement of the civilian population shall not be ordered for reasons related to the conflict unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand. Should such displacements have to be carried out, all possible measures shall be taken in order that the civilian population may be received under satisfactory conditions of shelter, hygiene, health, safety and nutrition.
2. Civilians shall not be compelled to leave their own territory for reasons connected with the conflict.
Article 18.-Relief societies and relief actions
1. Relief societies located in the territory of the High Contracting Party, such as Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) organizations, may offer their services for the performance of their traditional functions in relation to the victims of the armed conflict. The civilian population may, even on its own initiative, offer to collect and care for the wounded, sick and shipwrecked.
2. If the civilian population is suffering undue hardship owing to a lack of the supplies essential for its survival, such as foodstuffs and medical supplies, relief actions for the civilian population which are of an exclusively humanitarian and impartial nature and which are conducted without any adverse distinction shall be undertaken subject to the consent of the High Contracting Party concerned.
PART V
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 19.-Dissemination
This Protocol shall be disseminated as widely as possible.
Article 20.-Signature
This Protocol shall be open for signature by the Parties to the Conventions six months after the signing of the Final Act and will remain open for a period of twelve months.
Article 21.-Ratification
This Protocol shall be ratified as soon as possible. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Swiss Federal Council, depositary of the Conventions.
Article 22.-Accession
This Protocol shall be open for accession by any Party to the Conventions which has not signed it. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the depositary.
Article 23.-Entry into force
1. This Protocol shall enter into force six months after two instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited.
2. For each Party to the Conventions thereafter ratifying or acceding to this Protocol, it shall enter into force six months after the deposit by such Party of its instrument of ratification or accession.
Article 24.-Amendment
1. Any High Contracting Party may propose amendments to this Protocol. The text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to the depositary which shall decide, after consultation with all the High Contracting Parties and the International Committee of the Red Cross, whether a conference should be convened to consider the proposed amendment.
2. The depositary shall invite to that conference all the High Contracting Parties as well as the Parties to the Conventions, whether or not they are signatories of this Protocol.
Article 25.-Denunciation
1. In case a High Contracting Party should denounce this Protocol, the denunciation shall only take effect six months after receipt of the instrument of denunciation. If, however, on the expiry of six months, the denouncing Party is engaged in the situation referred to in Article l, the denunciation shall not take effect before the end of the armed conflict. Persons who have been deprived of liberty, or whose liberty has been
restricted, for reasons related to the conflict shall nevertheless continue to benefit from the provisions of this Protocol until their final release.
2. The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the depositary, which shall transmit it to all the High Contracting Parties.
Article 26.-Notifications
The depositary shall inform the High Contracting Parties as well as the Parties to the Conventions, whether or not they are signatories of this Protocol, of:
(a) Signatures affixed to this Protocol and the deposit of instruments of ratification and accession under Articles 21 and 22;
(b) The date of entry into force of this Protocol under Article 23; and
(c) Communications and declarations received under Article 24.
Article 27.-Registration
1. After its entry into force, this Protocol shall be transmitted by the depositary to the Secretariat of the United Nations for registration and publication, in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.
2. The depositary shall also inform the Secretariat of the United Nations of all ratifications and accessions received by it with respect to this Protocol.
Article 28.-Authentic texts
The original of this Protocol, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic shall be deposited with the depositary, which shall transmit certified true copies thereof to all the Parties to the Conventions.

Henry Dunant, A Memory of Solferino, 1863

Henry Dunant, A Memory of Solferino, 1863:

Everyone has heard, or may have read, some account of the battle of Solferino.
The memory of it is so vivid that no one has forgotten it, especially as the consequences
of that day are still being felt in many European countries. I was a mere
tourist with no part whatever in this great conflict; but it was my rare privilege,
through an unusual train of circumstances, to witness the moving scenes that I
have resolved to describe. In these pages I give only my personal impressions;
so my readers should not look here for specific details, nor for information on
strategic matters; these things have their place in other writings.
(…)
At San Martino, Captain Pallavicini, an officer of Bersaglieri, was wounded; his
soldiers lifted him in their arms and carried him to a chapel where he was given
first aid. But the Austrians, who had been momentarily repulsed, returned to the
charge and forced their way into the chapel. The Bersaglieri were not strong
enough to resist them, and had to desert their commander; whereupon the
Croats picked up heavy stones from the doorway and crushed the skull of the
poor Captain, whose brains spattered their tunics.
From the midst of all this fighting, which went on and on all over the battlefield,
arose the oaths and curses of men of all the different nations engaged -men, of
whom many had been made into murderers at the age of twenty!
In the thickest of the fight, Napoleon's chaplain, the Abbé Laine, went from one
field hospital to the next bringing consolation and sympathy to the dying. The
death-dealing storm of steel and sulphur and lead which swept the ground shook
the earth beneath his feet, and more and more martyrs were added to the human
hecatomb as the firing lines ploughed the air with their deadly lightning. A
Second Lieutenant of the line had his left arm broken by a chain shot, and blood
poured from the wound. A Hungarian officer saw one of his men aiming at the
boy; the officer stopped him, and then, going up to the wounded man, wrung his
hand compassionately and gave orders for him to be carried to a safer place.
The canteen women moved about the field under enemy fire like the soldiers.
They were often wounded themselves as they went among the wounded men,
lifting their heads and giving them drink as they cried piteously for water [2]. An
officer of Hussars, weakened by loss of blood, was struggling to get clear of the
body of his horse, which had fallen heavily on him when hit by a shell splinter. A
run-away horse galloped by, dragging the bleeding body of his rider. The horses,
more merciful than the men on their backs, kept trying to pick their way so as to
avoid stepping on the victims of this furious, passionate battle.
(…)
Oh, the agony and suffering during those days, the twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth
and twenty-seventh of June! Wounds were infected by the heat and dust, by
shortage of water and lack of proper care, and grew more and more painful. Foul
exhalations contaminated the air, in spite of the praiseworthy attempts of the
authorities to keep hospital areas in a sanitary condition. The convoys brought a
fresh contingent of wounded men into Castiglione every quarter of an hour, and
the shortage of assistants, orderlies and helpers was cruelly felt. In spite of the
activity of one army doctor and two or three other persons in organizing transportation
to Brescia by oxcart, and in spite of the spontaneous help given by carriageowners
in Brescia, who came to fetch officer patients with their carriages,
cases could not be evacuated nearly as quickly as new ones came in, and the
congestion grew worse and worse.
Men of all nations lay side by side on the flagstone floors of the churches of Castiglione-
Frenchmen and Arabs, Germans and Slavs. Ranged for the time being
close together inside the chapels, they no longer had the strength to move, or if
they had there was no room for them to do so. Oaths, curses and cries such as
no words can describe resounded from the vaulting of the sacred buildings.
"Oh, Sir, l'm in such pain!" several of these poor fellows said to me, "they desert
us, leave us to die
miserably, and yet we fought so hard!" They could get no rest, although they
were tired out and had not slept for nights. They called out in their distress for a
doctor, and writhed in desperate convulsions that ended in tetanus and death.
Some of the soldiers got the idea that cold water poured on already festering
wounds caused worms to appear, and for this absurd reason they refused to allow
their bandages to be moistened. Others, who were fortunate enough to have
had their wounds dressed at once in field hospitals, received no fresh dressings
at Castiglione during their enforced stay there; the tight bandages that had been
put on to help them to stand the jolts of the road having been neither replaced
nor loosened, these men were undergoing perfect tortures.
With faces black with the flies that swarmed about their wounds, men gazed
around them, wild-eyed and helpless. Others were no more than a worm-ridden,
inextricable compound of coat and shirt and flesh and blood. Many were shuddering
at the thought of being devoured by the worms, which they thought they
could see coming out of their bodies (whereas they really came from the myriads
of flies which infested the air). There was one poor man, completely disfigured,
with a broken jaw and his swollen tongue hanging out of his mouth. He was tossing
and trying to get up. I moistened his dry lips and hardened tongue, took a
handful of lint and dipped it in the bucket they were carrying behind me, and
squeezed the water from this improvised sponge into the deformed opening that
had been his mouth. Another wretched man had had a part of his face-nose, lips
and chin-taken off by a sabre cut. He could not speak, and lay, half-blind, making
heart-rending signs with his hands and uttering guttural sounds to attract
attention. I gave him a drink and poured a little fresh water on his bleeding face.
A third, with his skull gaping wide open, was dying, spitting
out his brains on the stone floor. His companions in suffering kicked him out of
their way, as he blocked the passage. I was able to shelter him for the last moments
of his life, and I laid a handkerchief over his poor head, which still just
moved.
(…)
But why have I told of all these scenes of pain and distress, and perhaps aroused
painful emotions in my readers? Why have I lingered with seeming complacency
over lamentable pictures, tracing their details with what may appear desperate
fidelity? It is a natural question. Perhaps I might answer it by another: Would it
not be possible, in time of peace and quiet, to form relief societies for the purpose
of having care given to the wounded in wartime by zealous, devoted and
thoroughly qualified volunteers?
(…)
It must not be thought that the lovely girls and kind women of Castiglione, devoted
as they were, saved from death many of the wounded and disfigured, but
still curable, soldiers to whom they gave their help. All they could do was to bring
a little relief to a few of them. What was needed there was not only weak and
ignorant women, but, with them and beside them, kindly and experienced men,
capable, firm, already organized, and in sufficient numbers to get to work at
once in an orderly fashion. In that case many of the complications and fevers
which so terribly aggravated wounds originally slight, but very soon mortal,
might have been avoided. If there had been enough assistance to collect the
wounded in the plains of Medola and from the bottom of the ravines of San
Martino, on the sharp slopes of Mount Fontana, or on the low hills above Solferino,
how different things would have been! There would have been none of those
long hours of waiting on June 24,
hours of poignant anguish and bitter helplessness, during which those poor men
of the Bersagliere, Uhlans and Zouaves struggled to rise, despite their fearful
pain, and beckoned vainly for a letter to be brought over to them, and there
would never have been the terrible possibility of what only too probably happened
the next day-living men being buried among the dead!
(…)
If the new and frightful weapons of destruction which are now at the disposal of
the nations, seem destined to abridge the duration of future wars, it appears
likely, on the other hand, that future battles will only become more and more
murderous. Moreover, in this age when surprise plays so important a part, is it
not possible that wars may arise, from one quarter or another, in the most sudden
and unexpected fashion? And do not these considerations alone constitute
more than adequate reason for taking precautions against surprise?

Henry Dunant – Biography

Henry Dunant – Biography
Jean Henri Dunantʹs life (May 8, 1828‐October 30, 1910) is a study in contrasts. He
was born into a wealthy home but died in a hospice; in middle age he juxtaposed
great fame with total obscurity, and success in business with bankruptcy; in old
age he was virtually exiled from the Genevan society of which he had once been an
ornament and died in a lonely room, leaving a bitter testament. His passionate
humanitarianism was the one constant in his life, and the Red Cross his living
monument.
The Geneva household into which Henri Dunant was born was religious,
humanitarian, and civic‐minded. In the first part of his life Dunant engaged quite
seriously in religious activities and for a while in full‐time work as a representative
of the Young Menʹs Christian Association, traveling in France, Belgium, and
Holland.
When he was twenty‐six, Dunant entered the business world as a representative of
the Compagnie genevoise des Colonies de Sétif in North Africa and Sicily. In 1858
he published his first book, Notice sur la Régence de Tunis [An Account of the
Regency in Tunis], made up for the most part of travel observations but containing
a remarkable chapter, a long one, which he published separately in 1863, entitled
LʹEsclavage chez les musulmans et aux États‐Unis dʹAmérique [Slavery among the
Mohammedans and in the United States of America].
Having served his commercial apprenticeship, Dunant devised a daring financial
scheme, making himself president of the Financial and Industrial Company of
Mons‐Gémila Mills in Algeria (eventually capitalized at 100,000,000 francs) to
exploit a large tract of land. Needing water rights, he resolved to take his plea
directly to Emperor Napoleon III. Undeterred by the fact that Napoleon was in the
field directing the French armies who, with the Italians, were striving to drive the
Austrians out of Italy, Dunant made his way to Napoleonʹs headquarters near the
northern Italian town of Solferino. He arrived there in time to witness, and to
participate in the aftermath of, one of the bloodiest battles of the nineteenth
century. His awareness and conscience honed, he published in 1862 a small book
Un Souvenir de Solférino [A Memory of Solferino], destined to make him famous.
A Memory has three themes. The first is that of the battle itself. The second depicts
the battlefield after the fighting ‐ its «chaotic disorder, despair unspeakable, and
misery of every kind» ‐ and tells the main story of the effort to care for the
wounded in the small town of Castiglione. The third theme is a plan. The nations
of the world should form relief societies to provide care for the wartime wounded;
each society should be sponsored by a governing board composed of the nationʹs
leading figures, should appeal to everyone to volunteer, should train these
volunteers to aid the wounded on the battlefield and to care for them later until
they recovered. On February 7, 1863, the Société genevoise dʹutilité publique
[Geneva Society for Public Welfare] appointed a committee of five, including
Dunant, to examine the possibility of putting this plan into action. With its call for
an international conference, this committee, in effect, founded the Red Cross.
Dunant, pouring his money and time into the cause, traveled over most of Europe
obtaining promises from governments to send representatives. The conference,
held from October 26 to 29, with thirty‐nine delegates from sixteen nations
attending, approved some sweeping resolutions and laid the groundwork for a
gathering of plenipotentiaries. On August 22, 1864, twelve nations signed an
international treaty, commonly known as the Geneva Convention, agreeing to
guarantee neutrality to sanitary personnel, to expedite supplies for their use, and
to adopt a special identifying emblem ‐ in virtually all instances a red cross on a
field of white1.
Dunant had transformed a personal idea into an international treaty. But his work
was not finished. He approved the efforts to extend the scope of the Red Cross to
cover naval personnel in wartime, and in peacetime to alleviate the hardships
caused by natural catastrophes. In 1866 he wrote a brochure called the Universal
and International Society for the Revival of the Orient, setting forth a plan to create a
neutral colony in Palestine. In 1867 he produced a plan for a publishing venture
called an «International and Universal Library» to be composed of the great
masterpieces of all time. In 1872 he convened a conference to establish the
«Alliance universelle de lʹordre et de la civilisation» which was to consider the
need for an international convention on the handling of prisoners of war and for
the settling of international disputes by courts of arbitration rather than by war.
The eight years from 1867 to 1875 proved to be a sharp contrast to those of 1859‐
1867. In 1867 Dunant was bankrupt. The water rights had not been granted, the
company had been mismanaged in North Africa, and Dunant himself had been
concentrating his attention on humanitarian pursuits, not on business ventures.
After the disaster, which involved many of his Geneva friends, Dunant was no
longer welcome in Genevan society. Within a few years he was literally living at
the level of the beggar. There were times, he says2, when he dined on a crust of
bread, blackened his coat with ink, whitened his collar with chalk, slept out of
doors.
For the next twenty years, from 1875 to 1895, Dunant disappeared into solitude.
After brief stays in various places, he settled down in Heiden, a small Swiss
village. Here a village teacher named Wilhelm Sonderegger found him in 1890 and
informed the world that Dunant was alive, but the world took little note. Because
he was ill, Dunant was moved in 1892 to the hospice at Heiden. And here, in Room
12, he spent the remaining eighteen years of his life. Not, however, as an unknown.
After 1895 when he was once more rediscovered, the world heaped prizes and
awards upon him.
Despite the prizes and the honors, Dunant did not move from Room 12. Upon his
death, there was no funeral ceremony, no mourners, no cortege. In accordance
with his wishes he was carried to his grave «like a dog»3.
Dunant had not spent any of the prize monies he had received. He bequeathed
some legacies to those who had cared for him in the village hospital, endowed a
«free bed» that was to be available to the sick among the poorest people in the
village, and left the remainder to philanthropic enterprises in Norway and
Switzerland.