The ICRC has published updated guidance on the Geneva Conventions, including additional detail on casualty recording. The newly published ‘Commentaries’ reflect 60 years of interpretation of the Conventions, reflecting modern legal and military reality.
Every Casualty provided input to the drafting process relating to Article 17 of Geneva Convention (I) “Prescriptions Regarding the Dead.” The updated Commentary on Article 17 clearly states that Parties to the conflict must take all feasible measures to establish the identity of the deceased, both during and after the cessation of hostilities. They must also endeavour to record the cause, time, date and location of death, to whatever degree possible.
