Climate change is an existential threat to humanity. Warming of the atmosphere, oceans and land – driven by human activity – is causing climate variations and extremes throughout the world. More than …
10-10-2025 The following is a statement attributable to the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Geneva …
Delivered by Christopher Harland, Deputy Permanent Observer of the ICRC to the United Nations. Mr. Chair, Distinguished Delegates, Colleagues, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) …
09-10-2025 Tashkent (ICRC) – The signature of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) by the Kyrgyz Republic on 26 September 2025 is an important step in reaffirming the country’s …
Chair, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism, whether in times of armed conflict or not, and regardless of the perpetrators. Terrorism is …
The ongoing hostilities in Gaza, Israel and the Golan Heights have caused immense suffering. Civilians have been killed, injured, and taken hostage. Families have lost loved ones, homes, and access …
With the escalation of violence in Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, there has been a proliferation of dehumanizing language and of false …
New update of the customary IHL database We have just updated the customary IHL database to include to include additional practice from Canada and Nigeria . The database contains : the 161 rules of …
Families of hostages have lived through a nightmare. Children, spouses, siblings, and parents have all waited anxiously, every day, for the release of their loved ones, or at minimum for news of …
Delivered by Elyse Mosquini, Permanent Observer of the ICRC to the United Nations and Head of Delegation in New York. Madame President, Excellencies, This year’s 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace, …
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Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.
International humanitarian law is based on a number of treaties, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, and a series of other instruments.
Customary international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.
