International Committee of the Red Cross

Editado en el año 2000, por la Cruz Roja Mexicana con una segunda impresión en 2003, a la que se incorpora la presentación del doctor José Antonio Fernández Arena, Director General de la Cruz Roja Mexicana (2003-2005). El texto es del comandante Ismael Arturo Montero García, quien además compila y selecciona en algunos apartados argumentos y propuestas de otros especialistas. La publicación es una obra de consulta para el personal de emergencia, que también es útil para organizaciones e individuos que, ya por actividades deportivas, de servicios turísticos, labores de auxilio, o en casos de desastre, se ven involucrados en terrenos de difícil acceso. Hoy en día, la travesía y el rescate por terrenos agrestes es una cuestión práctica en donde se ha adquirido un alto nivel tecnológico, y se ha creado una clase especial de técnicos vinculados al medio que, no por especializados, son ajenos a una propuesta sencilla y práctica para el caso mexicano, como lo intenta esta publicación.

Internal displacement is a global challenge, but it is also heavily concentrated in a few countries and triggered by few events. Since the end of the Cold War, the phenomenon of forced displacement gained more global attention. Forced displacement involves the involuntary movement of people from their habitual place of residence to a location within their country of nationality; or across an internationally recognised border. This situation in most cases exposes the displaced people to some vulnerabilities. Among other classes of displaced people, the most notable groups of concern are refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The Study adopts a qualitative research design. Under this method, the research relied on secondary sources of data which was derived from books, journals, articles, newspapers and internet sources. Also, historical analysis was used to Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas, values, personalities, behaviours, and institutions in regards to this work, alongside content analysis to find out about the causes of displacement and efforts on international organisations. The research finds out that the ICRC provides assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the form of food, essential household items, shelter, water, sanitation and health care, including nutritional as well as mental health and psychosocial programs. The ICRC also supports IDPs returning to their places of habitual residence through food, agricultural inputs, cash grants, support in rebuilding houses, and improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. This work therefore recommends that practical implementation of all treaty and constitutional obligations towards the IDPs, particularly, the AU Kampala Convention to which Nigeria is a party be upheld.

The twentieth century was stigmatized by the high number of armed conflicts which took place all over the globe; from South Africa to Finland and from Colombia to China the world suffered immensely. The huge number of civilians’ and combatants’ deaths led to a parallel increase in the number of treaties. From the Geneva Conventions of 1864 to the Hague Conference of 1907 and from the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to the Additional Protocols of 1977 the law governing armed conflicts steadily developed. However, the fall of the Berlin wall and the consequences of the 9/11 attacks changed the world order. From the Yugoslavian war to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Syria the acquis of the past were put into question; humanitarian emergencies have become more complex than ever, parties to the conflict do not hesitate to violate the laws of war, humanitarian principles are challenged, access to humanitarian organizations is denied and, the most important, civilians are paying an extremely high death toll.

According to several reports, the number of civilians’ victims of armed conflicts, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (I.D.Ps) and people in need of treatment has rapidly increased. Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Central African Republic (CAR) are some of the main contemporary humanitarian emergencies were civilians rights, as described in International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and other corpus of law, have been violated. However, one of the most appalling issues is the consequences of war on vulnerable populations and, more specifically, on children.

Child recruitment and their use as child soldiers, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access are the most important challenges that children have to face and the international community seems unable to react.

Keywords; children, protection, child recruitment and use, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, denial of access, attacks on schools and hospitals, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Human Rights Law

Word count; 34.987

Problem of this research is the role of International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) as an International Non Governmental Organization (INGO) engaged in humanitarian efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya conflict in Rakhine State, Myanmar. ICRC is also the holder of an international mandate to assist humanity and as a disseminator of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in an armed conflict or other violent conflict, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions 1949. This research try to analyze what ICRC's doing to provide humanitarian assistance without interfering with the internal matters of the Myanmar government, result and the obstacles ICRC had to face during the process. The research method used is qualitative method. Data were collected by conducting interviews and literature studies, and online search. These results indicate the steps and results of what the ICRC did in providing humanitarian assistance to victims of the Rohingya conflict in the state of Rakhine in Myanmar. This research cloncludes the ICRC had a humanitarian assistance program in dealing with victims of Rohingya conflict. The obstacles ICRC faced is bad infrasturcture and ICRC the only one humanitarian organization who have access to conflict area in Rakhine State

«A Heart of Stone Only Would Not Have Suffered with Those Who Suffered»: Emotions and Humanitarian Action in Switzerland during World War I

In the last few years, the history of emotions has increasingly attracted academic interest. However, there are almost no studies – at least in a historical perspective – on the links between emotions and humanitarian action. Yet, it is quite clear that emotions play an important role in shaping the motivation to help others.
Taking as an example the Swiss charities’ activities during World War I, the aim of this article is to highlight the role of emotions as a motive for humanitarian action.
Six emotions were arbitrarily chosen: compassion, fear, guilt, pride and vanity, and finally
curiosity. For each of them, the goal is to understand how and why they led to humanitarian action, whether they could also have been a consequence of the latter, and how they emerged. Finally, the numerous links between these emotions and their utility for both authorities and charitable organisations are highlighted.

Even in the earliest times, when tribes began to emerge, and at the time of classification, the principle of oppression of the weak by the strong was emerging in society. This manifested itself in the relations between both people and tribes. Thus, powerful tribes defeated the weaker ones and firstly, created the tribal union, and then developed them into the states. From one point of view, the war that we all try to put an end, was one of the important factors in the past that had allowed us to move from one era to another. But the requirement of today is the unity and cooperation of the states, which is directly related to the integration and development of the world economy and other important areas. At a time when information and economics are so advanced, the confrontation between states can end up in our world. But cooperation can help solve global problems that we perceive as a threat to the world. Global problems are the problems that are of concern to the whole society, which are of utmost importance, and which can be solved only by the cooperation of all countries, and the solution of these problems brings the states closer together. In most of the developing countries, these problems are not given much importance, they have the interests of their countries, and the task of the developed countries is to help them develop, to bring about these issues, and to save our world through unity. We can conclude that international law has reached its highest level of development through the adoption of conventions, declarations and other documents that have been adopted in our time.

El 23 de marzo de 1994 Juan Pablo II fue a la capilla ardiente donde reposaban los restos de Mons. Álvaro del Portillo, obispo, prelado del Opus Dei. El hecho manifiesta que entre ellos hubo una cercana relación. El estudio se centra en el calendario de encuentros en persona o por escrito.

This presentation aims to analyze the difficulties connected with the spread of epidemics in times of war, which may be considered "an emergency within an emergency", involving difficult problems with no easy solutions, from both a practical and legal point of view.

The protection of the right to health during armed conflicts is governed by an international regulatory framework which results in a complex reading and understanding picture for the fight against epidemics and pandemics, including COVID-19. The Geneva normative system, created and developed since 1949 to meet different objectives and varying needs, could hardly be expected to be ready or immediately proactive when faced with an unprecedented historical challenge such as the coronavirus. Nevertheless, this analysis shows that, if analyzed and interpreted in an evolutionary, systematic and coherent manner, international humanitarian law seems capable of providing a response to COVID-19 and, more broadly, to controlling epidemics in times of war.

What is certainly needed is to revise the relevant legal arrangements through an evolutionary re-interpretation and, above all, to guarantee a joint response and coordinated intervention capacity between all systems and at all levels. While examining the normative point of view of the issue and the practice of the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, this paper also aims to open a debate, that can be further developed, on other relevant aspects, such as the World Health Organizations's activities and the accountability perspective, including the international criminal justice system.

The ICRC often acts as a neutral intermediary between parties to armed conflict. What does it mean? When, where, and why does the ICRC play such a role? To whom is it beneficial?

This article, divided into two parts, answers these questions and highlights the ICRC’s role from historical and contemporary perspectives. Based on existing internal and external literature, the first part highlights a few relevant examples from the past and shows how the ICRC has fulfilled its mandate throughout time and all over the world. It showcases the variety of situations, conflicts, and issues where the ICRC acted as a neutral intermediary by selecting a few emblematic historical examples.

This contribution then focuses on the ten past years (2010-2019). Thus, this article does not contain information on the ICRC’s action after 2019. Based on the ICRC’s annual reports and a systematic review of the contexts where the ICRC has been active, a thematic approach highlights the main categories of activities that characterize the ICRC’s work as a neutral intermediary. We gathered all relevant information in a data set that ICRC staff can use internally. This second part only focuses on examples where the ICRC has publicly communicated its action. The examples showcased in this section come from the ICRC annual report and are sometimes reproduced verbatim. Thus, it does not comprehensively analyze all activities as a neutral intermediary.

The paper deals with the issue of protection of civilians during armed conflict. 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions, which raises new questions about the future of civilian protection in time of war. The paper opens with a presentation of the development of international humanitarian law during the 19th and 20th centuries; i.e., the beginnings of international laws aimed toward civilian protection. The milestone is the year 1949, when the Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war was adopted, the first convention to apply to persons not immediately involved in the conflict, with the aim of preventing them from becoming war victims. By doing so, the International Committee of the Red Cross expanded its activity to the non-organised masses of civilians, giving rise to new challenges. Despite the adoption of the Convention, the share of civilian casualties in time of war continued to increase, reaching as many as 90% of all war casualties by the 1990s. As a result of this finding, two Additional Protocols were added to the Convention in 1977, with the explanation that international humanitarian law would thus become more universal and adaptable to modern conflicts. But although the two Protocols further expanded the field of activity and the protection of civilians, the increasing trend of civilian casualties did not slow down. Therefore, in 1999, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1265, condemning the intentional targeting of civilians and attacks on objects protected under international law, and calling on all parties in conflicts to end such practices. However, in its 2019 report, the secretariat of the UN Security Council notes with concern that “the state of the protection of civilians today is tragically similar to that of 20 years ago.” The author of this paper observes that the existing international law related to the protection of civilians during armed conflict does not require a thorough renovation, rather the willingness of all parties in conflicts to respect the existing protection provisions. The fundamental challenge of the 21st century is therefore succeeding in having the conventions and protocols of the existing international humanitarian law ratified by all countries involved in armed conflicts, and, particularly by introducing an efficient system of punishment and raising awareness regarding the immunity of the civilians, ensuring that this law is actually abided by. The Campaign for the Universality and Effectiveness of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) system has in recent years proven successful in pursuing this goal, and its example should be followed by an awareness campaign for the immunity of civilians in time of war and, thereby, for the ratification of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.

This course represents a basic introduction to international humanitarian law (IHL) or law of armed conflict (LoAC). Through lectures, seminars and practical exercises, the course will acquaint students with most of the significant aspects of this topical field including its history, theory, and practice. Beginning with the discussion of the historical origins of IHL and LoAC, its philosophical foundations and the emergence of understanding that principle of humanity should be respected even during armed conflict, the course will go on to cover such topics as: main sources of IHL – the Hague Law (rules on conduct of hostilities) and Geneva Law (protection of individuals and objects); ius in bello; status of combatants; qualification of armed conflict; war crimes; domestic implementation of IHL; IHL legal regime and its differences from other legal regimes (such as international criminal law and international human rights law). Students will learn about the work and mandate of humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) during armed conflict and will be introduced to the governing principles of IHL.

On 15 September 1916, in their struggle to take the village of Lesboeufs on the Somme, the British Guards’ Division lost no fewer than sixty officers killed or mortally wounded. The Coldstream Guards suffered particularly severely. With their three battalions attacking in line abreast for the first time, twenty-two officers died. Among the casualties of the 1st battalion of the 2nd Guards Brigade was Lt. Hugh Henshall Clifford Williamson, who disappeared off the face of the earth. That he was killed on 15 September is not in doubt. He was reported in the battalion’s War Diary as having been killed in action and there were several, if contradictory, eyewitness accounts of his death. But exactly when and how he died and what happened to his body were questions that were never definitively answered. As a result, his distraught parents would never accept his death. This article examines their desperate and long-running responses to the news that their only child had not only been killed but had also disappeared without trace. It also considers the avenues open to bereaved relatives in their search for the missing and assesses the policies of the War Office with regard to those whose remains were never found.

The debate over which actors contribute to customary international law generally centers on international organizations and other non-State actors, and easily accepts States as relevant actors. However, on rare occasions States can be governed by an international organization. When an international organization becomes entangled with a State government, the normal participation in the formation of customary international law becomes confused. A survey of practice citing to the acts of international territorial administrations shows that it is possible for these governance arrangements to contribute to customary international law, even though those acts are formally undertaking by an international organization.

Durante il pontificato di Benedetto XV si istaurarono proficui rapporti tra la Santa Sede e il Comitato Internazionale della Croce Rossa, per la realizzazione di
attività a scopo umanitario. Finita la Prima Guerra mondiale, la collaborazione continuò per far fronte alle urgenze umanitarie del dopoguerra. Alla fine degli anni Trenta, i rapporti si fecero meno intensi a causa dei mutamenti sociali, del superamento dell’emergenza umanitaria, della crisi del Comitato Internazionale
della Croce Rossa e delle informazioni negative pervenute alla Santa Sede in relazione all’attività del Comitato.

The ACMC has posted this document here with the permission of the Australian Red Cross. The ACMC claims no authorship of this publication.

Australian Red Cross is proud to produce this handbook which
we hope will contribute to a greater understanding of IHL among all
parliamentarians and public officials and encourage active promotion and respect for ‘the law of war’.

IHL and the establishment of the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement (the Movement) are intimately connected. In 1859,
young Swiss banker Henry Dunant witnessed a bloody battle in Solferino,
Italy. As many as 40,000 men were dead or lay dying on the battlefield
without medical attention. Dunant responded by organising local people
to treat the soldiers’ wounds, feed and comfort them. When he returned
to Geneva, Switzerland, he proposed two ideas. One was the creation of
national relief societies to assist armed forces’ medical services in time of war. The other was a treaty that would commit governments to protect
those giving help to the wounded on the battlefield.

To promote these ideas, in 1863 Dunant and others established what was later to become the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The following year, legal rules inspired by the Red Cross and known as
the first Geneva Convention were created. Both these rules and the Red
Cross share the same goal: to prevent and mitigate human suffering. The
Convention provided care for the wounded; defined medical services
on the battlefield as neutral; and established the red cross on a white
background as a protective emblem.

Since then IHL has continued to develop: the 1949 Geneva Conventions
and their Additional Protocols give elements of the Movement specific
roles which they are legally entitled to perform during times of armed
conflict. The emblems used by the Movement (the red cross, red crescent and red crystal) are legally regulated under international and domestic law and are universally recognised as symbols which offer protection.

We have prepared this handbook to assist public officials to develop
greater awareness of this life-saving legal regime.

While the executive arm of Government has primary responsibility for
Australia’s IHL obligations, Parliament has a critical role to play in enacting the legislation that ensures IHL is legally binding throughout Australia – for government, public officials and civil society.

As a parliamentarian you can review executive ratifications or accessions to IHL treaties, support the development of new IHL instruments and allocate adequate resources for IHL training.
IHL is of direct importance to your constituents. This is especially true for personnel serving with Australian armed forces and their families, and for those Australians coming from conflict-affected countries, whose families may still be at risk of harm.

Parliamentarians play a crucial role as opinion leaders within the broader
community and have unique opportunities to raise matters of concern
and educate the public on important international legal principles. We
encourage you to use your influence to promote respect for IHL and for
the red cross emblem, a symbol of impartial humanitarian assistance, to
ask constituents to report emblem misuses and promote understanding
of its protective intent.

Australian Red Cross values the assistance received for our humanitarian work in Australia and internationally from representatives in state, territory and national parliaments. In turn, our doors are always open to answer questions and offer confidential briefings on IHL matters of interest. We also warmly acknowledge those Australian parliamentarians who are Parliamentary Friends of Red Cross. This handbook is intended to contribute to the goal expressed in its title: promoting respect for international humanitarian law, thereby strengthening the underlying message of the Geneva Conventions - that even wars have limits.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a private humanitarian organization(association) often mischaracterized as an international organization or an NGO. Originally established on 9 February 1863 in Geneva as the “Committee of the Five,” it was subsequently renamed as “International Committee of the Red Cross” in 1876. Its founder was the Swiss businessman Henry Dunant who, after witnessing the Battle of Solferino in 1859 and its humanitarian aftermath, advocated for the formation of national voluntary relief organizations to help nurses and treat wounded soldiers during war as well as for the development of international treaties to guarantee the protection of those wounded on the battlefield.

ÖZ İçinde bulunulan yüzyılda dünya mercek altına alındığı takdirde, karşı karşıya kalınılan manzara pek de iç açıcı görünmemektedir. İç savaşlar, insan hakları ihlalleri, ulusal ve uluslararası güvenlik sorunları, etnik çatışmalar, doğal felaketler, küresel iklim değişiklikleri sonucu yaşanan problemler, açlık ve yoksulluk, terör, şiddet ve daha niceleriyle çevrelenen bir dünya kompozisyonu bulunmaktadır. Her birinin altında farklı nedenlerler veya birbiriyle iç ilişkili sorunlar kümesi olsa da küreselleşmenin sunduğu olumlu etkilerden biri olan bilgi teknolojilerinin gelişmesiyle, dünyanın herhangi bir yerinde meydana gelen olumsuz bir durum karşısında uluslararası toplum bu sorundan kısa sürede haberdar olmakta ve soruna karşı gerekli tepkiyi ortaya koyabilmektedir. Bu bağlamda da pek çok sorun uluslararası platformda ortak bir payda ekseninde ele alınmaktadır. Karşı karşıya kalınan sorunlar ekseninde altı çizilmesi gereken en önemli sorunlardan birisi de iç savaş olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu noktada da niceliksel olarak artış gösteren iç savaşların mevcudiyeti, insani diplomasi kavramına alan açmaktadır. İnsani diplomasi denildiğinde de bu alanda çeşitli bölgelerde faaliyet gösteren fakat literatürde bu kavramla bağdaştırılarak analiz edilmeyen aynı zamanda da özellikle Türkiye'deki faaliyet alanının sınırlı olması ekseninde yeterli düzeyde bilinmeyen Uluslararası Kızılhaç Komitesi, insani diplomasi alanındaki baş aktörlerden biri konumunda bulunmaktadır. Bu bağlamda çalışma çerçevesinde insani diplomasi kavramı, Uluslararası Kızılhaç Komitesi'nin deneyimleri ekseninde sorunsallaştırılacaktır. Nihai amaç ise insani diplomasi kavramı ve bu alanda önemli bir rol oynayan Uluslararası Kızılhaç Komitesi'nin görev ve misyonuna dair farkındalık ve bilinçlilik düzeyinin artmasını sağlamaktır. Nitekim dünyanın geniş bir kısmında devam etmekte olan çatışmalar ve her daim yeniden ortaya çıkabilecek çatışma tehdidi, karşı karşıya kalınılan temel realiteyi yansıtmaktadır. ABSTRACT If the world put under the scope in the current century, there is the underwhelming scene. There is a world composition that is surrounded by civil wars, human rights abuses, national and international security problems, ethnic conflicts, natural disasters, problems regard to global climate cahanges, starvation and poverty, terror, violence and many more. Although there are different reasons or interrelated problem clusters under the each of them, international community is aware of these problems that occur anywhere in the world and gives reaction to them in a short time with the progress of information technologies that are one of the positive impacts of globalization. In this context, many problems are addressed by international platform with in the scope of common ground. In the axis of living problems one of the most important problems that must be underlined is civil war. In this point, the presence of civil wars that is showing an increase quantitatively open space to the concept of humanitarian diplomacy. When it called humanitarian diplomacy, International Committee of Red Cross is one of the main actors in this field. Although it is active in regard to humanitarian diplomacy, in literature its humanitarian diplomacy isn't analyzed. Also, it is well known because of being limited its area of activity especially in Turkey. In this context, the concept of humanitarian diplomacy will be problematized with in the axis of the experiences of the Committee by this study. Also, ultimate purpose is to bring to light for the level of awareness and conciousness with regard to the concept of humanitarian diplomacy and the task and the mission of Committee, which plays an important role in this field. Hence, continued conflicts in the large of the world and conflict threat that can occur again at any time reflect main reality.

Proceedings of a judicial, quasi-judicial, public inquiry, fact-finding or similar nature, in which confidential communications of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) risk being disclosed, raise important challenges for the ICRC's capacity to carry out its internationally recognized mandate. In order to carry out that mandate and fully assume its operational role in the protection and assistance of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence, confidentiality is an essential tool that allows the ICRC to build the necessary trust to secure access, open channels of communication, influence change and ensure the security of its staff. The purpose of this Memorandum is to, first, provide the rationale for and broad practical context of confidentiality as the ICRC's working method; second, outline the legal sources on which the ICRC bases its requests that national and other authorities protect the confidentiality of its communications from public disclosure and from being used in legal proceedings; and third, set out the scope of application of the ICRC's evidentiary privilege regarding confidential information.

History of the Polish Red Cross in West Pomeranian region between 1945 and 2019 with description and analyse of international, national and regional legal, organizational and financial conditions of the Red Cross activities. The book is an effect of almost 3 years researches in National Archives in Szczecin and Koszalin (main centres of the West Pomerania) as well as regional Red Cross archive.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has undergone a considerable transformation in the recent decades: from being driven by a predominantly Swiss body of employees, it has become an organization dominated by international staff that hail from all over the world. While the leadership is still firmly in Swiss hands, the transformation has put into question to what extent the ICRC has been able to uphold its foundational values and its special relationship with Swiss culture. The strong ties with Swiss values such as neutrality, independence, consensus, reliability, work ethics, and participation used to be perceived as key factors for the organization's continuity and success in delivering humanitarian aid in a politically more and more divided world. Indeed, from a historical perspective, the Swiss rootedness shaping the organizational culture and identity allowed the ICRC to be successful in its endeavors as a neutral humanitarian actor even in times of crises. This paper, through an analysis of interviews with ICRC staff members of different nationalities, seeks to explore to what extent Swiss values are perceived to still matter in the ICRC, its humanitarian work and how Swiss and non-Swiss staff members interpret these values. The research suggests that there are three distinct narratives, namely, an internationalist, a traditionalist, and a pragmatist. While the internationalist narrative perceives the ICRC's internationalization as a positive development for the organization as a whole, the traditionalist is concerned about detrimental effects on the organizational culture as well as on the credibility of the humanitarian work in the field. The pragmatist narrative recognizes the benefits of strong Swiss values in the ICRC, yet highlights that current developments call for internationalization. The study extends our understanding of the importance of core organizational values and principles in a process of internationalization in order to stay a credible and successful humanitarian actor.

Since 2011, Syria has faced protests, upheaval, and civil war. During this long crisis, both state and nonstate actors have continuously attempted to exploit the situation to further their own interests. Since then, the civil war that resulted has led to widespread destruction, mass casualties, and extensive suffering among non-combatants who continue to live under daily threats related to the conflict. This paper examines the current conflict in Syria using news reports and documentaries with an aim to analyze how treaties and conventions of international law are being ignored on the ground regarding the protection of civilians. In the process of doing so, this paper will present evident violations committed by the combatants of state and nonstate forces. In addition, the strategic interests of international actors are discussed to the degree they present hurdles for the implementation of the protection of civilians in line with international humanitarian law. Moreover, it will demonstrate how international institutions have been unable to alleviate the suffering of the local population. We conclude with an examination of the role of international institutions and international actors in terms of their efforts to resolve the crisis.

Autorka niniejszego artykułu postawiła sobie za cel wskazać, dlaczego to właśnie MKCK wpływa na kształt zobowiązań wynikających z MPH i jakie instrumenty w tym celu stosuje, a także z jaką reakcją spotykają się jego starania. W pierwszej części przybliżone zostały podstawy prawne zaangażowania MKCK w tworzenie i implementowanie MPH oraz charakter komentarzy do przepisów KG i PD wydawanych przez MKCK. W kolejnych częściach przedstawiono przykłady niektórych inicjatyw MKCK (przygotowanie Studium Prawa Zwyczajowego oraz opracowanie Wytycznych co do interpretacji pojęcia „bezpośredni udział w działaniach zbrojnych”), które wywołały spore kontrowersje, jeśli chodzi o stopień odzwierciedlenia obowiązującego prawa, i tym samym prowokują pytania o legitymację MKCK do promowania rozwiązań, którym państwa są wyraźnie niechętne.

The aim of this contribution is to highlight the action of the ARC in Switzerland during World War I. The goal is to understand what was done, but also to think on why the ARC has invested so much in a country that was not at war. Secondly, it will highlight the relationship between the ARC and the ICRC. How did both entities work? Did they coexist without major connections, or was this relationship marked by cooperation or rivalry? Finally the goal of this paper is to show the importance that had this relationship for the shaping of a new Red Cross World at the end of the war and its consequences for the development of humanitarian action, IHL and human rights during the 20s and beyond.

Establish a diplomatic act that states that "the wounded enemy is not considered an enemy but a person in need of a little humanity", this was of course considered a proper revolution in the second half of the 19th century and became the beginning of the spread of one idea and one of the strongest symbols of mankind with the name 'Red Cross'. Thanks to this idea, the Red Cross Movement has acquired a lasting and unaltered foundation and conquered mankind. Never before in mankind's history the prospects offered to man to preserve his good health, protect his life and increase it's expectancy have been as favorable as today, thanks to advances in science.

This is a text only file of an essay in the first edition of the new International Affairs Magazine CABLE - please download full article from:
cablemagazine.scot
Well worth signing up for the Cable - good to encourage new initiatives in current affairs journalism in these confused and troubled times.

Last draft - published as:
Christine Winter (2021): The International Committee of the Red Cross celebrates 80 years since its first delegation in Australia, Australian Journal of Human Rights, DOI: 10.1080/1323238X.2021.1946275

As the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) celebrates 80 years since its first delegation in Australia, this commentary considers the first Australian ICRC delegation (1941–1947), headed by the Swiss economist Dr Georges Guillaume Morel and his wife Eugenie Ernestine nee Zwerner, as a case study illuminating the importance of personality for a humanitarian mission. Coming through the League of Nations they innovated information flow, and as Russian-Swiss they had insights into the necessity of stateless refugees. Experiences of ICRC delegates, such as the Morels, formed the basis of the post-war 1949 Geneva Conventions. We can thus understand the experiences and reports of ICRC delegates, though often not made public, as essential for the development of international law.

This article is the extended version of a keynote address
On 4 March 2021 a commemorative event marking 80 years of the ICRC in Australia was hosted at the Swiss Ambassy in Canberra by The Ambassadors of Switzerland Mr Pedro Zwahlen and Mrs Yasmine Chatila Zwahlen, together with Mr David Tuck, Head of Mission in Australia for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). A/Prof Christine Winter was invited to present the keynote, 80 Years of ICRC in Australia:
"During World War II, ICRC Swiss delegates George and Eugenie Morel worked and negotiated to improve conditions on behalf of internees detained in Australia. Eugenie would later become one of the first female sole ICRC delegates serving at an ICRC mission. Associate Professor Christine Winter of Flinders University has researched and documented the story of the Morel’s work. Join the Swiss Embassy and ICRC, to hear from Professor Winter on this story of humanitarianism in Australia."

For a longer analysis of the role of the ICRC Australia delegation in internment and related international diplomacy, and the Australian (and German) government dealings with humanitarian agencies, namely the ICRC, the Protecting Power and the Official Visitors see:
Limits of impartiality: The delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Australia during the Second World War, History Australia, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2013, pp. 56-74.

The paper discusses the role of mediator assumed by the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yugoslavia in the solving of controversies between Italy and Yugoslavia in relation to Italian prisoners of war and deportees from the region of Venezia Giulia. The research is based mainly on unpublished (archival) sources and previous studies about Italian POWs and deportees in Yugoslavia. The paper presents so far unknown activities of the Delegation in favour of these prisoners, and some (political) context that conditioned and influenced them. Ever since the spring of 1945, the operation of the Delegation was severely compromised by activities (not) performed by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the benefit of Partisan prisoners of war and Yugoslav civilian internees during the Second World War. As a result, the Yugoslav leadership nursed a grievance against the Delegation and met its activities with much reservation. Despite the Delegation carrying out its mission correctly – i.e., inspecting camps, delivering correspondence and aid to prisoners of war and civilians - doubts were cast upon its action by all parties involved. The delegates, in fact, never visited all Italian prisoner-of-war and deportee camps, and were faulted for it by the Delegation in Italy and thereby, indirectly, by the Italian government. Eventually, the lead Committee in Geneva became suspicious, too, which prompted its decision to send one of its principal delegates, Georges Dunand, on a special mission to Yugoslavia with the delegate in Italy, Pierre Colombo, following him to Belgrade soon thereafter. Nevertheless, neither of them reached any considerably different conclusions than those arrived at by the Delegation itself. The latter properly performed its tasks and tried to conduct skilful humanitarian diplomacy as required by the circumstances. It should be noted that the hostility of the Yugoslav leadership to its activities and the political nature of the issue of Italian POWs and deportees in Yugoslavia actually prevented the Delegation from wielding a greater influence on the solution of this problem.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) enjoys a specific legal status and specific privileges and immunities under both international and domestic law. They enable the ICRC to effectively carry out its mandate, and to do so in full conformity with its Fundamental Principles and standard working modalities. This article clarifies the ICRC's particular legal status and explains the rationale, scope and legal sources of its privileges and immunities.

This article deals with the question whether ICRC, that is at the heart of the International Humanitarian Law, does benefit from the immunity of State jurisdiction. To this effect, one the ICRC's international legal personality established, the immunity under consideration shall follow ipso iure. On the wake of the analysis of State practice vis-à-vis ICRC (especially by entering into relevant treties with the latter] and legal literature, this conclusion seems to be confirmed.

A discussion of sexual violence in armed conflict and the relevant international humanitarian law issues, including criminal responsibility. Part of the Australian Red Cross QLD IHL 'Issues in IHL' course on 16 May 2015; open to the public, see link for registration details.