Belarus: ICRC brings together 14 countries to discuss international humanitarian law
About the event
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with the Belarusian Ministry of Justice, will be holding a Regional Seminar on Implementation of International Humanitarian Law in Minsk from 18 to 20 March 2015.
This international forum will bring together officials representing ministries of foreign affairs, defence and justice from 14 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. They will be discussing compliance with IHL and its integration in domestic legislation and participants will have an opportunity to exchange expertise and discuss topics of relevance to the region with leading experts.
In addition, the joint event will provide specialists from Belarus with an opportunity to share their experience with colleagues from the region.
The seminar will also be attended by representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States and the Council of Ministers of Defence of the CIS Member States.
Participants will address the challenges faced by the ICRC in responding to humanitarian problems globally and in the region, together with specific issues such as creating an adequate legal framework for missing persons and the protection of persons detained in connection with non-international armed conflict. The agenda will also include health care during armed conflict and the IHL implications of various weapons (cyber warfare, autonomous weapons systems, etc.).
Speakers include Oleg Slizhevsky, Belarusian Minister of Justice, Pascal Cuttat, Head of the ICRC Regional Delegation for the Russian Federation, Belarus and Moldova, Jean-Francois Queguiner, Head of the Thematic Legal Advice Unit from ICRC headquarters and Viktor Kolbanov, Secretary General of the Belarus Red Cross National Society.
Representatives of the media are invited to the opening ceremony and other sessions of the seminar (see the enclosed programme) and to the opening of the ICRC photo exhibition "Humanity Through the Ages," which will be attended by diplomats and seminar participants and takes place on Thursday 18 March at 19:30, in the Olimp hall of the President Hotel, Minsk.
For further information, please contact:
The ICRC communications department:
Galina Balzamova
gbalzamova@icrc.org
Tel: +7 903 784 0200 (mobile)
The press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Justice
Olga Shelkova
press@minjust.by
Tel: +375 17 200-03-84 / +375 29-639-67-48 (mobile)
Date & Time
18 March 2015 - 20 March 2015