Keynote Address by Mr Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (310) ◽  
pp. 20-35
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
International Federation ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Technological Disasters ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The World ◽  
Complementary Nature ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
Day By Day

The world is weighed down by the victims of too many tragedies. Today, at this 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, it is in the name of those victims, the sole reason for our presence here, that I am addressing the representatives of the States party to the Geneva Conventions and those of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Our Movement is faced with the challenge of protecting and assisting these hapless individuals, whose numbers, alas, are growing day by day. Moreover, the situations in which we have to take action are ever more complex, whether they result from natural or technological disasters, which often occur in developing countries where there is no proper infrastructure, or from armed conflicts and other forms of violence affecting entire populations whose authorities are generally powerless to protect them. It is our solidarity with the victims of these situations that gives us our strength — and this solidarity is expressed through the separate but complementary activities conducted by the National Societies, their International Federation and the ICRC. The complementary nature of our respective tasks, which is the result of experience and is enshrined in our Statutes, is precisely what makes us effective.

International Committee for the Red Cross: Status of Four Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols I and II

1987 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 553-560
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Geneva Conventions

The four 1949 Geneva Conventions (for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field, for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, and relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war) can be found at 6 UST 3114, 3217, 3316, 3516 and 75 UNTS 31, 85, 135, 287. The two 1977 Protocols (I – relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts and II – relating to the protection of victims of noninternational armed conflicts) appear respectively at 16 I.L.M. 1391 and 1442 (1977).

Respect for fundamental judicial guarantees in time of armed conflict — The part played by ICRC delegates

1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (287) ◽  
pp. 121-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Peter Gasser
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Principal Part ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Judicial Procedure ◽  
Harsh Reality

Article 75 of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions lays down with admirable clarity and concision thateven in time of war, or rather especially in time of war, justice must be dispassionate. How does international humanitarian lawpromote this end? What can theInternational Committee of the Red Cross, an independent humanitarian institution, do in the harsh reality of an armed conflict towards maintaining respect for the fundamental judicial guarantees protecting persons accused of crimes, some of them particularly abhorrent?This article will first consider the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols in relation to judicial procedure in time of armed conflicts. Thereafter it will examine the legal bases legitimizing international scrutiny of penal proceedings instituted against persons protected by humanitarian law. The next and principal part of the article will indicate how ICRC delegates appointed to monitor trials as observers do their job. In conclusion the article will try to evaluate this little-known aspect of the ICRC's work of protection.

International humanitarian law and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts: Recommitting to protection in armed conflict on the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (911) ◽  
pp. 869-949
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Areas Of Interest

This is the fifth report on international humanitarian law (IHL) and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (International Conference). Similar reports were submitted to the International Conferences held in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. The aim of all these reports is to provide an overview of some of the challenges posed by contemporary armed conflicts for IHL; generate broader reflection on those challenges; and outline current or prospective ICRC action, positions, and areas of interest.

Appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross on the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Additional Protocols of 1977

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (320) ◽  
pp. 471-472
Author(s):  
Cornelio Sommaruga
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Liberation ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
20Th Anniversary ◽  
The Government ◽  
Preparatory Work

Twenty years ago, on 11 June 1977, the plenipotentiaries of over a hundred States and several national liberation movements signed the Final Act of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts. This Conference had been convened by the government of Switzerland, the depositary State of the Geneva Conventions. After four sessions held between 1973 and 1977, themselves preceded by several years of preparatory work, the Conference drew up two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, relating to the protection of the victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I) and of noninternational armed conflicts (Protocol II).

The Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (320) ◽  
pp. 473-481
Author(s):  
Jean de Preux
Keyword(s):  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Naval Warfare ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law

The world now has a population of 5 billion, as against 1 billion in 1863 when the Red Cross was founded and the codification of the law of armed conflicts was initiated. For almost a century, the Red Cross concerned itself successively with soldiers wounded in action, victims of naval warfare, prisoners of war and civilians abandoned in wartime to the arbitrariness of foreign rule.

A balancing act: The revised rules of access to the ICRC Archives reflect multiple stakes and challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (907-909) ◽  
pp. 373-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie McKnight Hashemi
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World

AbstractThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) revised the access rules to its archives in 2017 for reasons that are complex, fascinating and deeply contemporary to our times. As these rules define when and to what extent the ICRC Archives are made available to the public, their contents are important for the institution as well as for wider audiences. The ICRC must ensure that it can implement its humanitarian mandate to protect and assist victims of armed conflicts and other situations of violence and preserve confidentiality, while sharing its past with the world at large. This article offers a historical overview of the ICRC Archives and the development of their access regulations until their latest revision in 2017. It shows that both today and in the past, the rules of access to the archives have resulted from choices made by the ICRC on how to balance its mandate and long-standing interests with contemporary opportunities and risks related to independent scrutiny.

Jordan National Red Crescent Society: Tenth Anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols: A Jordanian View

1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (258) ◽  
pp. 293-296
Author(s):  
Ahmad Abu-Goura
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Scene

Twenty years after the adoption of the four Geneva Conventions in 1949, the concerned world humanitarian organisations and in particular the ICRC, felt the need to develop these humanitarian treaties. After several preliminary meetings with experts from various governments and National Societies, the ICRC came to the conclusion that it would not be appropriate to revise the 1949 Conventions, but that two additional Protocols should be drawn up. The first should deal with “international armed conflicts” and the second with “non-international armed conflicts”. Both Protocols were intended to complement and supplement the Geneva Conventions. They are the outcome of prolonged and diversified discussions among high-ranking Red Cross and Red Crescent officials and government representatives who all attempted to find new solutions for gaps in the Geneva Conventions, thereby taking into account developments on the world political scene.

Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (156) ◽  
pp. 117-129
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Recent Developments

The Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts opened in Geneva on 20 February 1974. This Conference was convened by the Swiss Government and is being attended by plenipotentiary representatives of 118 States Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Members of the United Nations, as well as by many observers for intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The Conference will sit until 29 March to deal with two additional draft protocols to the Geneva Conventions, which the International Committee of the Red Cross has drawn up with a view to supplementing existing international humanitarian law in the light of recent developments in matters of war.

The League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (1983)

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. v-vi
Author(s):  
Andrei K. Kisselev
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
International Federation ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
The World ◽  
Three Components

The League of Red Cross Societies is the international federation of the 130 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which together have a membership of more than 230,000,000. The League is one of the three components of the International Red Cross, the others being the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies.The ICRC acts as a neutral intermediary in humanitarian matters during international conflicts, civil wars and internal disturbances, providing protection and assistance to victims, prisoners of war and civilian detainees. The League objective is to facilitate, encourage and promote the humanitarian activities of its member societies and thus contribute to the promotion of peace in the world.

A film on the International Red Cross

1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (60) ◽  
pp. 145-145
Keyword(s):  
International Institutions ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
The World

As President of the Monegasque Red Cross, Princess Grace of Monaco recently spent several days in Geneva during which she took part in a film being produced for Canadian Television. This company is in fact preparing a documentary of importance for the forthcoming World Red Cross Day, May 8,1966, on the activity of the Red Cross, in particular of the International Committee and the League of Red Cross Societies. The Princess had accepted to present and comment on the work of the two international institutions of the Red Cross. She thus divided her days between the ICRC and the League. An imposing series of “ shots ” were taken of the ICRC's Central Tracing Agency in which are classified cardindexes and archives concerning more than fifteen million prisoners of war and displaced or missing civilians during the course of armed conflicts in Europe and in the rest of the world. The Princess commented, in front of the cameras, on several cases with which the Agency had to deal and brought out the effectiveness and extent of the work carried out at ICRC headquarters on behalf of the victims of all those conflicts.

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