The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols include several provisions on symbols. It clearly defines the meaning, purpose, use and size of the sign, the people and property it protects, the scope of use of the sign, the respect that the sign should receive and the punishment if it is abused.
During armed conflict, symbols can only be used as protective measures by the following groups:
Medical institutions of the armed forces;
The national Red Cross or Red Crescent officially recognized and approved by the government provides assistance to the medical services of the armed forces; The National Red Cross Society can only use signs in wartime to protect its personnel and equipment assisting official medical services, and only when it performs this function and abides by military laws and rules can it use signs for protection;
The government also recognizes civilian hospitals and other medical facilities and allows the use of signs (first aid stations, ambulances, etc.) for protection purposes. );
The conditions for the use of other voluntary relief organizations are the same as those of the Red Cross Societies in various countries: such organizations must be recognized and authorized by the government, can only use signs to protect medical service personnel and equipment, and must abide by military laws and regulations.
International humanitarian law also stipulates that the States parties to the Geneva Conventions must take actions to prevent and punish the abuse of symbols in war and peace, and formulate symbols for legal protection.
The protection purpose of using signs is to clearly show the medical personnel, units and means of transportation protected by the Geneva Conventions. The obvious use of symbols in peacetime and wartime shows that this person or thing is related to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The International Committee of the Red Cross has the right to use these symbols at any time for protection and instruction purposes.
Any use not explicitly authorized by international humanitarian law constitutes abuse. * * * There are three types of abuse:
Imitation refers to the use of symbols whose shapes and colors may be confused with signs;
Embezzlement refers to the use of signs by unauthorized groups or individuals (commercial companies, pharmacists, private doctors, non-governmental organizations and ordinary people, etc.). ), or illegal use of signs by authorized personnel who do not act in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and the Protocol;
Treason refers to the use of symbols to protect combatants or military equipment in conflicts; It is a war crime to use symbols treacherously in international and non-international armed conflicts.
Abuse as a symbol of protective use in wartime will damage the protection system established by the whole international humanitarian law.
In peacetime, abuse, as a sign of sexual use, will damage its image in the public mind, thus weakening its protective function in wartime.
The States parties to the Geneva Conventions undertake to take legal measures to prevent and restrict the misuse of symbols in wartime and peacetime.