From our archives: Women and war
Franco-Prussian war, 1870-1871. A painting of Bazeilles, a village in France, after violent clashes there between French and Bavarian soldiers. In the foreground, among the victims, are a woman and …
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Protection and promotion of the human rights of migrants
25th session, Human Rights Council The ICRC acknowledges that migration is a complex phenomenon that concerns millions of people around the world. Although much attention has been paid to this issue …
Kenya: My assessment of aid
In this video Safina Bavuga, a Congolese refugee in Kenya, describes the humanitarian assistance he has received since arriving in Kakuma camp. He proposes some improvements that could be made and …
Colombia: river boat health care "From the Field" series
After nearly half a century of conflict, the villagers living on the banks of the Rio Caguan in southern Colombia are cut off from basic health care. Diseases which should be minor rapidly become …
ICRC visits Guantanamo for hundredth time
On 7 February 2014, the ICRC completed its 100th visit to the United States detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, where its delegates have been monitoring the detainees' living conditions since …
Advanced Training Course in International Humanitarian Law
The biannual advanced training course in international humanitarian law for university professors took place at the Humanitarium, the ICRC’s new conference and visitors' centre in Geneva, from 4-7 …
Detention in non-international armed conflict – First thematic consultation of government experts, January 2014.
The meeting covered conditions of detention and protection for especially vulnerable groups of detainees. This first in-depth meeting examined relevant protections drawn from a variety of …
India: ICRC's humanitarian action during the 1965 war
During the India-Pakistan conflict in 1965, the ICRC was recognized as a neutral intermediary, which allowed its delegates to visit prisoners of war and civilian detainees, assist in repatriation and …
150 years of humanitarian action: Where ICRC meets India
On a visit to New Delhi, the ICRC director-general discusses the strategic partnership between his organization and the Indian Red Cross Society and outlines the humanitarian services the ICRC has …
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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.