Armistice Treaty: Background of International Humanitarian Law

Published at: 26/11/2024 08:09 AM

Between November 25 and 26, 1820, the Armistice Treaty and the War Regularization Treaty were signed, two agreements between the Patriot Army under the command of the Liberator Simon Bolivar and by the Realist Army, Pablo Morillo.

Popularly known as the Trujillo Armistice, through this agreement both sides committed themselves to respect, the exchange of prisoners and to ending the clashes.

“Wanting the governments of Colombia and Spain to compromise the discords that exist between the two peoples,” reads the letter at the time. For the Liberator, this act “is worthy of Sucre's soul”.

The Regularization Treaty, highlights that Article 1 establishes that “The war between Spain and Colombia shall be waged as civilized peoples do”, the root of the humanitarian law that has since inspired international conventions on conflicts. It has been developed. Another part of the Treaty enshrines a demand that still admires today: “Military personnel or dependents of an army who are apprehended wounded or sick in hospitals, or outside them, will not be prisoners of war, and will be free to return to whatever flags they belong to after they have been restored”. The six-month Treaty on the Regularization of the War and the Armistice, which was also approved on a day like today, constitute memorable pieces, reported the VEA Journal.

On November 27, Bolívar and Morillo sealed the treaty with the historic embrace in Santa Ana de Trujillo.

Mazo News Team