Appointment

Mr. Raymond Courvoisier has since 1 August 1969 taken over the appointment of special assistant to the President of the International Committee, thus bringing it his wide experience in the field of international humanitarian law. It should, in fact, be recalled that from 1936 to 1945 he undertook a large number of missions in ICRC service as delegate in Spain, Turkey, in East European and Middle East countries. Furthermore, he was in charge of a section in the Central Prisoners of War Agency in Geneva during the Second World War.

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The Humanitarian Aid of the Joint Relief Commission of the International Red Cross in France to the civil population: children, women and internees (1940-1946)

Culture & History Digital Journal ◽

10.3989/chdj.2019.022 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 022

Author(s):

Luiza Iordache Cârstea

Keyword(s):

Human Life ◽

Humanitarian Aid ◽

International Committee ◽

Second World War ◽

Red Cross ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

World War ◽

Charitable Organizations ◽

Second World

The objective of this article is the analysis of the humanitarian relief work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the League of the Red Cross Societies through a joint body, the Joint Relief Committee (JRC), in France during the Second World War. Based on the treaties, convention and draft projects that shed light on the evolution and consolidation of the International Humanitarian Law relating to civilian defence and on the specialized bibliography, reports of the ICRC and the JRC, documentary sources of the ICRC Archives, and photo library of the same organization, the article focuses on humanitarian aid and priorities of the JRC in favour of the civilian population most vulnerable to and affected by war: children, women and internees in the concentration camps in South of France. This study, accompanied by photos, maps and quantitative data, sheds light on the channels of humanitarian action, the charitable organizations, associations, institutions, foundations, etc., that made this possible, as well as the loopholes and limitations of international humanitarian law, with important consequences for human life during a major conflict such as the Second World War.

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THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW APPLICABLE IN THE NEW TYPES OF ARMED CONFLICTS

Agora International Journal of Juridical Sciences ◽

10.15837/aijjs.v8i4.1619 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 184-193

Author(s):

Nicolae David Ungureanu

Keyword(s):

Second World War ◽

Armed Conflicts ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

World War ◽

Modern Period ◽

Second World

The international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts has evolved continuously since antiquity until today, its doctrinal writings pointing out during the modern period the influence that the progress of the concepts and the practices of war has had on the development of the normative conventions, especially the first and second world war, resulting in texts that are applicable even today.

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Building a Case against the War Criminals

The Australian Pursuit of Japanese War Criminals, 1943-1957 ◽

10.5790/hongkong/9789888390724.003.0003 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Dean Aszkielowicz

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

War Crimes ◽

International Agreements ◽

Second World War ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

World War ◽

War Criminals ◽

Post War ◽

Second World

Long before the Second World War ended, the Allies were planning to prosecute Axis war criminals, including both those in positions of leadership and the perpetrators of individual crimes. There was no standing war crimes court at the end of the Second World War, however, and the post-war trials were a watershed in international law. For the trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo, Allied planners drew on the development of international humanitarian law and international agreements signed by the combatants over the decades preceding the war. The vast majority of war criminals who were prosecuted did not face the court at Nuremberg or Tokyo: they appeared before national military tribunals which were conducted according to each prosecuting country’s war crimes law. The Australian War Crimes Act passed through the parliament in October 1945, shortly before trials began.

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International criminal jurisdiction, international humanitarian law and humanitarian action

International Review of the Red Cross ◽

10.1017/s002086040007772x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 37 (321) ◽

pp. 623-634

Author(s):

Jacques Stroun

Keyword(s):

Second World War ◽

Fundamental Rights ◽

Armed Conflicts ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

World War ◽

Humanitarian Action ◽

Geneva Conventions ◽

The Individual ◽

Second World

Shortly after the Second World War the community of States, still shocked by the explosion of violence that had torn the world apart for more than five years, ratified an updated version of the Geneva Conventions in the hope of acquiring a sound legal instrument which would preserve human dignity even in times of war. They undertook to respect the fundamental rights of the individual in armed conflicts, whether international or otherwise, and to limit the use of force to what was strictly necessary to place an enemy hors de combat. Their resolve found confirmation in the two Additional Protocols of 1977.

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Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law — Alike yet Distinct

International Review of the Red Cross ◽

10.1017/s0020860400071527 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 33 (293) ◽

pp. 89-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jacques Meurant

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Public Law ◽

Second World War ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

World War ◽

Common Goal ◽

The Individual ◽

Second World

International humanitarian law and human rights law share a common goal, namely to protect the individual and to ensure respect for human dignity. Yet these two branches of international public law each have their own characteristics and origins and have evolved in different ways.Nevertheless, the troubled aftermath of the Second World War, the unchecked rise of violence and poverty in recent decades and the resulting need for improved protection of the ever-growing number of victims of violations of fundamental human rights have all contributed not only to the evolution of the two branches of law but also to their convergence, like “two poor crutches on which disarmed victims can lean simultaneously”, to quote an expressive image by Karel Vasak. This expert went so far as to estimate in 1984 that “the convergence of the two branches has led to an overlapping both on paper and, increasingly, in practice as well”.

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Death of Mr. F. Barbey, honorary member of the ICRC

International Review of the Red Cross ◽

10.1017/s0020860400064755 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 10 (116) ◽

pp. 639-639

Keyword(s):

First World War ◽

International Committee ◽

Second World War ◽

Prisoners Of War ◽

Red Cross ◽

Honorary Member ◽

World War ◽

The First World War ◽

Second World ◽

First World

It was with regret that the International Committee learnt of the death, on 21 October 1970, of Mr. Frédéric Barbey, who was co-opted to the ICRC in 1915 and was at that time active in the work of the International Prisoners of War Agency. In 1921 he became an honorary member and in 1938 again dedicated himself fully to the work of the Red Cross. Devoting himself unstintingly to the institution as soon as the Second World War broke out, as he had done during the First World War, he gave invaluable assistance. International Review had occasion in June 1947, when Mr. Barbey had again become an honorary member of the institution, to mention the important part he played in helping the ICRC to discharge its mission. The following extract from that article concerns his work from 1939 onwards:

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Fifty years in the service of the Red Cross

International Review of the Red Cross ◽

10.1017/s002086040000245x ◽

1964 ◽

Vol 4 (43) ◽

pp. 534-534

Keyword(s):

Spanish Civil War ◽

International Committee ◽

Second World War ◽

Prisoners Of War ◽

Red Cross ◽

International Review ◽

World War ◽

Central Agency ◽

General Secretariat ◽

Second World

During the Presidential Council meeting on September 24, 1964, the International Committee took leave of a staff member with fifty years service to her credit. Miss M.-L. Compagnon began working with the International Prisoners of War Agency in October 1914, at that time installed in the Rath Museum in Geneva. From 1919 onwards she was a member of the Secretariat staff of the ICRC, which grew in importance progressively with events, e.g.: the Abyssinian war, the Spanish civil war, the Second World War of 1939. At that time Miss Compagnon was working in the Central Agency for Prisoners of War, where she attended to the recording of mail. Later she was attached to the Delegations Bureau. Subsequently she joined the General Secretariat and since 1955 was a member of the Department responsible for the publication of the International Review.

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Numbers

10.1093/oso/9780198798156.003.0002 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Mark Edele

Keyword(s):

Second World War ◽

Prisoners Of War ◽

World War ◽

Quantitative Evidence ◽

Methodological Problems ◽

Second World

How many Soviet soldiers defected to the Germans? Vague statements abound in the literature, but few scholars have tried to systematically investigate the available quantitative evidence. This chapter discusses the available numbers on defectors from both Soviet and German sources. It discusses the methodological problems involved in establishing the total number and the share of defectors among Soviet prisoners of war (POWs). It also compares these numbers with comparative cases in other fronts of the Second World War in Europe. It shows that despite methodological and source problems we can be confident that defection was much more prevalent at the German–Soviet front than elsewhere.

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The Protection of Women in International Humanitarian Law

International Review of the Red Cross ◽

10.1017/s002086040002489x ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 25 (249) ◽

pp. 337-363 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Françoise Krill

Keyword(s):

World War I ◽

Geneva Convention ◽

Legal Protection ◽

Prisoners Of War ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

World War ◽

The Hague ◽

Special Protection

Since the number of women who actually participated in war was insignificant until the outbreak of World War I, the need for special protection for them was not felt prior to that time. This does not imply however that women had previously lacked any protection. From the birth of international humanitarian law, they had had the same general legal protection as men. If they were wounded, women were protected by the provisions of the 1864 Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field; if they became prisoners of war, they benefited from the Regulations annexed to the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 on the Laws and Customs of War on Land.

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For the Victims of Pseudo-Medical Experiments

International Review of the Red Cross ◽

10.1017/s0020860400063592 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 9 (104) ◽

pp. 646-647

Keyword(s):

International Committee ◽

Second World War ◽

European Countries ◽

Concentration Camps ◽

Red Cross ◽

World War ◽

Central European ◽

Medical Experiments ◽

Second World

Twenty-five years after the second World War, the International Committee of the Red Cross is still dealing with claims for compensation from people living in certain Central European countries who were victims of pseudo-medical experiments in German concentration camps.

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