Introduction
The end of the Cold War unfortunately did not herald the general state of peace that was anticipated.
Whereas some conflicts on the fault lines left by former ideological confrontations and struggles for power have been resolved through negotiation or military victory, others have continued and more new conflicts have flared up than those that have ended.
Today conflicts and war are on the increase. In 1995 more than 30 armed conflicts were being fought.
Several common factors can be identified in this outbreak of new hostilities and the growing insecurity and unrest in various parts of the world. These factors, which are often cumulative in effect, all have a major bearing on respect for the civilian population, the spread of violence, and the growing number of violations of international humanitarian law. They are:
- The expanding arms trade and the proliferation of certain weapons
For years the control and discipline imposed by the superpowers in their respective spheres of influence were also reflected in the arms trade. The balance of terror helped to prevent the proliferation of certain weapons, in particular weapons of mass destruction, outside of certain predetermined circles. Since then, the arms trade has increased tremendously. The abundant supply of weapons, supplemented by the considerable stocks built up during the Cold War (and often plundered), has kept factions of all political persuasions and even bandits well supplied. It is a cause of additional tensions which readily turn into full-scale armed conflicts. The resources generated by the arms trade are also regularly used to destabilize other regions.
- The collapse of governmental structures
Several parts of the world have experienced a long series of insurmountable and violent political crises which have led to the collapse of States previously considered as stable. There has also been a sudden proliferation of "belligerents" enjoying, by force of circumstances, an extreme degree of autonomy, not to mention a multiplication of apparently uncontrolled marauders and snipers who unscrupulously kill innocent civilians. In many situations this is leading to a resurgence of private warfare. Civil and inter-ethnic wars are devastating vast tracts of land, reducing them to chaos and anarchy fraught with extreme insecurity. With time, the social fabric is destroyed, any form of authority, except that of the gun, completely disappears, and fundamental values are denied. As a result, conflicts are more complex and the suffering of civilians is becoming greater and more widespread. In addition, appeals to respect international humanitarian law and protect the victims are frequently losing all meaning in the absence of identifiable political and military leadership.
- The changing objective of war and the causes of conflict
In many conflicts the warring parties' political objectives are being replaced by hatred, banditry and the arbitrary wielding of power. From the outset, many confrontations seek first and foremost to destroy the other side, for reasons of racial, nationalistic or religious extremism, or even for economic reasons. The other party's presence and right to exist is consequently denied. The civilian population, its destruction or exodus, become the very issues at stake in many conflicts. Hatred and the cruelties that go with it thus no longer stem from war, but become aims in themselves. This development is aggravated by many factors, such as demographic expansion, impoverishment, destitution, inequalities, intolerance, racism, regional aspirations for autonomy, the denial of fundamental political and economic rights, the uncontrolled growth of huge cities, corruption and environmental damage.
- The intensive media coverage of conflicts
Media coverage has various positive aspects, in particular that of maintaining awareness of certain situations of distress. The media have a major impact on public opinion and the various leaders. Media coverage bears the risk, however, of making violence a commonplace event and saturating the audience with the daily description of suffering and unbearable atrocities. Cries of alarm repeated too often eventually go unheard. The media also tend to focus on the sensational, the latest news, and neglect tragic conflicts which then persist in an atmosphere of general indifference.
Finally, there is the risk of political manipulation and factual distortion. Some media channels have been directly and decisively responsible for inciting people to hatred and murder.
- The divergence between reality and declarations of intent
The leaders of the parties to conflict take part in countless international conferences and meetings. They regularly reaffirm their intention to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law. Unfortunately the reality in the field all too often belies these declarations. Even when leaders want to honour the commitments they have made they are unable, for lack of sufficient authority over the combatants, to enforce compliance with them.
On a broader scale, disregard for fundamental humanitarian standards, the collapse of governmental structures, disintegration of the chain of command and ignorance of the basic rules of international humanitarian law are making humanitarian missions increasingly dangerous. Personnel engaged in emergency humanitarian operations are faced with hazardous situations which hamper and all too often prevent access to the victims and the passage of relief consignments.
These factors are leading to an increased rejection of all humane principles and a progressive decline in respect for the law. For the past few years there has been a resurgence of sheer barbarity and a revival of methods which were believed long past. Often reality seems to be a nightmare. Admittedly, human memory tends to be selective and short. Particularly tragic and cruel events did, it is true, shake the world on several occasions during the two World Wars and their aftermath in an environment in which the media played a lesser role than today. The polarization of the world into two separate blocs and the priority given to ideological struggle and politically strategic goals certainly caused a slow but steady erosion of international humanitarian law. And yet the feeling remains that the situation is deteriorating and that a long unprecedented level of violence has now been reached. Unbridled hatred prevails in many parts of the world, human values and fundamental humanitarian principles are increasingly being flouted, and the number of victims - essentially women, children and old people taking no part whatsoever in the hostilities - is ever higher.
Such circumstances are aggravating the plight of the civilian population in regions devastated by war, resulting in a large increase in the number of victims.
The most heinous of all crimes, genocide, which is expressly prohibited under international law, has reappeared. Ethnic cleansing - a combination of various forms of persecution ranging from systematic slaughter to the harassment or intimidation of minorities via murder, deportation, large-scale internment, hostage-taking, rape and torture, and inflicted with the aim of uprooting populations - has become a banal daily occurrence.
Murder, torture, degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, often under conditions of extreme privation, are the lot of countless victims. The civilian population pays with its own suffering the tribute to hatred and intolerance. Hostage-taking is becoming so frequent that this violation of a fundamental rule of humanitarian law is virtually an established practice.
Caught in a hail of fire, the civilian population is increasingly in the very midst of attacks. Acts of war are targeted against civilians, either directly or as reprisals. The population has to hide away in makeshift shelters. The attackers' purpose is essentially to create a climate of panic, to spread terror and to use starvation as an ultimate weapon, whereas the besieged forces compel the population to take up arms or prevent it from fleeing while it still can, in order to use it as a shield against the enemy.
The exodus of entire sections of the population has assumed dramatic and hitherto unknown proportions, whether they take refuge in another country or are displaced within the national territory. Several sources estimate that there are over 23 million refugees and more than 29 million internally displaced persons. These movements, which are essentially caused by fear and violations of the rules of humanitarian law protecting the civilian population, result in food shortages, long-term economic and social disruption and often numerous deaths by starvation. Choosing to flee is sometimes spontaneous, spurred by panic and confusion, but mostly flight is induced by one or other of the belligerents. Uprooted populations on the move are often turned into bartering chips, a means of exerting pressure or controlling territory, and a source of profit.
Family unity, the cornerstone of any society, is seriously jeopardized and indeed impaired by the misfortunes besetting the civilian population. Families are more and more frequently dispersed, their members separated by force or by events, contacts are severed and there is growing anxiety about loved ones of whom there is no news. Women are frequently the first victims of these situations. Mass rape occurs.
Children, the most vulnerable of all, are the hardest hit by these misfortunes. They suffer lasting trauma and are often psychologically scarred for life. Their existence is shattered as they have seen their parents killed before their very eyes, their homes destroyed, their lives ruined. Children are also used as leverage to control territory or to collect spoils. From an increasingly young age, they are forcibly recruited, enrolled, exploited, initiated to violence and encouraged to take active part in it. Snatched from their families, many of them have grown up from their earliest years with no other education than the law of the gun. They thus become veritable armed slaves and their reintegration into civilian life proves extremely difficult. Child soldiers are a tragedy against which humanity is powerless and which is assuming ever greater dimensions.
The ease with which any small group can obtain conventional armaments is a direct threat to the civilian population. At the same time the development of new weapons, blinding or lethal, continues.
The general use of mines affects above all the civilian population. Vast tracts of territory are being rendered unusable, and a very large number of civilians, including many children, are being killed or maimed even long after hostilities have ended. The human, social, and economic cost entailed by the use of mines is terrifying.
The particularly devastating means of combat and the way in which the hostilities are conducted in some conflicts often constitute serious threats for the natural environment. Environmental protection, an essential prerequisite for the survival of the civilian population, has suddenly and tragically hit the headlines in recent conflicts.
Operations and attacks against essential public utilities, in particular the drinking water supply, also mainly affect the civilian population. Supplies are very often cut off, either deliberately or as a side-effect of the hostilities, by the destruction of waterworks or electric power stations. In some conflicts water has become a fearful and particularly cruel weapon, with cities deprived of water for many days.
Similarly, health services are paralysed owing to the destruction of facilities or the disappearance of qualified personnel, and for want of supplies and care the population is left without any means of protection from illness, epidemics and the consequences of injuries.
In general, war and violence have catastrophic effects on the economy. Large areas of farmland are abandoned, livestock is decimated, equipment destroyed, and looting and vandalism are widespread. Powerless, the civilian populations see their country ravaged and come to depend on external aid.
Lastly, humanitarian action is faced with increasing difficulties as a result of the prevailing insecurity. There is consequently a steadily growing number of victims whose existence is known, but to whom the humanitarian institutions do not have access. Deprived of protection and assistance, these victims become hostages of armed individuals or groups.
In any case, humanitarian action cannot possibly suffice to overcome the atrocious suffering which modern warfare inflicts on civilian populations.
The 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is duty bound to find ways of providing the civilian population with better protection from the effects of war.
However, the diversity of situations and the multiplicity of suffering are such that efforts must be concentrated on the most urgent problems. It is therefore proposed that the Conference pay particular attention to the following six issues which are of constant concern in the daily work of the ICRC, the International Federation and the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies:
- the protection of women in armed conflicts;
- the protection of children in armed conflicts;
- the reunification of families dispersed by war;
- famine and war;
- water and war;
- the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel landmines and the development of particularly cruel weapons.
These are the subjects of the following six sections.
