– National seminars on the application of international humanitarian law: regional seminars in Africa: Zimbabwe (10-17 February 1996; 23-26 February 1996 and 2-5 March 1996); Namibia (18-23 February 1996); Zambia (26 February-1 March 1996): South Africa (5-6 March 1996), report. Considerable successes remain unknown. This remains an essential means of implementing international humanitarian law, which is now widely accepted and recognized as the most original instrument available for this purpose. Moreover, this often makes the ICRC the only remaining link between the parties, who sometimes want to use this link for negotiations that go beyond issues of international humanitarian law. In these circumstances, the ICRC does not rule out facilitating political negotiations and thus contributing to the restoration of peace, provided that it does not have to interfere in fundamental issues itself. In 1863, Dunant and Dufour, with Gustave Moynier, Louis Appia and Théodore Maunoir, founded the Committee of Five, an international committee to help the wounded soldiers.[59] It became the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1876. There is no fixed dividing line between the “catalyst” function and the “means of transport”. It is true that attention to the difficulties encountered in the application of international humanitarian law often contributes to making this legal work, of which unfortunately little is known in many quarters, more familiar and easier to understand. The latter objective is the purpose of promotion, which itself has several aspects. Practice has shown that there is still room for improvement or clarification of international humanitarian law. First, the current rules for the repatriation of prisoners of war are perhaps less categorical. The demand for immediate repatriation is aimed at countering the tendency to make prisoners pay the price of procrastination and political bargaining. In this respect, the rules are perfectly adequate, as a large number of prisoners and their families still suffer from the agony of a long and unjustified separation.
MacBride`s groundwork and lobbying at the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights in Tehran led the Conference to adopt the remarkable Resolution XXIII on human rights in armed conflict.79 The resolution called for the protection of humanitarian principles during armed conflict and proposed the creation of additional or revised conventions to ensure such protection.80 Keith Suter suggests that the resolution be adopted to a Appeal to a wide range of governments. who had little time to think about its effects, considered them benign and would probably soon be forgotten.81 Only the South Vietnamese delegation and the Swiss delegation, which had taken note of the resolution, abstained in the final vote – the Swiss feared that the resolution would “impose a hand” on the ICRC.82 Thus, while the Tehran Conference did not achieve its stated objectives, 83, however, established the first official link between human rights and the law of armed conflict. Today, the value of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law goes beyond their original scope and meaning. Humanity in war, compassion for victims and impartiality, that is, no adverse distinctions based on race, ethnicity, religion, social class or any other factor, can and should be adopted as fundamental values, even in peacetime. Certainly, respect for every human being and compassion for those who suffer are values on which the future of the world must be built. By upholding these values even in times of war, the guardian of international humanitarian law also combats the feelings of powerlessness and fear that make people indifferent to each other and drive them into isolation. The second function identified here is that of acting as a catalyst. It was not enough to take note of the problems associated with the implementation of international humanitarian law; Those affected should be encouraged to think about how to treat them. This second function is, in a way, a logical consequence of the first. When a real problem arises on the ground, it is not enough to say that it cannot be solved by revising the law.
It is important to go further and look for solutions, not – and this is important – in isolation, but on the basis of the widest possible range of expertise and experience. In short, international humanitarian law must be transformed into a dynamic force in order to better serve the interests of those it is supposed to help and protect. International humanitarian law clearly defines the rights and obligations of parties and victims of armed conflict. The duty of combatants is to spare the civilian population and the wounded and to treat prisoners well. As for the victims, they all have the right to humane treatment; The wounded have the right to be treated, prisoners detained in good conditions and to have the population with the means necessary for their survival. Therefore, the ICRC`s field operations are clearly part of its role as guardian of international humanitarian law, as their objective is to ensure that its rules are applied in practice. The ICRC does this in two ways. The first is to draw the attention of the parties to their obligations regarding the treatment of victims and the means and methods of warfare, and to draw attention to any failure to comply with those obligations. The second is to protect victims and provide them with direct assistance to remedy the inevitable shortcomings identified by ICRC delegates in such circumstances.
The second aspect of direct action, i.e. practical assistance to victims, as described above, involves very complicated measures and poses problems in terms of decisions and priorities. The ICRC must have an overview of all situations so that it can focus its efforts where they are most needed. Public opinion is influenced by situations highlighted by the media, and governments are aware of this. The result is that some operations attract funds and a variety of humanitarian organizations, some reliable and others less so, while others stay outside of the so-called “charity trade.” It is therefore the ICRC`s duty to draw attention to operations that no longer make the headlines, either because they are carried out in remote locations or because they stem from stagnant and festering situations with no noteworthy developments. The defence of forgotten victims of such situations is certainly one of the duties of a guardian of international humanitarian law, which must extend its protection without discrimination to all those within its jurisdiction. Today, there are so many humanitarian organizations that strong consultation mechanisms are essential; It would be unforgivable to waste energy and money when the need is so immense and far from being met. This is not the place for a detailed examination of this complex problem, but it should be mentioned because the effort to make humanitarian assistance more effective also contributes to the implementation of international humanitarian law.
The ICRC therefore seeks to engage in dialogue with the main organizations involved in emergency humanitarian programmes in order to establish a common code of ethics that will make their activities more effective and enhance their credibility. [60] But that`s not all. Feeling that he had to share what he had experienced, he wrote his book A Memory of Solferino [3 ], which was a resounding success in Europe. His role as a witness, however, was only one step in a much more ambitious agenda. He followed up with two proposals that caused a sensation and achieved remarkable results. The first was to declare the army`s medical services neutral and give them a distinctive emblem so they could function on the battlefield. This is the source of international humanitarian law. The second was to form peacetime voluntary aid associations to act as relief organizations for the military medical services in wartime. This was the origin of the Red Cross movement [4]. As far as international organizations are concerned, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is of course the most likely to relate to those whose attitude or actions are closest to its own. For example, it is in regular contact with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for operational reasons, as the two organizations often work side by side in the field, but also to assess past operations and plan future operations, as UNHCR`s role in refugee law is similar to that of the ICRC in international humanitarian law.