Neutrality and Impartiality—The importance of these principles for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the difficulties involved in applying them

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (273) ◽  
pp. 536-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Harroff-Tavel
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Society ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Woman Working

Of all the seven Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, neutrality and impartiality are perhaps the least well understood. They are often confused with each other and give rise to controversy. How can a National Society that is an auxiliary of the public authorities possibly be called neutral? Isn't neutrality sometimes synonymous with passivity or indifference? Can the ICRC regard itself as neutral when it points publicly to violations of international humanitarian law? Does impartiality mean sharing relief equally between the victims on both sides of a conflict? Is it possible to give humanitarian assistance to only one of the parties without violating the principles of neutrality and impartiality? These are questions that have occurred to every man and woman working in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

scholarly journals Instytucjonalizacja współpracy w zakresie grobownictwa wojennego

2015 ◽  
pp. 88-103
Author(s):  
Joanna Szymoniczek
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Organizations ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Us ◽  
Special Protection

Resting places of fallen soldiers – war cemeteries – are monuments to soldiers’ heroism, and thus are of special significance not only for those who have lost their loved ones, but also for entire nations, countries and communities. Therefore, such cemeteries are created under the provisions of relevant authorities, and then put under the special protection of the public. These issues are closely regulated by international law established throughout the twentieth century. Cemeteries are protected by the state on whose territory individual objects are placed. However, the problem of cemeteries is more and more often the responsibility of social organizations. According to the international humanitarian law of armed conflict, specific tasks in this respect are assigned to the tracing services of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, who deal with the registry of exhumation, inhumation and body transfer, hold deposits, establish the fate of victims of war and issue death certificates. Institutions that deal with exploration, keeping records, exhumation of remains and the construction or revaluation of the graves of fallen citizens buried outside the borders of their own countries include the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites, the German People’s Union for the Care of War Graves, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Austrian Red Cross (Österreichisches Schwarzes Kreuz), the American Battle Monuments Commission, the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad and the Italian Commissariat General for the Memory of Killed in War (Commissariato Generale per le Onoranze Caduti in Guerra). For political reasons, tasks related to war cemeteries are assigned to social organizations, because their actions are believed to be more effective and less bureaucratic than those of states.

scholarly journals Assistance to the victims of armed conflicts

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (267) ◽  
pp. 551-554
Author(s):  
Frits Kalshoven
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Collège De France ◽  
Keynote Speech ◽  
Save The Children ◽  
The University

From 22 to 24 June 1988, an international conference was held in The Hague, Netherlands, on “Humanitarian Assistance in Armed Conflict”. It was organized by the University of Leiden's Red Cross Chair of International Humanitarian Law, together with the National Red Cross Societies of Belgium (Flemish Community) and The Netherlands.The conference, which was attended by some 180 participants (with Her Royal Highness, Princess Margriet of The Netherlands, as the most distinguished among them) was opened by the Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation, Mr. Pieter Bukman. Professor René Jean Dupuy, professor of International Law at the College de France, Paris, gave the keynote speech at the opening session. Speakers during the three working sessions of the conference included representatives of the ICRC, the League, UNHCR, Médecins sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde, CEBEMO (the Dutch Catholic Organization for Joint Financing of Development Programmes), Save the Children Fund, Oxfam UK, and the academic world.

Presidential Missions: Greece (19–23 May)

1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (283) ◽  
pp. 400-403
Keyword(s):  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Society ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Balkan States

ICRC President Comelio Sommamga, accompanied by Mr. Jean-Francois Berger, regional delegate for the Balkan States, and Ms. Marlyse Schaer from the Division for Principles and Relations with the Movement were in Greece from 19 to 23 May 1991 at the invitation of the Hellenic Red Cross. The principal aims of their mission were to pay an official visit to the National Society and learn more about its activities, and to meet with the Greek authorities to discuss ways of promoting knowledge of international humanitarian law and other matters relating to ICRC activities.

Recognition of the Bahrain Red Crescent Society (Circular No. 487 to the Central Committees)

1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (139) ◽  
pp. 560-561
Author(s):  
Marcel A. Naville
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
National Society ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Geneva Conventions

Ladies and Gentlemen,We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross, on 14 September 1972, officially recognized the Bahrain Red Crescent Society.The new Society formally applied for recognition by the International Committee on 16 October 1971. Its request was supported by various documents including its Statutes, the Bahrain Government Decree recognizing the Bahrain Red Crescent as a National Society auxiliary to the public authorities, a report on the Society's activities, and a copy of a letter containing a Bahrain Government statement of adherence to the Geneva Conventions.

The importance of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to National Societies: fundamental in theory and in practice

2009 ◽  
Vol 91 (876) ◽  
pp. 713-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Full Advantage ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Society ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Specific Function ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Auxiliary Role

AbstractThe International Conference is based in particular on the long-established National Society auxiliary role and partnership with States. The importance of the Conference is clear from the Movement's Statutes. In practice, not all National Societies have taken full advantage of the opportunities provided by the International Conference for interaction and relationship-building with their own authorities. Practical ways are suggested to help National Societies participate more actively in the Conference and to use it to good benefit before and afterwards. The International Conference itself could increase its relevance by making more of its specific function with respect to international humanitarian law.

Recognition of the Mauritanian Red Crescent Society (Circular No. 489 to the Central Committees)

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (148) ◽  
pp. 355-356
Author(s):  
Marcel A. Naville
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
National Society ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public

We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross, on 6 June 1973, officially recognized the Mauritanian Red Crescent Society.The new Society formally applied for recognition by the International Committee on 5 March 1973. Its request was supported by its Statutes, the Mauritanian Government Decree recognizing the Mauritanian Red Crescent as a National Society auxiliary to the public authorities, and a report on the Society's activities.

ASPECTS OF DISSEMINATION

1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (257) ◽  
pp. 152-154
Author(s):  
The Review
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Society ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Direct Concern

The year 1977 may be considered a turning point for the dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law and the Principles and the ideals of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. If we briefly review events of that year, we see that from 21 to 30 March 1977 the first European Red Cross Seminar on the Dissemination of the Geneva Conventions, organized by the Polish Red Cross and the ICRC, was held in Warsaw. Representatives of European and North American National Societies and of the ICRC and the League attended the seminar which adopted the following principles:«Although dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law is a responsibility of governments, it should be a direct concern of the Red Cross in general and particularly of each National Society in its own country.

Arms transfers, humanitarian assistance and international humanitarian law

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (325) ◽  
pp. 685-691
Author(s):  
Peter Herby
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Relief ◽  
Small Arms ◽  
Arms Transfers ◽  
The World ◽  
War Victims

The International Committee of the Red Cross has witnessed in its work for war victims throughout the world the increasingly devastating effects for civilian populations of the proliferation of weapons, particularly small arms. The difficulties of providing humanitarian assistance in an environment where arms have become widely available to many segments of society are well known to most humanitarian relief agencies today. However, until recently the relationships between the availability of weapons, the worsening situation of civilians during and after conflict and the challenges of providing humanitarian assistance have not been addressed directly.

Recognition of The Gambia Red Cross Society

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (164) ◽  
pp. 596-597
Author(s):  
Eric Martin
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
National Society ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Republic

We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross, on 10 October 1974, officially recognized The Gambia Red Cross Society.The new Society was constituted on 1 October 1966 and formally applied for recognition by the International Committee on 18 April 1974. Its request was supported by various documents including its Statutes, the Act of the Republic of the Gambia recognizing The Gambia Red Cross as a National Society auxiliary to the public authorities, and a report on the Society's activities.

German Red Cross in the Federal Republic of Germany: The efforts made by the German Red Cross in the Federal Republic of Germany to have the Additional Protocols ratified

1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (258) ◽  
pp. 269-271
Author(s):  
Andreas von Block-Schlesier
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
National Society ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Prisoner Of War ◽  
Postwar Germany ◽  
Second World

The German Red Cross in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) has attached great importance to the further development of international humanitarian law since the Second World War. The outcome of the Diplomatic Conference, which in 1949 led to the four Geneva Conventions, was understandably of special interest because of the situation in an occupied postwar Germany with millions of its countrymen missing or held prisoner of war. This interest was pursued after the German Red Cross in the Federal Republic and the German Red Cross of the German Democratic Republic were newly formed in 1950 and 1959. International law experts from the National Society in the FRG, in particular Walter Bargatzgy, its former President, and Dr. Anton Schlögel, the former Secretary General, not only played a key part in promoting its development at the International Conferences of the Red Cross which preceded the 1974–77 Diplomatic Conference on the reaffirmation and the development of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts but also closely followed the proceedings of that Conference and advised the Federal Republic's delegation to it. During the Diplomatic Conference, a working group composed of high-ranking officials from research and academic circles and government was formed by the National Society and still exists today. Specialists from the ICRC have regularly addressed the group.

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