scholarly journals Global surgery for paediatric casualties in armed conflict

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederike J. C. Haverkamp ◽  
Lisanne van Gennip ◽  
Måns Muhrbeck ◽  
Harald Veen ◽  
Andreas Wladis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hospital Mortality ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Patient Characteristics ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Adult Patients ◽  
Injury Patterns ◽  
Treatment Needs ◽  
Conflict Zones ◽  
Body Regions

Abstract Background Understanding injury patterns specific for paediatric casualties of armed conflict is essential to facilitate preparations by organizations that provide medical care in conflict areas. The aim of this retrospective cohort study is to identify injury patterns and treatment requirements that are specific for paediatric patients in conflict zones. Methods Characteristics of children (age < 15 years) treated in medical facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) between 1988 and 2014 in Kabul, Kao-i-Dang, Lokichogio, Kandahar, Peshawar, Quetta and Goma were analysed; patient characteristics were compared between treatment facilities and with those of adult patients (age ≥ 15 years). Results Of the patients listed in the database, 15% (5843/38,088) were aged < 15 years. The median age was 10 years (IQR 6–12); 75% (4406/5843) were male. Eighty-six percent (5012/5,843) of the admitted children underwent surgery, with a median of 2 surgeries per patient (IQR 1–3). When compared with adult patients, children were more frequently seen with fragment injuries, burns and mine injuries; they had injuries to multiple body regions more often and had higher in-hospital mortality rates. Conclusions Children more often sustained injuries to multiple body regions and had higher in-hospital mortality than adults. These findings could have implications for how the ICRC and other organizations prepare personnel and structure logistics to meet the treatment needs of paediatric victims of armed conflicts.

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.

Detention by armed groups: overcoming challenges to humanitarian action

2011 ◽  
Vol 93 (883) ◽  
pp. 759-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Tuck
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
International Character

AbstractArmed conflict and deprivation of liberty are inexorably linked. Deprivation of liberty by non-state armed groups is a consequence of the predominantly non-international character of contemporary armed conflicts. Regardless of the nature of the detaining authority or the overarching legality of its detention operations, deprivation of liberty may nonetheless have serious humanitarian implications for the individuals detained. Despite a need for humanitarian action, effective engagement is hampered by certain threshold obstacles, such as the perceived risk of the group's legitimization. Since the formative work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s founder, Henry Dunant, the ICRC has sought to overcome these obstacles. In doing so it draws upon its experience of humanitarian action in state detention, adapting it to the exigencies of armed groups and the peculiarities of their detention practice. Although not without setbacks, the ICRC retains a unique role in this regard and strives to ameliorate the treatment and conditions of detention of persons deprived of liberty by armed groups.

Ten questions to Philip Spoerri, ICRC Director for International Law and Cooperation

2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (887) ◽  
pp. 1125-1134 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The One

With the globalisation of market economies, business has become an increasingly prominent actor in international relations. It is also increasingly present in situations of armed conflict. On the one hand, companies operating in volatile environments are exposed to violence and the consequences of armed conflicts. On the other hand, some of their conduct in armed conflict may lead to violations of the law.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) engages with the private sector on humanitarian issues, with the aim of ensuring compliance or clarifying the obligations that business actors have under international humanitarian law (IHL) and encouraging them to comply with the commitments they have undertaken under various international initiatives to respect IHL and human rights law.In times of conflict, IHL spells out certain responsibilities and rights for all parties involved. Knowledge of the relevant rules of IHL is therefore critical for local and international businesses operating in volatile contexts. In this Q&A section, Philip Spoerri, ICRC Director for International Law and Cooperation, gives an overview of the rules applicable to business actors in situations of conflict, and discusses some of the ICRC's engagement with business actors.Philip Spoerri began his career with the ICRC in 1994. Following a first assignment in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, he went on to be based in Kuwait, Yemen, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Geneva, he headed the legal advisers to the Department of Operations. He returned to Afghanistan as head of the ICRC delegation there from 2004 to 2006, when he took up his current position. Before joining the ICRC, he worked as a lawyer in a private firm in Munich. He holds a PhD in law from Bielefeld University and has also studied at the universities of Göttingen, Geneva, and Munich.

The ICRC's approach to sexual violence in armed conflict: In conversation with Peter Maurer

2014 ◽  
Vol 96 (894) ◽  
pp. 449-455
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Complex Nature

In 2014, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) undertook a four-year commitment to consolidating and expanding its efforts to address sexual violence in armed conflicts and other situations of violence. In this Q&amp;A, ICRC President Peter Maurer reflects on the complex nature of sexual violence and on some of the specific challenges involved, including identifying victims and assessing and adequately responding to their needs. He emphasizes the need for a proactive, multidisciplinary approach comprised of assistance, protection and prevention efforts, and explains how the ICRC intends to step up its efforts to better respond to and prevent sexual violence in the coming years.

THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW: CONFERENCE REPORT

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 435-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cordula Droege ◽  
Louise Arimatsu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Conference Report ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
European Convention ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
London School ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Conflict Situations

On 24–25 September 2009, the Faculty of Laws, University College London and the International Humanitarian Law Project, London School of Economics held a conference in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross entitled ‘The European Convention on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law’.Armed conflict situations (including belligerent occupations) have increasingly become the subject of litigation before national courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). As a result, there is now a substantial body of case-law on the application of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in armed conflict situations. The ECtHR has had to engage with questions involving situations of armed conflict and occupation since the Turkish intervention in Northern Cyprus in the 1970s. The increasing resort to the ECHR by claimants whose rights have allegedly been violated in contemporary armed conflicts and occupations, raise new and complex questions of law. To what extent does the ECHR, as a human rights legal regime, apply in such situations, especially when alleged violations have been perpetrated abroad? How does the ECHR interact with international humanitarian law (IHL)?

Twenty years on: International humanitarian law and the protection of civilians against the effects of cyber operations during armed conflicts

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-48
Author(s):  
Laurent Gisel ◽  
Tilman Rodenhäuser ◽  
Knut Dörmann
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Cyber Warfare ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Medical Facilities

Abstract The use of cyber operations during armed conflicts and the question of how international humanitarian law (IHL) applies to such operations have developed significantly over the past two decades. In their different roles in the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the authors of this article have followed these developments closely and have engaged in governmental and non-governmental expert discussions on the subject. In this article, we analyze pertinent humanitarian, legal and policy questions. We first show that the use of cyber operations during armed conflict has become a reality of armed conflicts and is likely to be more prominent in the future. This development raises a number of concerns in today's increasingly cyber-reliant societies, in which malicious cyber operations risk causing significant disruption and harm to humans. Secondly, we present a brief overview of multilateral discussions on the legal and normative framework regulating cyber operations during armed conflicts, looking in particular at various arguments around the applicability of IHL to cyber operations during armed conflict and the relationship between IHL and the UN Charter. We emphasize that in our view, there is no question that cyber operations during armed conflicts, or cyber warfare, are regulated by IHL – just as is any weapon, means or methods of warfare used by a belligerent in a conflict, whether new or old. Thirdly, we focus the main part of this article on how IHL applies to cyber operations. Analyzing the most recent legal positions of States and experts, we revisit some of the most salient debates of the past decade, such as which cyber operations amount to an “attack” as defined in IHL and whether civilian data enjoys similar protection to “civilian objects”. We also explore the IHL rules applicable to cyber operations other than attacks and the special protection regimes for certain actors and infrastructure, such as medical facilities and humanitarian organizations.

Implementation of human rights and humanitarian law in situations of armed conflict

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (293) ◽  
pp. 120-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Weissbrodt ◽  
Peggy L. Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
International Court

Governments are principally responsible for the implementation of international human rights and humanitarian law during periods of armed conflict. During non-international armed conflicts, governments and armed opposition groups each bear responsibility for their obedience to those norms.International organizations can encourage the participants in armed conflicts to respect human rights and humanitarian law. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has long played a leading role in working for the application of humanitarian law during armed conflicts; it has also begun to refer to human rights law in situations of internal strife or tensions not covered by international humanitarian law. The United Nations General Assembly, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the International Court of Justice, and several other intergovernmental organizations have occasionally attempted to secure respect for human rights law during armed conflicts and have referred on an irregular basis to humanitarian law in such endeavors. The UN Security Council has almost exclusively used humanitarian law in its decisions.

The protection of rescue craft in periods of armed conflict

1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (246) ◽  
pp. 140-152
Author(s):  
Philippe Eberlin
Keyword(s):  
Working Group ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Telecommunication Union ◽  
International Telecommunication ◽  
Rescue Services ◽  
Special Working ◽  
Special Working Group

The National Lifeboat Societies and State-maintained rescue services, members of the International Lifeboat Conference (ILC), unanimously adopted the report by their special working group on the protection of rescue craft in periods of armed conflicts. The report was drawn up after the meeting in Geneva from 16 to 18 April 1984 of that working group, comprising representatives of the ILC, of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It contains recommendations for improving the protection of rescue craft and their crews and of fixed coastal installations and staff of lifeboat institutions in periods of armed conflict.

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