Afghanistan: From one picture to hundreds of sweaters
When one of our colleagues, working in Afghanistan, took a picture of a baby snug in a pink sweater, he didn't really have much in mind. He was hoping the image would go some way in showing the …
Skip to main content
Search results
Hong Kong: Highlights from IHL moot court competition
In the second general round, a mooter from Soochow University (Taiwan, China) gives her submission for the prosecutor. CC BY-NC-ND / ICRC / Yongtao XIANG General rounds' judges at the certificate …
Cambodia: Apart for 2 years, detainee’s family finally gets to meet him
When he told me that he had been sentenced to 20 years in prison, I felt as if my soul had been ripped apart. It’s been over two years since Champa's husband was detained in the Stung Treng prison, …
Nutrition and survival in Kasai
Over a million people have been displaced by serious violence that has been going on for nearly two years in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Far from home, and no longer …
In Iraq, people starting over once again
Shifaa lost her father to kidney failure in 2014. He was not able to get proper medical treatment due to the conflict. The 15-year-old's eldest brother is detained and she lives with her other …
Syria: 13 aid-filled trucks offloaded in Douma despite close-range fighting
Damascus/Geneva (ICRC) – Teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and UN on Friday delivered urgently needed aid in Syria despite fighting that …
A conversation with Dr Helen Durham on IHL and women
On this International Women's Day, Dr Helen Durham, director of the Humanitarian Law and Policy Department at the ICRC, discusses the role of women in shaping the discourse around international …
Iraq: Massive challenges, great opportunity in Iraq’s new phase, ICRC president says
08-03-2018 Baghdad/Geneva (ICRC) – Observations on Iraq's new recovery phase from Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who visited Iraq between 6 and 8 …
Assisting communities in need of humanitarian assistance in Southern Africa
Southern Africa facts and figures for 2017 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in southern Africa carries out humanitarian activities in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, …
Kyrgyztan: Overview of ICRC activities in 2017
In 2017, the ICRC continued to help to improve the treatment and conditions of detainees in the penitentiary system throughout Kyrgyztan. This also included tuberculosis treatment in three penal …
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.