The Struggle to Fight a Humane War: The United States, the Korean War, and the 1949 Geneva Conventions

The 1949 Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims became a pillar of post-World War II international humanitarian law and human rights norms.  The US military was closely involved in the drafting of the conventions which encouraged a widespread belief that the treaties largely reflected the practices of the American armed forces.  However, the Korean War demonstrated the severe limits on protections that civilians received from the fighting and revealed the US military’s refusal to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross in implementing many of the conventions’ provisions.  This presentation examines the tensions between the practices of the US armed forces in Korea and the intended humanitarian protections for civilians, prisoners of war, and the sick and wounded from the newly signed conventions.