Status update: The ICRC’s legal standing explained
Due to its unique mandate, the ICRC enjoys specific privileges and immunities under international and domestic law. But why exactly does the ICRC need them? Knut Dörmann, the ICRC's chief legal …
Due to its unique mandate, the ICRC enjoys specific privileges and immunities under international and domestic law. But why exactly does the ICRC need them? Knut Dörmann, the ICRC's chief legal …
A spike in violence has seen tens of thousands of people uprooted from their communities in north-eastern Nigeria. The influx of people to urban centres has placed additional strain on limited …
Geneva (ICRC) – The family members of 23 people, who were unaccounted for in connection with the armed conflicts of 1990s and August 2008, were informed that their loved ones were positively …
In a remote camp in Iraq's Diyala governorate, around 150 families live together. You might not have heard about them in the news, but just like any other camp, people here are struggling to survive. …
According to official figures, over 2,300 persons are still unaccounted for as a consequence of armed conflicts of the 1990's and August 2008. In search for the missing people, 60 sites were …
Three years ago, the waste situation was out of control in La Joyita prison in Panama – a country where recycling, despite being all the rage elsewhere these days, is still not the norm. In prisons, …
Standing their ground over four rounds of pitching and defending arguments, budding lawyers from Peking University, China, won the 17th Red Cross International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot for …
These are the stories of four indomitable women from Liberia, whose lives are both tragic and inspiring. They are also universal stories of struggle, courage, dignity and determination of women …
A regional feature from Asia-Pacific This International Women's Day, we armed ourselves with searchlights to look for inspiration – that was just our tunnel vision. We soon realized that this land is …
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it takes pedal power to reach the most remote villages in the Kasai region. Joseph works up a sweat as he pedals his way along the dirt roads. But he is not …
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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.
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 international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.