Liberia: law libraries donated to armed forces, ministries and universities
30-05-2011 News Release 11/121
Monrovia (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) donated complete sets of books on international humanitarian law, the branch of international law that governs armed conflict, to both the Ministry of Defence and the Liberian armed forces at the opening of a workshop today.
The 44-book sets are also being donated to the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law of the University of Liberia, the Ministry of Justice and the Peace Institute of Cuttington University.
"The importance of the law of armed conflict is well understood in Liberia, a country that endured a tragic war lasting 14 years," said Rikke Ishoy, deputy head of the ICRC delegation in Monrovia, at a ceremony held to mark the donation to the Ministry of Defence and to the armed forces. "I hope this donation to five Liberian institutions will help students and practitioners better understand the rules that aim to minimize suffering in armed conflict."
Provisions of international humanitarian law restrict the methods and means of warfare in order to protect people who are not, or no longer, taking part in hostilities.
Regular ICRC-organized information sessions on international humanitarian law, set to begin in June, will help Liberian armed forces personnel expand their knowledge of the law and will support efforts to take it into account in the internal regulations and manuals of the armed forces.
Since the ICRC opened its delegation in Monrovia in 1990, it has endeavoured to spread knowledge of international humanitarian law and of its underlying principles, particularly among armed forces and police personnel and other arms carriers, and among contingents of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
For further information, please contact:
Noora Kero, ICRC Monrovia, tel: +231 77 556 533