Mr President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Today, the boundaries established by international humanitarian law are being tested, twisted or disregarded all together – at an unacceptable human cost.
We see exceptions be invoked to defend repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, medical personnel and health care facilities. To defend the ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty.
When such practices persist, the humanitarian purpose and protective intent of the law is undermined, sending dangerous signals for how future wars can be fought.
At the same time, dehumanizing narratives deployed in war and in peacetime are paving the way for violence and atrocities to take place. When language debases human beings, the protections afforded by international humanitarian law and human rights law are more easily set aside, and harm becomes easier to justify.
Where dehumanization takes hold, where the law is not applied in good faith, both bodies of law are weakened. Where humanity is reaffirmed – through restraint in the conduct of hostilities, through the protection of civilians and detainees and through respect for the wounded and the dead – the law regains its protective purpose.
It is against this backdrop that the ICRC, together with Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa, launched the Global Initiative to galvanize political commitment to international humanitarian law in September 2024.
This critical initiative is not about developing new law, but about ensuring that the law we already have retains its protective value in practice. It is about building sustained political commitment, practical investment and leadership around these universal and lifesaving rules.
The fact that the majority of states have been involved in the Global IHL Initiative is a powerful symbol that the rules of war remain relevant, particularly in times of heightened polarization and insecurity.
This critical work will culminate in a high-level event later this year in Jordan, where states will have a unique opportunity to collectively reaffirm their commitment to international humanitarian law and with it, the promise that even in war, humanity must prevail. That even in war, there are red lines that cannot be crossed.
Where international humanitarian law is respected, it supports fundamental human rights in the most extreme circumstances. Where it is violated, human rights are often among the first and most enduring casualties.
To stand up for these rules is to stand up for protecting human life, reducing human suffering, and preserving human dignity – and ultimately, the very prospects for peace and stability in an increasingly fractured world.
I thank you.
