Geneva (ICRC) – Seventy-six years ago today, the world made a solemn promise through the Geneva Conventions that even in war, there are limits. Today, that promise is under serious threat.
The rules remain, but the commitment to uphold them is weakening, with catastrophic consequences for people trapped in conflict. These rules were not created to serve the powerful. They exist to protect the powerless: the civilian caught in the crossfire, the wounded on the battlefield, the prisoner behind bars.
Respect for the rules of war is not optional. Universally ratified, the Geneva Conventions are among the most widely accepted international treaties that – when respected – prevent brutality in war and preserve pathways back to peace.
Last September, the ICRC, alongside Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa, launched a global initiative to renew political will for international humanitarian law. More than 70 states have since joined us in this effort. I urge all states to do the same.
The protective power of IHL is only as strong as leaders’ political will to uphold it. The next 76 years of the Geneva Conventions will be defined by the choices they make today to preserve – or abandon – humanity in war.
