Urban Violence and the ICRC's Humanitarian Response
The destructive force of urban violence on people’s lives and livelihoods – and the suffering it causes – is a major concern of the ICRC in many countries in which it works around the world. This …
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40th Anniversary of the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions
This short report describes the impact that the Additional Protocols have had on norms, how they have shaped the practice of parties to conflict and why they remain relevant today, 40 years after …
Violence against health care - IRRC No. 889
Patients and health-care personnel alike face extraordinary risks in today's armed conflicts and other emergencies. Part I of this thematic issue focuses on patterns of attacks against health care, …
Multinational operations and the law - IRRC No 891/892
Multilateral operations - most commonly peacekeeping operations under UN command and control, via regional organizations, or some combination of the two - have traditionally focused on monitoring and …
The Roots of Restraint in War - Executive Summary
The Roots of Restraint in War - Executive Summary - is a summary of the main publication "The Roots of Restraint in War" report. Based on two years of research collaboration between the ICRC and six …
International Expert Meeting Report: The Principle of Proportionality
This report provides an account of the debates that took place during a meeting of international experts co-organized by the ICRC and Université Laval (Quebec) in June 2016 in Quebec. The subject …
Changing Behaviour - Tackling Violence Against Health Care in the Central African Republic, Niger and Nigeria
The publication presents case studies of initiatives taken in three countries to safeguard the delivery of health care. Each initiative was aimed at triggering behavioural changes among the local …
Missing Persons Project
The Missing Persons Project is a new community of practice for everyone involved in tackling this issue – practitioners, experts, institutions, States and families. Hundreds of thousands of people …
Philippines: ICRC response to COVID-19 (June 2020 edition)
As the number of COVID-19 cases grew steadily in May, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued to carry out programmes geared to support national authorities, health-care …
Medicolegal Facilities – Guidelines for Architectural Programming and Construction Assistance
The ICRC’s protection activities range from preventing and resolving cases of missing persons to ensuring that human remains are handled with dignity and supporting families during their sometimes …
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Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.
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International humanitarian law is based on a number of treaties, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, and a series of other instruments.
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Customary international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.