| International humanitarian law Section explaining international humanitarian law (IHL), its role in the protection of victims of war and its relationship with the work of the ICRC. The main treaties are the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols 24-4-2009 The 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions
On August 12 1949, the four Geneva Conventions, the cornerstone of international humanitarian law, were adopted. The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols embody the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war. Sixty years on, these treaties continue to provide the best available framework for protecting civilians and those no longer participating in combat.(Humanitarian law) |
5-10-2009 ICRC position on an Arms Trade Treaty
The ICRC strongly supports the elaboration of a comprehensive, legally binding Arms Trade Treaty that establishes common international standards for the responsible transfer of conventional weapons (including small arms and light weapons) and their ammunition, based on States' responsibilities under international law, including international humanitarian law.(Humanitarian law) |
2-10-2009 The Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World
Second Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. Cartagena, Colombia, 29 November - 4 December 2009(Humanitarian law) |
3-4-2009 International Review of the Red Cross No. 873 - special issue on the typology of armed conflicts
The legal classification of armed conflict determines the obligations that arise for parties to a conflict. However, today's conflicts increasingly challenge the distinction between international and non-international armed conflicts. The current Review examines this fundamental question, which defines the law that protects the victims in these situations. (Humanitarian law) |
2-6-2009 Clarifying the notion of direct participation in hostilities
International humanitarian law hinges on the principle of the distinction between combatants and civilians. The latter are entitled to full protection from attack unless they “directly participate in hostilities". Following six years of expert discussions and research, the ICRC is publishing interpretive guidance that clarifies the meaning and consequences of direct participation in hostilities under humanitarian law.
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7-5-2009 International humanitarian law: a universal code - film
This film looks at the poor security conditions frequently confronting the civilian population, the fact that people often have to flee their homes, hostage-taking, the dangers posed by cluster munitions, and the work of preventing and punishing war crimes. It tells us the basic rules of the law and reminds us that respecting them is everyone's responsibility. (Humanitarian law) |
28-7-2008 The emblems: in the service of conflict and disaster victims
The red cross, red crescent and red crystal emblems are visible symbols of the protection afforded to war victims under the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. They also stand for the neutrality of those who bear them and indicate membership of the Movement. See also the photo gallery.(Humanitarian law) |
30-10-2008  Humanitarian Actors – Commitment to the protection of IDPs
Address by Angelo Gnaedinger, Director-General, International Committee of the Red Cross, Ten years of Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Achievements and Future Challenges, Oslo, Conference 16-17 October 2008(Humanitarian law) |
26-3-2009
ICRC Advisory services - latest publications
(Humanitarian law) |
26-10-2009
Other documents of interest
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International Review of the Red Cross 31-3-2009 Typology of armed conflicts in international humanitarian law: legal concepts and actual situations
International humanitarian law does not contain precise enough criteria to determine which situations fall within its material field of application, as the reality of armed conflict is more complex than the categories anticipated by IHL. This article sets out to show how these categories can be interpreted in light of recent international legal developments, and examines various controversial cases of application.Sylvain Vité (Info resources\International Review\2009 - No. 873) |
Official Statement 23-4-2005 Humanitarian Law, Human Rights and Refugee Law – Three Pillars
International humanitarian law, refugee law and human rights law are complementary bodies of law that share a common goal, the protection of the lives, health and dignity of persons. They form a complex network of complementary protections and it is essential that we understand how they interact. Statement at the International Association of Refugee Law Judges world conference, Stockholm, 21-23 April 2005, by Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, ICRC Legal Adviser.(Humanitarian law\Refugees and IDPs) |
26-12-2007 The interplay between international humanitarian law and international
human rights law in situations of armed conflict
International human rights law and international humanitarian law are traditionally two distinct branches of law, one dealing with the protection of persons from abusive power, the other with the conduct of parties to an armed conflict. Yet, developments in international and national jurisprudence and practice have led to the recognition that these two bodies of law not only share a common humanist ideal of dignity and integrity but overlap substantially in practice.(Humanitarian law) |
News release 30-10-2009 Pakistan: targeting civilians is the ultimate denial of humanitarian law
Islamabad/Geneva (ICRC) – In the wake of Wednesday's bombing in Peshawar – the latest and bloodiest in a string of attacks targeting civilians – the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is alarmed at the severe and intensifying impact of violence on Pakistan's civilian population.(News) |
News release 19-10-2009 ICRC and IPU urge lawmakers to ensure greater respect for rules of war
Geneva – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) are calling on parliamentarians and legislators around the world to do more to ensure that international humanitarian law (IHL) is both implemented and respected.(News) |
News release 8-10-2009 Yemen: more must be done to ensure aid gets through
Geneva/Sana'a (ICRC) – The conflict in northern Yemen is increasingly putting civilian lives at risk, leaving tens of thousands without vital aid and forcing many more to flee conflict areas. Unless more is done to protect civilians and ensure that they can receive life-saving aid, the situation will worsen further, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today.(News) |
News release 2-10-2009 Australia: launch of new book on wars of dignity in the Pacific
Sydney (ICRC) – A new book, Under the Protection of the Palm: Wars of Dignity in the Pacific, reveals that in Tuvalu killing women and children was considered shameful, that in the Solomon Islands captive warriors were treated with respect and in Samoa, fighters differentiated themselves from civilians by wearing white hats.(News) |
News release 3-8-2009 Eritrea: authorities terminate ICRC role in repatriations of Ethiopians
Geneva (ICRC) – The Eritrean authorities have informed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that it will no longer be involved in any repatriation of Ethiopians from the country. According to the authorities, this decision was motivated by the unilateral cancellation of two repatriation operations in late 2008 and early 2009 by Ethiopia.(News) |
News release 26-6-2009 Landmines and explosive remnants of war: delivering on the promises to victims
Geneva/Oslo (ICRC) - Experts from countries worldwide affected by mines and explosive remnants of war met in Oslo, Norway, from 23 – 25 June to discuss how to improve the quality of life of victims of landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war in their countries.(News) |
News release 14-5-2009 Somalia: civilians trapped amid fighting in Mogadishu
Nairobi/Geneva (ICRC) – The ongoing armed clashes in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, have left dozens of people dead. Hundreds have been wounded and admitted to hospitals and other medical facilities in the past few days.
(News) |
News release 12-5-2009 Chad: ICRC urges respect for international humanitarian law
N'Djamena/Geneva (ICRC) – International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) staff have been mobilized to bring aid to civilian and military victims of the violent clashes that over the past few days have pitted government troops against fighters of the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) in eastern Chad.(News) |
News release 12-5-2009 Sri Lanka: fighting hinders further ICRC evacuations of severely wounded people
Colombo / Geneva (ICRC) – Heavy fighting made it impossible today for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to evacuate wounded and sick people and their accompanying relatives from the combat area in north-eastern Sri Lanka, and to deliver 25 metric tonnes of food for thousands of civilians stranded there.(News) |
News release 6-5-2009 Afghanistan: ICRC confirms dozens killed in air strikes
Kabul/Geneva (ICRC) – Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed in air strikes on villages in Farah province on the evening of 4 May, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today.(News) |
News release 15-4-2009 Colombia: civilians continue to pay a heavy price for the conflict
Bogotá / Geneva (ICRC) – The armed conflict in Colombia continues to take a heavy toll on tens of thousands of civilians enduring death threats, direct attacks or the threat of forced recruitment, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned today.(News) |
News release 3-4-2009 Landmines and cluster munitions: a safer future within reach
Geneva (ICRC) – As the world marks the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on 4 April, millions of civilians in more than 70 countries live their lives in fear of weapons that keep on killing long after conflicts have ended, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today.(News) |
News release 5-3-2009 Women need safer access to health care in war situations
Geneva (ICRC) – In the run-up to International Women's Day, 8 March, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that the specific health-care needs of women are often ignored or insufficiently taken into account in war situations.(News) |
News release 5-3-2009 Iraq: ICRC helps bomb victims following blast near Hilla
Baghdad (ICRC) – In response to a bomb attack near the city of Hilla this morning, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urgently delivered medical supplies to Al Hashimiya General Hospital, in Babil governorate, which received the bulk of the injured.(News) |
News release 1-2-2009 Sri Lanka: Vanni hospital shelled
Colombo / Geneva (ICRC) – Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital in the northern Vanni region was shelled this afternoon, killing at least two people and injuring at least five others. The compound sustained two direct hits.(News) |
News release 27-1-2009 Sri Lanka: major humanitarian crisis unfolding
Colombo / Geneva (ICRC) – Hundreds of people have been killed and scores of wounded are overwhelming understaffed and ill-equipped medical facilities in Sri Lanka's northern Vanni region, following intensified fighting between the Sri Lanka Security Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).(News) |
News release 26-1-2009 Democratic Republic of the Congo: ICRC calls for respect for civilians in North Kivu
Kinshasa / Geneva (ICRC) – In connection with the ongoing military operation in North Kivu, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reminds all parties that they are obliged by international humanitarian law to preserve the lives and dignity of the civilian population and of people wounded or captured during the fighting.(News) |
News release 13-1-2009 Gaza: ICRC president demands greater respect for civilians and humanitarian workers
Geneva/Jerusalem/Gaza (ICRC) – During a visit to the Gaza Strip today, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, urged the fighting parties to spare civilians and let humanitarian workers do their work. "Both parties must ensure that all victims are cared for rapidly, at all times of day. In particular, the wounded must be evacuated and receive treatment," said Mr Kellenberger. "Injured people cannot wait for days, or even for hours, before being treated. The work of medical personnel must be respected – and this is not negotiable."(News) |
News release 9-1-2009 Gaza: ICRC medics work on
Geneva/Jerusalem/Tel Aviv (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is maintaining most of its humanitarian activities in Gaza while trying to clarify the circumstances under which one of its convoys came under fire on 8 January.(News) |
News release 31-12-2008 Gaza: civilians at risk as attacks continue
Geneva/Jerusalem/Tel Aviv (ICRC) – The rising number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel raises concerns that fundamental rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) may not be fully adhered to, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned today. (News) |
Press briefing 6-1-2009 Gaza: plight of civilians traumatic in 'full-blown humanitarian crisis'
Increasing numbers of civilians are dying or injured in the escalating crisis in Gaza. At a press conference in Geneva on 6 January, the ICRC's director of operations, Pierre Krähenbühl, described the situation of civilians in Gaza as intolerable, and called on the parties to the conflict to make it possible for the ICRC and the Palestine Red Crescent Society to reach people in need.(News) |
Operational update 5-1-2009 Gaza: wounded people dying while waiting for ambulances
As the number of casualties continues to rise in the Gaza Strip, the ICRC is focusing on arranging safe passage for Palestine Red Crescent ambulances, which collect the wounded and transport them to hospitals.(News) |
News release 28-12-2008 Gaza: ICRC calls for restraint as hospitals overwhelmed by scale of emergencies
Geneva / Tel Aviv / Jerusalem (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is extremely concerned by the mounting number of casualties inside the Gaza Strip, following a series of air strikes by the Israel Defense Forces. The strikes have killed at least 275 people and left more than 950 wounded, according to Palestinian health officials. In Israel, civilians have come under attack from rockets launched from Gaza that have killed at least one Israeli and wounded several others(News) |
| 25-3-2004
See also (Humanitarian law) |
25-3-2004 Promotion of IHL
with armed forces, police, students,... (Humanitarian law) |
25-3-2004 Fact sheets
Issued by the ICRC's Advisory Service(Humanitarian law) |
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