Central America: Safeguarding migrants
Hundreds of thousands of Central Americans risk kidnap, robbery, rape and misfortune every year to seek a better life up north. Some reach their goal, others fall off trains and lose their limbs. …
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Strengthening compliance with IHL: Meeting with a group of States, November 2012
Discussions on Strengthening Compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Geneva, 8/9 November 2012 …
Internal conflicts or other situations of violence – what is the difference for victims?
At what point does violence become an armed conflict? What difference does it make to those involved in or affected by that violence? The distinction matters because how the situation is …
Every landmine in the ground is a threat to civilians
The 12th meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines took place on 3-7 December 2012 in Geneva. During this event, the ICRC took the opportunity to …
Health care in danger: The human cost
The law says hospitals, ambulances and health-care workers must be protected and should never be targeted as they carry out their regular duties. This is often far from the reality. Worldwide, the …
Azerbaijan: combating multi-drug resistant TB in detention
Multi-drug resistant TB is spreading at alarming rates around the world, particularly in much of the former Soviet Union. This deadly disease is particularly virulent in places of detention. But in …
Haiti: water for Cité Soleil
Cité Soleil, a large working-class area of Port-au-Prince, is just starting to recover from years of violence, during which it was too dangerous to provide even the most basic of services. © ICRC / …
Working for the ICRC: Information and communication technology engineer
Without its information and communication technology engineers, the ICRC would be unable to help the victims of conflict. Mastery of simple and complex technology, from HF radio to data transmission …
Hunger strikes in prisons: The ICRC's position
In the case of hunger strikes in prisons, the role of the ICRC, as a humanitarian organization, is to strive to ensure that the treatment detainees receive and the conditions in which they are held …
Contemporary challenges for IHL
In contemporary armed conflicts civilians are the primary victims of violations of IHL committed by both State and non-State parties. The nature of contemporary armed conflicts continues to provide …
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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.