The 25 years of the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949

Official ceremony at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva, 07 June 2002
Address by the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to address you today at this ceremony held on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. This event provides us a moment to reflect on the past, to consider the present and to contemplate the future.

Twenty-five years ago, the major achievement of the First Additional Protocol were the rules it established on the conduct of hostilities. Among them is the crucial principle of distinction between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives. The Protocol also clearly stated another important rule that "the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited". The list does not end here.

Controversial at the time, but much less so today, were the Protocol's innovations regarding combatant and prisoner of war status. While some states felt uneasy about the changes introduced, they reflected the new reality of international relations - the emergence of national liberation movements employing tactics of guerilla warfare. The same reality gave rise to another controversial aspect of the treaty, its definition of international armed conflicts, which was expanded to include wars of self-determination. In the twenty five years since the Protocol's adoption these provisions have, however, been accepted by the vast majority of states, as evidenced by the 160 ratifications that the treaty has obtained to date.

If Additional Protocol I was a step forward in adapting the law to new demands, Additional Protocol II - which supplements article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions - was the first ever international treaty devoted exclusively to the protection of persons affected by non-international armed conflicts. Its rules on fundamental guarantees for all those not involved in the fighting, on the treatment of persons deprived of liberty and on judicial guarantees for individuals subject to penal prosecution represented a milestone in the development of international law. The Protocol gave legal expression to a notion that is widely accepted today - that armed conflicts taking place within the confines of a country are a matter of international concern. To that end the Protocol, now ratified by 153 states, also established important rules protecting civilians from the danger of military operations in internal armed conflicts.

At this ceremony today we should not limit our reflection upon the past to the adoption of the two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 twenty-five years ago, although a major breakthrough for international humanitarian law. Let us return much further to the historical achievement of the creation of the cornerstone of international humanitarian law, the first Geneva Convention of 1864. The Swiss government, at the prompting of the five founding members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, convened the 1864 Diplomatic Conference, which was attended by 16 States who adopted the Geneva Convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded in armies in the field. The Geneva Convention of 1864 was the very first contemporary international humanitarian law treaty aimed at ensuring that wounded soldiers, regardless to which party they belong, were not left to die on the battlefield but were protected and cared for.

Clearly since then, international humanitarian law has not been static. This body of norms, like all others, is constantly subject to refinement and change. Today, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, which have achieved almost universal ratification, and their Additional Protocols of 1977 are the backbone of a complex web of humanitarian law treaties aimed at limiting the effects of violence in armed conflict. The developments in international humanitarian law serve to illustrate both its resilience and adaptability. This body of law is resilient because its fundamental aim, shared by all civilizations and peoples, is to ensure that persons affected by war are treated with humanity. The fact that states, as the principal creators of international humanitarian law, have chosen to constantly expand the specific legal rules giving expression to the principle of humanity attests to the enduring nature of this common value.

The real challenge for international humanitarian law, both today and in the future lies in the ability and, even more often, in the political willingness of states and armed opposition groups to fully implement its rules. Humanitarian law treaties oblige the High Contracting Parties "to respect and to ensure respect" for their provisions "in all circumstances". It is this obligation that states are called on to fulfill in the armed conflicts taking place worldwide. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Additional Protocols is a good moment to restate that pledge.

We believe that the rules on conduct and protection as expressed in the basic treaties of international humanitarian law, namely the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols, will be just as pertinent in the wars of tomorrow, since the fundamental values which need to be safeguarded are timeless.

The Geneva Convention of 1864 endures as a symbol of these fundamental values. Now thanks to the Swiss government, the depository State of the Geneva Conventions and its additional Protocols, visitors to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum will have the opportunity to examine this original treaty, the cornerstone of international humanitarian law.

Thank you for your attention.