On August 12, 1949, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, as the culmination of a diplomatic conference that had begun on April 21 of that year. As its title indicates, the purpose of the convention (an agreement or treaty), was to provide international standards for the humane treatment of prisoners of war (POWs). Signatories to the Geneva Convention—196 nations as of 2024, although some have agreed to the convention with reservations—agree essentially to treat prisoners of war humanely by, for example, not torturing them and by providing them with basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, and medical care. The Geneva Convention was an outgrowth of World War II, when large numbers of prisoners were taken by the Allies, Nazi Germany, and the Japanese Empire. In particular, calls for an agreement on the treatment of POWs increased in the wake of the Nuremberg trials in Germany and the Tokyo trials in Japan. In these trials, numerous Nazi and Japanese officials were held accountable for war crimes, many of them involving POWs and civilian populations. Through these trials, the world became more aware of the crimes.