Syria: facts and figures in 2022
Over a decade on, millions of people across Syria continue to bear the brunt of a conflict compounded by several crises. Not only lives have been lost, families shattered, and homes destroyed, but …
Skip to main content
Search results
Five things to know about the deadly legacy of explosive remnants of war
The aftermath of conflict continues to inflict harm on civilians, even long after hostilities have ended. Deadly weapon contamination by unexploded munitions is wreaking havoc on communities around …
Reducing Civilian Harm in Urban Warfare: A Handbook for Armed Groups
Direct contact and dialogue with armed groups enables access to territories and persons they control and allows the ICRC to assist people affected by armed conflict. As armed groups will often fights …
The Practice of Non-State Armed Groups: Implementing IHL Rules on Detention and Urban Warfare
Humanitarian engagement with armed groups has long been a defining feature of the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) work. Direct contact and dialogue with armed groups, enable access …
Everyday activities come with life-changing risk
Tetiana, a 64 year-old from Donetsk, stepped on an anti-personnel mine while gardening in Gornyak settlement in the Kuybyshevskiy district of Donetsk, changing her life in an instant. "My mother …
An update on ICRC’s financial situation
As overseas humanitarian assistance budgets are expected to decrease over the next two years, the ICRC will need to be more deliberate in directing efforts towards programmes and places where we can …
Detention by Non-State Armed Groups
The ICRC’s report on ‘Detention by Non-State Armed Groups: Obligations Under International Humanitarian Law and Examples of How to Implement Them’. Detention – by states and non-state armed groups …
Mine Awareness Day: More people today face danger from mines, UXO than 2 years ago
03-04-2023 Geneva (ICRC) – On the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on 4 April, Erik Tollefsen, the head of the weapons contamination unit for the …
Detention by Non-State Armed Groups: Obligations under International Humanitarian Law and Examples of How to Implement them
Detention – by states and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) – is a reality in armed conflict. In 2021, the ICRC estimated that over 145 armed groups were holding detainees. Detention puts people in a …
Physical Rehabilitation Programme 2022 Annual Report
This review of the Physical Rehabilitation Programme’s worldwide activities in 2022 provides an illustrated, region-by-region overview of how the ICRC helps people with disabilities participate fully …
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.