Respecting and ensuring respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) requires extensive political mobilisation. The ratification of IHL treaties and other relevant instruments is a critical first …
Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and grandparents of the missing on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine cope as best they can with an impossible, wholly intolerable situation. Waiting to …
No one knows exactly how many people are missing because of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. What's for sure is that each and every one is a tragedy. Their stories moved thousands of visitors …
21-10-2016 Pretoria (ICRC) – The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, has completed a two day official visit to South Africa. During his visit Mr Maurer met with …
In Mosul, civilians must choose between staying or fleeing. In both cases, the risks are high. We call on all parties involved to do everything possible to protect civilians and allow them safe …
About 4,700 people who were displaced for one year due to armed violence in Surigao del Sur recently received substantial support from the Red Cross to rebuild their lives. The International …
As the military operation has started in Mosul, our main concerns are for the civilians trapped in the city. In this video, Katharina Ritz, head of our delegation in Iraq, calls on all parties to …
The ICRC Mission to the UK and Ireland and Cranfield University, a leading centre for the study of many forensic-related disciplines including ballistics and chemical, biological, radiological and …
Recovering the bodies of people killed in conflict and handling them with respect is essential, in Ukraine as in every country. Forensic personnel play a vital role, and the ICRC is supporting …
In Indonesia and Timor-Leste, the ICRC is enhancing emergency-response capabilities, supporting medical care in remote parts of Indonesia, promoting IHL and law-enforcement standards, maintaining a …
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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.
