IRRC No. 253
Issues in the protection of the wounded and sick
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The Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1977, broaden the protection afforded by international law to wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces and to medical personnel, medical units and military medical transports in certain circumstances. Their main purpose, however, is to extend to civilians, civilian medical personnel etc. the protection which hitherto was enjoyed only by military personnel. Thanks to the Additional Protocols, military personnel and civilians today enjoy equal protection.