What does humanitarian law provide for in terms of material assistance to the victims of armed conflict?

The States party to the Geneva Conventions recognize the right of victims of armed conflicts to receive supplies indispensable to their survival. That right was further developed with the adoption of the Additional Protocols in 1977.

In an international armed conflict, the right to assistance includes in particular:

free passage for consignments of certain objects necessary to the survival of the civilian population (Art. 23, Fourth Convention, drafted to deal with blockades);
the duty of the Occupying Power to ensure essential supplies to the population of territories it occupies (Art. 55, Fourth Convention); if its own supplies are inadequate, the Occupying Power must agree to relief provided by outside sources (Art. 59, Fourth Convention).

Protocol I (Arts. 69 and 70) strengthens the body of rules adopted in 1949. For instance, a State at war must accept impartial humanitarian relief schemes carried out without discrimination for the population on its own territory, subject to the agreement of the parties concerned. If those conditions are met, however, it would be wrong to refuse such relief schemes, which are regarded neither as interference in the armed conflict nor as hostile acts.

In a non-international armed conflict, Protocol II specifies, among other things, that if the civilian population is suffering excessive deprivation owing to a lack of supplies essential to its survival, relief actions which are of an exclusively humanitarian and impartial nature and conducted without any adverse distinction must be undertaken subject to the consent of the warring parties . It is now generally recognized that the State must authorize purely humanitarian relief operations of this nature.

The ICRC and the right to assistance

The ICRC in any case has a right of initiative that enables it to offer its services to parties in conflict, in particular with a view to assisting the victims. Its offer of assistance (relief or other activities) does not constitute interference in the internal affairs of a State, since it is provided for in humanitarian law.

Humanitarian law and the "right to intervene on humanitarian grounds"

In so far as a right or even a duty to intervene is tantamount to justifying armed intervention undertaken for humanitarian reasons, this is a matter not for humanitarian law but for the rules on the legality of the use of armed force in international relations, i.e. of jus ad bellum
If there is armed intervention on humanitarian grounds, the ICRC must, in accordance with its mandate (see Index), ensure that those engaged in the intervention observe the relevant rules of IHL; it must also endeavour to aid the victims of the conflict.

The ICRC is neither for nor against the right to intervene. In the light of its own experience, the issue is a political one in which the ICRC cannot become involved without jeopardizing its humanitarian work.

Extract from ICRC publication International humanitarian law: answers to your questions