eli5 How does the Geneva convention work? How can it be enforced if nations are already at war? What incentive do armies have for following it?

Question

I mean there are no referees on the battlefield.

In: 3

Answer 1

a tl;dr is that rules of war is to prevent unneeded human harm and suffering. i.e. don’t be a dick.
Killing an enemy, fine.
Killing a prisoner of war, not fine.
And generally, its not really enforced during war, but usually after, and you wont get away, you still got people being punished for the war crimes committed during the holocaust in modern times.
So if country A and country b is at war, and country A does all the war crimes. When the war ends, they will persecute, judged and punished.
Generally speaking, the punishment is death, or life imprisonment.