Human suffering is not something pleasant to observe. In 1859, one Henri Dunant saw first-hand the sufferings of soldiers left on the battlefield to die. That led to the first international conference on treating with war personnel.

It established what is today known as the Red Cross or Red Crescent to treat with war personnel from either side of the battle. It afforded them safe access to the injured and suffering. That led to a meeting of nations in 1864, the first of a series that we now know as the Geneva Convention.

Further conventions in 1906, 1927, 1949 and 1977 put in place rules of war that covered naval warfare, treatment of prisoners of war and protection of civilians and major infrastructure like dams.

The awareness of the need for laws and conventions to guide humanity towards reducing human suffering cannot be understated. There is, however, the reality that there is no global policeman and the 190-plus nations that are signatories to the Geneva Convention have only their conscience and concern for international reputation to steer them to follow the rules.

The powerful, economically and militarily, can bend or ignore the rules at will. Many have done so. This was demonstrated by Germany in the Second World War. Laws, conventions and protocols are humanity’s most important weapons against anarchy. They are ignored to the peril of those who chose to disregard them.

In every country, laws determine how the economy is funded, how property is protected, how liberty is structured, and allows for order. Arrogance, power, economic prosperity and military prowess encourage many to feel free to operate without the constraints of laws. The success of these, however, are usually temporary as disorder and anarchy soon infiltrate the society and chaos reigns.

Any country, any society, any organisation that seeks to improve the quality of life for mankind must make appropriate laws to arrive at the desired objectives, and, more importantly, observe and abide by those rules for order to reign. There must be no compromise that weakens or make ineffective these laws, or the result will be a return to the status quo before they were implemented.

Additionally, humans must continually seek to improve on these laws to ensure that people are treated with dignity and that human life is respected.

STEVE ALVAREZ