Yes, hello I was reading a craigslist ad in the ad it said that uh, park applicants have to be vaccinated? That goes against Geneva Convention Article 6 Section 3. So you might want to read up on your history. All you people. You people are weird. You people are sick. You people have mental illness. Goo-bye.
That is a voice mail that I received last night in response to an ad that I ran for a home in my park in northern New York. All new residents in both parks must be vaccinated in order to be approved for move-in, no exceptions. I have adopted the rule both because it is good business and sound public health policy, and also because it is also a good screening device. It eliminates people like that caller from the applicant pool.
Although the call was placed from an anonymous number and the caller did not identify himself, he sounded a lot like me – white, male, fifties to sixties, stubborn. I could have been him, in an alternate universe. In this world, however, he and I disagree deeply about health policy and treaty interpretation.
Let’s dive into the treaty.
There are actually four Geneva Conventions, all dated August 12, 1949, although entry into force and adoption of relevant parties happened subsequent to drafting. All four deal with the conduct of war. The first is named Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. The second is called Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea. The third is called Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The fourth is called Convention (IV), relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
Article Six of all four treaties is titled “Special Agreements”. In all four cases, it reads that, in addition to agreements expressly provided for in certain other articles of the applicable treaty, the High Contracting Parties may conclude other special agreements for all matters concerning which they may deem it suitable to make separate provision. Effectively, it allows parties to the multilateral agreement to cut side deals between themselves. In all four cases, Article Six is short, and does not include subsections. Because of this, there is no Section Three of Article Six in any of the four treaties. In none of the treaties does Article Six make mention of medical care, infectious diseases, or manufactured housing communities.
The conventions were updated by two protocols in 1977, and one in 2005. Article 6 of the first protocol of 1977 does have a Section Three. It reads as follows, in regard to the designation by the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Red Lion and Red Sun of people trained and qualified to enact the provisions of the Geneva Conventions:
The International Committee of the Red Cross shall hold at the disposal of the High Contracting Parties the lists of persons so trained which the High Contracting Parties may have established and may have transmitted to it for that purpose.
Article Six of the second 1977 protocol concerns the prosecution of war crimes. Here is the language of Section Three thereof:
A convicted person shall be advised on conviction of his judicial and other remedies and of the time-limits within which they may be exercised.
The 2005 protocol concerns itself with the adoption of a distinctive emblem by the Red Cross, Red Crescent, and similar organizations. Article Six thereof prohibits the misuse of these emblems. The article has two sections. There is no Section Three.
In none of the protocols, does Article Six make reference to medical care, infectious diseases, or any other issue relevant to the instant case.
Under general international law, only states and certain international organizations, like the UN or the International Monetary Fund, can sign treaties. Private parties, such as individuals and business entities formed under the law of potential signatory states, can not be party to a treaty.
In many countries of the world, international treaties are given greater weight than domestic statutes. That is not the case in the United States. In this country, a treaty has the same legal authority as a federal statute. In cases where there is a conflict between a rule in a treaty and a rule in a federal statute, the later in time controls.
Here’s why our vaccination policy does not violate Article Six, Section Three of any of the Geneva Conventions:
- I am not a state.
- I am not an international organization.
- The applicable sections do not deal with the provision of medical care.
- The applicable sections do not deal with infectious disease policy.
- The applicable sections do not deal with affordable housing or manufactured housing.
- The applicable sections do not exist.
- No wars or internal conflicts are being waged in central or northern New York.
- I am not a combatant, or a civilian in a conflict zone.
- The caller is not a combatant, or a civilian in a conflict zone.
- Neither I nor the caller are a qualified person as designated by the Red Cross, Red Crescent, or similar organizations.
- No war crimes have been committed in either of my parks.
- I have not misused an emblem of the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, or a similar organization.
Admittedly, I can not speak for the caller’s behavior on the final point.
Under New York State law, you can evict a tenant for failure to get vaccinated. Under Section 233(b)(5) of the NY RPP Chapter 50, Article 7, a manufactured home park owner can evict a resident if the resident is in violation of a term of their lease or the park rules. Under Section 233(f), a manufactured home park owner can promulgate rules and regulations governing the occupancy of a manufactured home lot provided the rules are not unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious, and provided the rules are uniformly enforced. Requiring that all residents be vaccinated is a reasonable way of achieving the rational goal of limiting the spread of a potentially deadly disease. As such, a rule of this type is neither unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. So long as such a rule is uniformly enforced, an eviction based on the violation thereof would seem to fit squarely within the four corners of Section 233(b)(5).
You can fire someone for failure to get vaccinated. Mandatory vaccine mandates for large non-health-related businesses did not pass constitutional scrutiny at the Supreme Court, but voluntary mandates are allowed. The New York City government recently fired the one-to-five percent of city workers who refused the shot after several months of explanations and warnings.
Businesses can refuse service to unvaccinated customers. There are vaccine requirements in restaurants, gyms and similar businesses in New York City, Boston and, I believe, San Francisco. These are still in force. None, I believe, have been held unconstitutional.
I encourage the caller to contact the relevant parties to update the conventions to address the issue of unwanted vaccine mandates by means of a new protocol. Article 6, Section 3 of the updated conventions can address the issue in the context of manufactured housing communities. However, he should hurry up and take action now, if he wants to see results. By the time the signatory states have agreed upon the text and the United States Senate ratifies the treaty, Covid will be an annoying childhood disease like the mumps, measles or rubella, Florida will be underwater, and downtown Reno will border the ocean.