Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference. Geneva, 26-29 October 1863.
The Geneva International Conference of 1863 was the founding Conference of the Red Cross and gave the impetus to the development of the humanitarian laws of war embodied in the Geneva Conventions of 1864, 1906, 1929 and 1949 and in the Additional Protocols of 1977. This great humanitarian movement was initiated by Henry Dunant, a citizen of Geneva, who, in 1859, was an eyewitness of the battle of Solferino where thousands of wounded died without care who could have been saved if sufficient medical services had existed. In 1862, Dunant published his famous book "A Memory of Solferino" in which, after an impressive description of the battle, he proposed to set up in time of peace relief societies in each country for the care of the wounded in time of war. He also proposed the adoption of an international agreement to protect medical staff and the injured. The book aroused much discussion all over Europe. The Geneva Society of Public Welfare, under the presidency of Gustave Moynier, took up Dunant's ideas and, on 9 February 1863, appointed a committee consisting of General G.H. Dufour as president, Gustave Moynier, Henry Dunant, Theodore Maunoir and Louis Appia. The task of the committee was to consider the idea of recruiting voluntary male nurses to serve the armed forces in the field. Though a private group, the "Committee of Five", which gave itself the name of "International Relief Committee for Injured Combatants", and in 1875 adopted the name International Committee of the Red Cross, convened an International Conference in Geneva on 26 October 1863 at which 16 states and 4 philanthropic institutions were represented. The Conference adopted Dunant's and the Committee's proposals for the creation of national committees and decided that a red cross on a white ground should be the distinctive sign of the medical personnel. In addition to the Resolutions, the Conference also recommended that governments extend their patronage to relief committees and to the medical corps, ambulances and military hospitals.
Preamble
The International Conference, desirous of coming to the aid of the wounded should the Military Medical Services prove inadequate, adopts the following Resolutions:
Article 1
Article 1. Each country shall have a Committee whose duty it shall be, in time of war and if the need arises, to assist the Army Medical Services by every means in its power.
The Committee shall organize itself in the manner which seems to it most useful and appropriate.
Article 2
Art. 2. An unlimited number of Sections may be formed to assist the Committee, which shall be the central directing body.
Article 3
Art. 3. Each Committee shall get in touch with the Government of its country, so that its services may be accepted should the occasion arise.
Article 4
Art. 4. In peacetime, the Committees and Sections shall take steps to ensure their real usefulness in time of war, especially by preparing material relief of all sorts and by seeking to train and instruct voluntary medical personnel.
Article 5
Art. 5. In time of war, the Committees of belligerent nations shall supply relief to their respective armies as far as their means permit: in particular, they shall organize voluntary personnel and place them on an active footing and, in agreement with the military authorities, shall have premises made available for the care of the wounded.
They may call for assistance upon the Committees of neutral countries.
Article 6
Art. 6. On the request or with the consent of the military authorities, Committees may send voluntary medical personnel to the battlefield where they shall be placed under military command.
Article 7
Art. 7. Voluntary medical personnel attached to armies shall be supplied by the respective Committees with everything necessary for their upkeep.
Article 8
Art. 8. They shall wear in all countries, as a uniform distinctive sign, a white armlet with a red cross.
Article 9
Art. 9. The Committees and Sections of different countries may meet in international assemblies to communicate the results of their experience and to agree on measures to be taken in the interests of the work.
Article 10
Art. 10. The exchange of communications between the Committees of the various countries shall be made for the time being through the intermediary of the Geneva Committee.