Search results

1832 results found

Autonomous weapons: Decisions to kill and destroy are a human responsibility

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Statement of the ICRC, read at the Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, held in Geneva from 11-16 April. The International Committee of …

Article

Atrocities in conflict mean we need the Geneva conventions more than ever

By Helen Durham, director of international law and policy at the ICRC. Don't dismiss the law of war – it has never been better known by the public and the outrage expressed when it is breached has …

Article

Launch of updated Commentaries on the First Geneva Convention: Speech given by ICRC President

Speech given by Mr Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the launch of the Updated Commentary on the First Geneva Convention. Updated Commentary on the First …

Article

Meeting discusses prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons

On 17-18 February 2016 the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) and the ICRC co-hosted a regional roundtable on the prohibition and elimination of …

Article

Why the Mine Ban Convention was worth fighting for and still is

By Helen Durham, director of International Law and Policy, ICRC Nearly 20 years have passed since the Ottawa Treaty came into being, banning anti-personnel landmines. This important piece of …

Article

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Hope takes flight

I'm eight years old. Ten months ago, my parents disappeared. Now my brothers and I are going back to our home town, Lubumbashi, to live with our uncle, our dad's big brother. Due to the conflict in …

Article

ICRC evidence to UK parliament: Respecting law of war reduces suffering

The ICRC has emphasised the need for compliance with international humanitarian law in evidence before the UK parliament's International Development Committee. ICRC senior policy advisor Markus …

Article

Philippines: Making water readily available in conflict-prone areas

In the marshlands of Barangay Butilen, Datu Salibo municipality, Maguindanao, in southern Philippines, about 2,000 people are taking refuge due to renewed fighting between government forces and the …

Article

ICRC internal displacement strategy for 2016–2019

The ICRC has long worked to protect and assist internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world, as part of our mandate to help people affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence. …

Article

Lebanon: Coping with the disappearance of loved ones

During the 15-year-long Lebanese war that ended in 1990, thousands of people went missing throughout the country. Today their fate is still unknown. For more than 40 years, the families of these …

Article

Didn’t find what you were looking for?

Try one of the following resources:

ICRC library

Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.

IHL treaties

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.

Customary IHL

Customary international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.