The Central Tracing Agency and Protection Division finalized and implemented an updated set of guidelines for the protection of civilians affected by conflict. The guidelines were distributed to all delegations and specific training started to be given.

The implementation and scope of protection activities for the civilian population depend on several factors, notably security conditions and the readiness of the authorities to enter into dialogue and to address issues brought to their attention. The fact that the ICRC is able to develop protection activities and discuss sensitive issues with the authorities concerned does not necessarily mean that the desired results will be achieved. In many contexts, the ICRC is aware of the need to maintain or increase its protection activities despite unfavourable conditions, and develops innovative approaches to enhance respect for IHL and other fundamental norms devised to protect individuals in situations of violence.

In 2007, the ICRC pursued its dialogue on the protection of civilians with the authorities and weapon bearers in many coun­tries, such as Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories, Lebanon, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Sudan. It did this despite security con­straints which, at times, restricted access to certain areas of ICRC concern. The situation in Iraq prevented the ICRC from engaging in substantial protection activities for civilians in that country.

People deprived of their freedom are vulnerable because they depend entirely on the detaining staff and authorities to meet their basic needs and ensure their physical protection. People arrested and detained in connection with an armed conflict or other situation of violence are more likely to be subjected to harsh conditions of detention or to ill-treatment than ordinary detainees.

The main objective of ICRC work to protect people deprived of their freedom is to prevent or put an end to summary executions, torture and other forms of ill-treatment, inadequate conditions of detention, the severing of contact between detainees and their families and disregard for fundamental judicial guarantees and procedural safeguards.

ICRC access to places of detention is not an end in itself. Rather, visits are a means of collecting first-hand information about the situation in such places. The ICRC monitors and assesses detainees’ conditions of detention and treatment by sending trained staff to visit places of detention, talk with the authorities concerned, hold private interviews with detainees/prisoners and prepare an overall analysis of their findings. ICRC findings, assessments and related recommendations are discussed with the authorities at the appropriate levels. ICRC visits are repeated in a process that is held to strict professional standards.

In countries affected by both armed conflict or other forms of violence and longstanding severe economic difficulties, the detaining authorities may be unable to provide for the basic needs of detainees, regardless of the reason for their detention. The ICRC’s response to such situations varies, depending on the protection needs identified and the will and capability of the authorities to address them, from confidential reporting and recommendations to the relevant authorities, to a catalogue of activities that includes material assistance, the repair or installation of water supply and sanitation systems, the provision of medical and hygiene supplies, capacity building and training for penal staff, law-enforcement officers, the military and the judiciary, the mobilization of other players and, in exceptional circumstances, public communication of ICRC protection concerns.

In 2007, the ICRC had access to persons deprived of their freedom in nearly 80 countries and made numerous recommendations to improve often unsatisfactory conditions or treatment. It also continued its visits to people held in The Hague (the Netherlands) under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court or by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in Arusha (United Republic of Tanzania) by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and in Freetown (Sierra Leone) by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

States’ policies of repression relating to acts of transnational “terrorism” continued to challenge the ICRC’s ability to engage in constructive dialogue with the authorities responsible for compliance with IHL and other fundamental norms, and to promote respect for the relevant rules among specific groups/protagonists and to offer a humanitarian response to the needs of people affected by “terrorist” acts. The ICRC visited persons held in connection with acts of “terrorism” in several contexts, and continued to seek access to persons detained on similar charges wherever they were held.

In countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Georgia, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda and Uganda, the ICRC provided support to the penitentiary administrations, initiating or pursuing activities to address structural problems with a view to enabling the authorities to improve their response to the needs and rights of people deprived of their freedom.

The ICRC carried out activities for people deprived of their freedom in Lebanon and in Pakistan pursuant to agreements reached with the authorities of those countries. It was unable to resume its activities in several countries where they had been suspended, such as Myanmar, the Russian Federation (for Chechnya), Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and continued to discuss access to persons deprived of their freedom in several others.

Armed violence and natural or man-made disasters may lead to massive displacements of people and the separation of families. Working as a rule in close cooperation with National Societies, the ICRC provides services for restoring family links, including reuniting family members. It pays particular attention and gives priority to children separated from their families and those demobilized from fighting forces, as they may encounter specific protection problems.

The family-links network – comprising the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency, ICRC delegations and National Society tracing services – provides essential services to those in need, enabling people to communicate with one another, reuniting those who were separated, locating missing relatives or identifying and recovering human remains. The ICRC acts both in its direct operational capacity and in its lead role for restoring family links within the Movement. This lead role means that the ICRC acts as the Movement’s technical adviser in this field and coordinator of its international response, including in situations of natural disaster occurring outside conflict zones or violence-prone areas.

In 2007, needs for assistance in restoring family links and related activities remained particularly acute in Africa, mainly in Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. In West Africa, where the situation continued to stabilize, tracing activities on the whole related to the remaining cases of children separated from their families in connection with the conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In a number of countries, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, such services benefited mainly people deprived of their freedom, who were able to exchange RCMs with their relatives. Following natural disasters, the ICRC acted, whenever necessary, and in cooperation with National Societies, to enable people who had lost touch with their relatives to get the assistance they required. This was the case following floods in Bangladesh and Mexico.

In November, the Movement’s Council of Delegates adopted the Restoring Family Links Strategy proposed by the ICRC after three years of consultation within the Movement. The strategy, which covers a ten-year period, aims to strengthen the Movement’s family-links network by enhancing the capacity of its components to respond to the needs of those without news of family members owing to armed conflict, other situations of violence, natural disasters or other circumstances, such as migration.

Armed conflicts and other situations of violence often lead to the disappearance of hundreds, or even thousands, of people. ICRC activities in relation to missing persons include: promoting the relevant humanitarian rules; lending support for the development of appropriate national legislation; assisting authorities in setting up mechanisms aimed at addressing the issue of missing persons; cooperating with the authorities and other players involved with a view to ascertaining the fate of the missing; tracing people who are unaccounted for; handling human remains; and providing support to the families of the missing.

In 2007, the ICRC undertook or pursued activities for missing persons and their families in places such as the Balkans, Colombia, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Peru, the southern Caucasus and Timor-Leste.

The ICRC participated in various meetings, round-tables and conferences on general and specific protection issues. It also maintained bilateral relations with the main organizations and institutions active in this area. Within the UN framework, it followed in particular discussions on the protection of IDPs and participated as an observer in protection cluster meetings, both in the field and at headquarters. The main purpose of these contacts was to promote the specific approach of the ICRC, ensure complementarity and prevent gaps in protection work while seeking agreement on principles guiding protection activities, avoid duplication of efforts and the weakening of professional standards, and accurately identify the added value of each individual organization, in terms of its mandate, experience and specific nature.


ICRC Annual Report 2007