Ukraine crisis: What the ICRC is doing
The ICRC has a delegation in Kiev, offices in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Odessa and sub-offices in Severodonetsk and Mariupol. We have over 50 staff in the country, and are currently sending further …
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Madagascar: Akanin’ny Marary does quality work for people with physical disabilities
The Akanin'ny Marary ("Home for the Sick") Centre in Madagascar is located in Ambositra, a town in the Amoron'i Mania region, Fianarantsoa province. It treats people with leprosy, tuberculosis and …
Syria: ICRC steps up aid efforts across Aleppo
Country-wide intensification of hostilities has claimed the lives of thousands and worsened access to water, food, and basic health-care services for tens of thousands of people. Over three million …
Iraq: Civilians need help as they flee fighting
The cities of Dohuk and Khanik are overwhelmed with families who have fled the fighting in Sinjar and elsewhere in northern Iraq. Many of them spent days without food and water on Mount Sinjar before …
From our archives: Rules to limit suffering
1864: Protecting wounded and sick soldiers Ottoman Empire, Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78. First-aid post for wounded soldiers. The 1864 Geneva Convention stipulated that wounded soldiers and those …
"We all need to fight for limits in war. Act now!"
ICRC director-general Yves Daccord and director of international law and policy Helen Durham call for compliance with the law of war and an end to attacks on civilians, especially health workers. The …
Rules of war (in a nutshell)
People have always used violence to settle disputes. And all cultures have always had the idea that there have to be limits on that violence, if we are to prevent wars from descending into barbarity. …
South Sudan: Combating the spread of cholera
Hand-in-hand with the South Sudan Red Cross, the ICRC is working to combat the spread of the disease in key locations, in particular those affected by recent violence. In this video we see how the …
Engaging with students and professors on the issue of sexual violence in armed conflicts - workshop
Group work on case studies from "How does law protect in war?" allows students to apply the Geneva Conventions to concrete issues related to sexual violence, such as criminal repression © ICRC / T. …
Philippines: ICRC president stresses need to resolve plight of Zamboanga displaced
27-08-2014 Geneva/Manila (ICRC) – Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), concluded his first official visit to the Philippines today. During his three-day …
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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.
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.