Recent years have seen an increase in international, regional and local regulatory measures in the field of counterterrorism. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) does not engage in questioning the legitimacy and necessity of states taking such measures. However, it observes that these measures have objectively had adverse consequences for humanitarian action and for the ability of impartial humanitarian organizations, such as the ICRC, to respond to the needs of people affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence.
Domestic counterterrorism legislation must not impede neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action and must comply with international humanitarian law (IHL) rules, notably those governing humanitarian activities. In this regard, the ICRC proposes the inclusion, in such legislation, of well-framed and standing humanitarian exemptions whose objective is to exclude from the scope of counterterrorism legislation exclusively humanitarian activities carried out by impartial humanitarian organizations in accordance with IHL.
