ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog

In cities from Gaza to those in Sudan and Ukraine, childhoods are irrevocably changed by urban warfare. Yet despite the number of children affected and the increasingly urbanized nature of conflict, the detail of the child-specific nature of the harm caused remains poorly understood by practitioners and decision-makers. To address this gap, in 2023 the ICRC published a new report – Childhood in Ru...

Next week marks the 75th anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. Against a backdrop of over 120 armed conflicts worldwide, this should prompt us not to celebrate, but to reflect: how were these now universally accepted humanitarian norms drafted, and are they still fit for purpose today? In this post, ICRC Legal Adviser Ellen Policinski examines how the Geneva Conventions are interpret...

Around two thirds of ICRC operations are in Muslim countries where armed conflicts are in progress. Our ability to understand the connections and differences between international humanitarian law (IHL) and Islamic law can make a crucial difference in our operational work and in our ability to build trust and respect with local communities. But how can we do this in the most effective way? As part...

Preventing the catastrophic human cost of war is a central purpose of modern international law. Some norms, like those found in the UN Charter, set out to eliminate war altogether, requiring the peaceful resolution of disputes instead. Other rules, like those found in the Geneva Conventions, step in to protect us when all else has failed. The Conventions, which every country has joined, are at the...

Recent conflicts have brought to light the jarring personal dilemmas humanitarian workers confront and provoked legitimate questions about the validity of the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence as a framework to navigate them. In this post, Olivier Ray, the ICRC’s Director of Mobilization, Movement, and Partnerships, reaffirms the principles’ enduring relevance prec...

Over the last decade, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement partners, as well as other humanitarian actors responding to sexual violence, have increasingly raised concerns about mandatory reporting policies and whether they may, in fact, be harming rather than helping victims/survivors of sexual- and gender-based violence. Following its 2020 mu...

There is today an idea of a single humanity, with each member equally valued, and a global legal framework exists to prevent needless human suffering, including in war. Dehumanization arises as the negation of a common, positive, and mutually supportive humanity, though there is no single definition, and it certainly predates its opposite. Research indicates that dehumanization increases the risk...

Based on the ICRC’s firsthand observations in and around cities in conflict across the globe, an evolved form of one of the oldest methods of warfare – siege and encirclement – remains a persistent feature of today’s urban battles. Civilians trapped within besieged areas or those displaced from them endure some of the most horrific humanitarian conditions. In this post, ICRC Legal Adviser Abby Zei...

For more than a decade, states have met at the UN in Geneva to discuss the governance of autonomous weapon systems (AWS). One pandemic, several real-world cases of artificial intelligence (AI) being used in targeting decisions, and numerous meetings later, there is a growing consensus among states that the challenges posed by AWS should be addressed through both prohibitions and restrictions, a so...

The Fourth Geneva Convention was the first humanitarian law convention dedicated to protections for civilians during armed conflict. Amongst its numerous protective rules, it also provides the main rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) governing the exceptional practice of internment of protected persons – detention of such persons for security reasons during international armed conflict....

The legal and practical issues related to the exceptional practice of internment of protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention are complex. One such question is when internment begins. The treaty provides guidance on grounds for internment and the procedural safeguards to be applied, as well on the requisite conditions of internment, but is silent on when this type of detention actually...

The Fourth Geneva Convention, adopted 75 years ago, was the first humanitarian law convention dedicated to humanitarian protections for civilians during armed conflict. Amongst its numerous protective rules, it provides the main rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) governing the exceptional practice of internment of protected persons – i.e. the detention of such persons for security reaso...

Can military training in international humanitarian law (IHL) lead to greater adherence to IHL and increased protection for civilians in war? In this post, Andrew Bell, a researcher in the ICRC’s Centre for Operational Research and Experience (CORE), outlines recent findings from his work reviewing results from U.S. Army surveys on the effects of IHL training on combatant views and behaviour in wa...

Today, there are over 120 armed conflicts around the world, involving over 60 states and 120 non-state armed groups. The majority of these armed conflicts are of a non-international character, the number of which has tripled since the turn of the millennium. To know what rules regulate an armed conflict, there is one crucial first step to take: its classification. In this post, and in the run-up t...

Efforts to address the ethical challenges posed by autonomous weapon systems are growing. In December 2023, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution requesting the Secretary-General to seek states’ views for addressing, among other issues, the ethical challenges posed by these systems, and in April 2024 Austria is hosting the conference ‘Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapon Systems and...

The widespread use of heavy explosive weapons has reached alarming levels, exacting a staggering toll on civilian lives. From Gaza to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan to Syria, and Ukraine to Yemen and Myanmar, the suffering of civilians and destruction is immense, scarring communities long after the bombing stops – but it is also preventable. The Political Declaration on Strengthening...

From frontline female combatants with the People’s Defence Force in Myanmar to queer Syrian refugees living in displacement in Lebanon, from seasonal workers on the factory floor of textile companies in Bangladesh to adolescents vulnerable to early marriage to fighters of armed groups in Somalia, the need of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is ubiquitous, stark and often gendered i...

The draft elements of the resolution ‘Toward a universal culture of compliance with international humanitarian law’ elaborated for the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent ‘welcome the increasing number of voluntary reports published by states on the domestic implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL)’ (para. 13). This recognizes how voluntary reports are pro...

Before the Lieber Code and Geneva Conventions came a treaty between the Spanish Empire and Simon Bolivar’s revolutionary forces in Colombia and Venezuela. The 1820 Treaty for the Regularization of War aimed at reducing the unnecessary suffering of both soldiers and civilians affected by armed conflict and occupation across a broader spectrum than any previous international agreements. However, des...

The Asia-Pacific region is diverse in religious, ethnic and historical backgrounds as well as in economic development. However, armed conflict is often not recognized by states in the region, and if it is, there is an expectation that they will address such issues internally. The region is also known for having the fewest ratifications of international humanitarian law (IHL) treaties. The Asia-Pac...

As part of the historic 2016 peace agreement, the “Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-repetition” (hereafter the Colombian Truth Commission) was established to focus on victims and their right to the truth with an emphasis on the way different people were impacted by the armed conflicts. The findings of the Commission’s subchapter, “The truth is rainbow”, are highly rel...

Last week, states parties met for the first session of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) in 2024. This debate featured the GGE’s most substantive discussion to date about bias under the topic “risk mitigation and confidence building”, including around a working paper dedicated to bias by Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, and Panama. In t...

Two years ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Central Tracing Agency activated a dedicated Bureau for the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the first time since the Gulf Wars. The role of such a Bureau includes helping locate missing persons. While this is a key function of the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency, there is more to its role specifically during...

From traditional media to social media, coordinated information campaigns or operations, the ways in which harmful information can enable or aggravate risks of harm for civilians are constantly evolving. However, evidence of risk factors remains incomplete, and solutions elusive. In this post, Chris Brew, a former Protection Associate with the ICRC, looks to previous examples of harmful informatio...

The work and contribution of national committees on IHL (NCIHLs) can be relevant in a range of circumstances, whether a country is at peace, emerging from conflict, still affected by past conflict or involved in one or more current armed conflicts. Many successful national structures are proof that if they function efficiently and have the required capacities, NCIHLs can provide considerable suppo...