Drawn together: The plight of the missing
The International Day of the Disappeared is marked on 30 August. But why isn't more being done to resolve the fate of so many people? For a few hours there will be news stories about the 'missing'. …
Skip to main content
Search results
International Day of the Disappeared: Why it matters
Anyone can understand the grief and desolation felt when a loved one dies. But what about the crushing hurt and uncertainty when somebody just disappears? Hundreds of thousands of people are …
Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions: Speech by ICRC Vice-President
Address delivered by Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the ICRC, at the Sixth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Geneva, Switzerland. As you know, the Convention on …
International Day of the Disappeared 2016: The missing in Northern Ireland.
The International Day of the Disappeared, marked each year on 30 August, recognizes people still missing through armed conflict, disaster and migration. The ICRC and National Red Cross and Red …
Ethiopia: Student wins 2016 East African IHL Essay Competition
A law student from Dilla University in Ethiopia won the 2016 International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Essay Competition. Henok Ashagre's essay was voted the best out of 58 submissions from five east …
Vulnerability and protection of migrants
A Conference co-organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) took place on 22 September 2016 at Solvay Library in Brussels. …
Protracted Conflict and Humanitarian Action: Some Recent ICRC Experiences
Protracted conflicts are a major cause of human suffering and can lead to long-term displacement, migration and development reversals. This report describes the theoretical and practical aspects of …
Georgia: An icon for the missing
One of the main problems for the families of missing persons in Georgia was their concern that in the Orthodox Church there were only two places where people could light candles: one for the living …
The role of humanitarian actors in generating respect for the law
From 12-16 September 2016 the ICRC convened aid workers from across the world and the humanitarian sector, for the 20th ICRC Course on IHL for humanitarian practitioners and policy makers in …
Speech by ICRC president: Global compact for responsibility sharing for refugees, respect for international law
Speech by Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, on "Global compact for responsibility sharing for refugees, respect for international law" at the UN Summit for …
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.