The then-President of the ICRC, Gustave Moynier, welcomed the initiative taken by Czar Nicholas II to convene a conference to discuss a large number of proposals to ensure peace in Europe. This conference became to be known as the (First) International Peace Conference (The Hague, 1899). While Moynier did not expect very much from a debate on “abolishing war altogether”, he expected the Conference to bolster the work started in Geneva in 1864, in particular by adopting an extension to maritime warfare of the 1864 Convention. He nevertheless did everything possible to prevent the Hague Conference from taking upon itself an amendment of the 1864 Convention, which he considered to be a matter for a special meeting to be held under the aegis of “Geneva”. In the end, the Conference was unable to make substantial progress on the issues which it considered to be most important, in particular disarmament. It did, however, adopt an initial version of what was to become, in 1907, the Hague Regulations on land warfare, as well as the suggested text on maritime warfare. The ICRC was not represented at the Conference, as for reasons of poor health Gustave Moynier was unable to attend. Édouard Odier, another member of the ICRC, did take part in the Conference, but as a member of the Swiss delegation.

Only three years after the 1864 Convention — historically the “first” Geneva Convention — was adopted, proposals were made to amend the text by introducing provisions on the National Red Cross Societies. However, the result of this procedure — the 1868 Additional Articles — was never ratified by any of the parties to the original treaty. In the years that followed, no less than five proposals were circulated by the ICRC, none of which led to new treaty provisions until, in 1906, the States adopted a new Convention to replace the original 1864 treaty. Although the proposed texts originated in Geneva — drafted by General Dufour and Gustave Moynier — the ICRC remained sceptical about the wisdom of amending the original Convention. The fear of losing what had been gained in 1864 was stronger than the expectation that new progress would be made in protecting war victims. In an annex to this article the various drafts are published for the first time.

The Second World War was responsible for the death and disappearance of millions of Germans. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities the German Red Cross set up a tracing service in accordance with the 1929 Geneva Convention on prisoners of war. During the war, the tracing activity of the German Red Cross was expanded to include the search for civilian victims of the conflict. This article examines the activities of the tracing service both during the war and after it was over: restoring links between members of families, searching for lost children, establishing contact with prisoners, determining the whereabouts of displaced persons, etc. With the end of the Cold War, German reunification and a new relationship with Russia made it possible for the German Red Cross Society to intensify its search for missing persons.

The author raises the rather daunting question of whether it is possible to justify celebration of the Geneva Conventions despite the enormous suffering caused by war which those Conventions are supposed to prevent. What can international humanitarian law achieve under the present circumstances? The author does not give an easy answer to this question but he asks the right questions, which could lead to at least certain components of a good answer. He goes on to present the project, called “People on War”, that the ICRC has launched to mark the anniversary. The purpose of this unique initiative is to meet people who have been through war and ask them to share their personal experiences with conflict and to say what they expect from humanitarian law. Results of this vast study should be available for the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, to be held in Geneva later this year.

Suite à l'annonce de Javier Solaria, secrétaire général de l'Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN), qui autorise une action militaire contre la République fédérale de Yougoslavie, le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) a envoyé le 24 mars 1999 une note verbale à l'OTAN et aux États membres concernés, ainsi qu'aux autorités yougoslaves, pour leur rappeler leurs obligations découlant du droit international humanitaire et en particulier des quatre Conventions de Genève de 1949.

In view of the announcement by Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), authorizing military action against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on 24 March 1999 sent a diplomatic note to NATO and the respective member States, as well as to the Yugoslav authorities, reminding them of their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.