Annual lecture, SOAS, University of London, address by Angelo Gnaedinger, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross

The Ninth Hauser Lecture. Dr Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC, New York University School of Law, 5 March 2008

The ICRC's Project on the Reaffirmation and Development of IHL provides a framework within which both internal reflection and outside consultations on current and emerging issues of IHL can take place. Some of those issues are outlined in an ICRC report on "IHL and the Challenges of Contemporary Armed Conflicts" prepared for the 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The question of how to improve compliance with international humanitarian law during armed conflict, and in particular during non-international armed conflict, was posed to the participants of five ICRC regional expert seminars conducted in 2003 on the subject "Improving Compliance with International Humanitarian Law".

International humanitarian law hinges on the principle of the distinction between combatants, whose function is to conduct hostilities during armed conflict, and civilians, who are presumed not to be directly participating in the hostilities and, therefore, entitled to full protection from attack. They lose this protection only if, and for as long as they "directly participate in hostilities". After six years of expert discussions and research, the ICRC has published the "Interpretive Guidance", which aims to clarify the meaning and consequences of direct participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law (IHL).

The ICRC recently published an interpretative guidance clarifying what international humanitarian law says concerning civilians directly participating in hostilities. The aim is to help distinguish between civilians who must be protected against attack and those who, in very exceptional circumstances, lose protection against direct attack. This Q and A summarizes the guidance.

Theme: direct participation in hostilities. Civilians are playing an increasingly decisive role in determining the outcome of wars. This has further blurred the fundamental civilian/combatant distinction that is the cornerstone of modern humanitarian law. The lawfulness of an attack on civilians depends on their own conduct in hostilities, and hinges on the principle of “direct participation in hostilities”.

In September 2008, the ICRC and Chatham House convened an informal meeting of specialists on procedural safeguards for security detention in non-international armed conflict. The meeting brought together experts with military, academic, governmental and NGO backgrounds to discuss legal and operational issues linked to internment.

The ICRC and the Frederick K.Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University convened an experts meeting in September 2007 devoted to legal and practical issues associated with security detention. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions of the participants at the meeting.

What does IHL say about terrorism? - Does IHL specifically mention terrorism? - Is the "war on terrorism" an armed conflict? - What law applies to persons detained in the fight against terrorism? - What is the ICRC's role with respect to persons detained in the fight against terrorism?

Several questions about the applicability of IHL or the law of war during contemporary armed conflicts have been raised in recent years. In this article, the ICRC's head of delegation in Sri Lanka, Toon Vandenhove, says IHL remains as relevant as ever for all parties to armed conflict.

After six years of expert discussions and research, the ICRC has published the "Interpretive Guidance on the notion of direct participation in hostilities under IHL," which aims to clarify the meaning and consequences of direct participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law (IHL). This publication comes with a CD containing all the proceedings of the expert process.

An expert meeting was organized in December 2003 by the ICRC and the Geneva-based University Centre for International Humanitarian Law. The discussions focused specifically on multinational forces acting on the basis of a UN mandate, under either UN, national or regional command. A complete report is now available to download.

The commentary to the procedural principles and safeguards outlined in this text mentions the different legal sources governing deprivation of liberty for security reasons in international armed conflicts, non-international armed conflicts and other situations of violence.

Given that people unlawfully taking part in hostilities are not entitled to protection under the Third Geneva Convention relative to prisoners of war, the author focuses on the controversially debated question of whether "unlawful combatants" fall into the personal scope of application of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.

This article examines the international humanitarian law applicable to acts of terror. All acts of terror committed during international or non-international armed conflicts are prohibited without exception. In addition, the author argues that State responses to terrorist acts are also regulated by international humanitarian law when carried out during an armed conflict.

Public interest in laws ruling the conduct of war is increasing, although there is confusion about how some of the basic concepts are applicable to the current international situation. Jelena Pejic, an adviser in the ICRC's legal division, cites three examples in this article published on the Crimes of War Project web site.

This article is based on an address before the United States Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, on June 26, 2003, as part of a conference on "Current Issues in International Law and Military Operations".

Article published in "the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs", vol. 27:2, Summer/Fall 2003

Speech delivered by Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC, at Georgetown University, Washington.

Committee of legal advisers on public international law (CADHI), 28th meeting Lausanne, 13-14 September 2004 - Intervention by Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC

Keynote address by Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, XXVIIIth Round Table on Current Problems of International Humanitarian Law. San Remo, 2 September 2004

60th Annual Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Agenda item 14 (d) - 8 April 2004. Statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross

"International Action to Prevent and Combat Terrorism" - Workshop on the Protection of Human Rights While Countering Terrorism, Copenhagen, 15-16 March 2004 - Presentation given by Gabor Rona, legal adviser at the ICRC’s Legal Division.

27th Annual Round Table on Current Problems of International Humanitarian Law, San Remo, Italy, 4-6 September, 2003. The 2003 Round Table was devoted to "International Humanitarian Law and Other Legal Regimes: Interplay in Situations of Violence". Organized by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in co-operation with the ICRC. Address by Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Bruges Colloquium, 25 and 26 October 2002. Opening address by Professor Anne Petitpierre, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross

Statement by Dr Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Article published in Global Futures Number 2, 2006 (World Vision International) and reproduced here with the magazine's kind permission.

Jakob Kellenberger, ICRC president, says the organization condemns indiscriminate terrorist attacks unreservedly, but insists that the response to them must remain within the framework of the law. Article published in the Financial Times (UK) on 19 May 2004 and reproduced here with the FT's kind permission.

Official working document of the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 26 to 30 November 2007.

Report prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross, 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 2 to 6 December 2003

Extract from ICRC publication "International humanitarian law: answers to your questions"

The Transnational and Non-State Armed Groups Project is an international and interdisciplinary initiative driven jointly by the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University (HPCR) and the Graduate Institute on International Studies in Geneva (HEI).  The project aims to examine analytically the place of non-state armed groups within the context of armed conflict, and to identify strategic options as to the legal and policy implications of the contemporary role of these actors.