Neutral and impartial Red Cross work in Venezuela
Working together to strengthen humanitarian response An idea born in Switzerland over 150 years ago today brings more than 17 million people worldwide together for a single, powerful cause: to help …
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Democratic Republic of the Congo: Children enduring war and family separation
Conflict and armed clashes across the DRC have forced more than 3 million people to flee their homes. Becoming separated from their families is an especially traumatic experience for children. …
Australia: Bringing balance to war - reaffirming the value of neutral humanitarian action
Neutral, impartial independent humanitarian action - otherwise known as NIIHA – is a key approach that allows the ICRC to help conflict-affected communities in some of the most extreme environments …
How does law protect in war? (Serbo-Croatian)
Cases, documents and teaching materials on contemporary practice in international humanitarian law. A selection of nearly three hundred case studies provides university professors, practitioners and …
Arms Transfer Decisions: Applying International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law Criteria ‒ a Practical Guide
States have committed to making their arms transfer decisions subject to respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law. Steps must now be taken to ensure that …
Afghanistan: Physiotherapist who helps amputee patients shot and killed
11-09-2017 Geneva/Kabul (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross is deeply saddened by the fatal shooting on Monday of one of its physiotherapists in Afghanistan. Lorena Enebral Perez, …
Failure to manage arms trade responsibly is putting a dirt cheap price on the lives of civilians
11-09-2017 Geneva (ICRC) -Speaking at the opening of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Conference in Geneva, ICRC President Peter Maurer issued a stark reminder to States about the impact arms flows are …
Failure to manage arms trade responsibly is putting a dirt cheap price on the lives of civilians
Third Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty. Statement by the ICRC President, Peter Maurer . Today, we are witnessing brutal wars raging in many countries around the world, such as in …
Stop attacks: Patients, health workers, hospitals and ambulances are #NotATarget
Every day in conflict zones, doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and first-aiders are coming under attack while trying to save lives. They are threatened, arrested or beaten, their hospitals looted or …
South Sudan: ICRC condemns killing of staff member
09-09-2017 Juba/Geneva: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is shocked and dismayed by the killing of one of its staff in South Sudan. The ICRC driver died on Friday after helping to …
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ICRC library
Created in 1863, the ICRC library, alongside the ICRC archives, provides an indispensable documentary reference on the organization itself and international humanitarian law.
IHL treaties
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 IHL
Customary international humanitarian law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted as law" and that exist independent of treaty law.