International humanitarian law – 150 years of fighting for more humanity in war

Bern, 22.08.2014 - The first Geneva Convention was signed on this date 150 years ago, marking the birth of international humanitarian law as we know it today. It has since evolved through a number of stages and increased in scope, but violations are still commonplace, and even now there are countless victims of war crimes. This has prompted Switzerland to join forces with the International Committee of the Red Cross to launch an initiative aimed at strengthening international humanitarian law. The anniversary is also being marked with an exhibition of works by Swiss photographer Jean Mohr at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich, entitled "War from the Victims' Perspective", which opened on 22 August.

In an article printed in newspapers across the world, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, and Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), praised the progress made in protecting the military and civilian victims of war through international humanitarian law over the past 150 years. Representatives of 12 European states met in Geneva on 22 August 1864 at the invitation of the Federal Council and the ICRC, which had been founded the previous year, and signed the first Geneva Convention. This set the tone for efforts to limit the brutality of war.

The fundamental principles of international humanitarian law are now recognised all over the world. States have incorporated them into their national legal systems, and armed forces take account of them in their training concepts and military doctrines. In their article, Swiss President Burkhalter and ICRC President Maurer also note that not all developments have been positive – far from it, in fact. We are confronted on a daily basis with images and reports of unspeakable suffering in the midst of armed conflict, even though all sides are bound by international humanitarian law, regardless of whether or not they part of a nation state. The article points out that this never came with a permanent guarantee and instead requires constant enforcement efforts.

One of the key humanitarian challenges today is improving compliance with existing rules, in particular through the creation of appropriate intergovernmental mechanisms. Switzerland and the ICRC are committed to this cause and have been conducting consultations with all states since 2012. Their aims include setting up a forum of states which meets regularly to discuss compliance and enforcement issues as well as potential improvements. The Swiss President and the ICRC President would also like states to have an instrument at their disposal which allows them to respond to the most serious violations of international humanitarian law. Switzerland and the ICRC will submit proposals to the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Geneva next year so that the states can decide how to proceed.

The 150th anniversary of the date on which international humanitarian law was born was marked by the opening of an exhibition by award-winning Geneva photographer Jean Mohr at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. Entitled "War from the Victims' Perspective", the collection is a project of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne. It shows people affected by war and landscapes transformed by conflict, looking at how children deal with the consequences of war and the ways people find to preserve a certain sense of normality in their lives under the most difficult conditions imaginable. Despite the circumstances in which they were taken, the pictures convey hope and dignity.

Following an introduction by Andreas Spillmann, Director of the Swiss National Museum, Martin Dahinden, Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), spoke at the vernissage: "The horrific pictures from Syria, South Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine show that the goals of international humanitarian law sadly remain highly relevant in our time." He added that Mohr's photographs serve as a reminder "that our work – be it legal, political or out in the field – is always about protecting the dignity of those affected". Besides Spillmann and Dahinden, the artist himself was also present at the opening, along with Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the ICRC, and Kaspar Schild, Vice-President of the Swiss Red Cross. The event was given a literary touch with a reading by theatre and film actor Heidi Maria Glössner.


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