From the very first, the founding members of what was to become the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement realized that it was necessary to comply with a number of essential principles. The work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is based on the fundamental idea of impartial assistance to anyone who is suffering, whether friend or foe.

This year the Swiss Red Cross is celebrating its 125th anniversary. On this occasion, the Review is happy to include the following two articles: one deals with the historical development of the National Society and the other with the challenges it faces on the threshold of a new millennium.

Rather than serving as a pretext for noisy celebration and self-congratulation, the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Swiss Red Cross should be an occasion for reflection on our institution's development, its role within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and its special situation as the National Society of Switzerland. This is a worthy undertaking, an attempt, as the historian Marc Ferro put it, “to capture time and make it intelligible to others”. But anyone who embarks on such a venture must be careful to avoid rewriting the past according to his own preferences and giving an idealized picture of this humanitarian organization, which has had its share of tensions, setbacks and contradictions, some of them still unresolved.

One hundred and twenty five years after it was founded, the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) benefits from the fact that people in Switzerland remember Henry Dunant and his achievements. Though most of them do not know exactly what the SRC does or distinguish between the various Red Cross institutions, 98% of the adult population are nevertheless familiar with the Red Cross, and consider it to be a good and important organization.

The Swiss Confederation is celebrating its 700th anniversary this year and numerous commemorative activities are being organized throughout the country. In Geneva several events focusing on the city's humanitarian and international vocation have already been held.

I should like to welcome you all to this important meeting which will consider the implications of the possible use in the future of a new type of weapon, and of a new method of warfare.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has the tasks, inter alia, of working for the faithful application of humanitarian law and preparing for its development. Its aim is, and has always been, to attempt to reduce the suffering caused by war as far as possible in relation both to the methods of warfare and to the protection and assistance to be given to victims. Its concern as to the effects of weapons is an old one. I am referring in particular here to the efforts which the ICRC undertook formally to outlaw the use of chemical weapons. We published in February 1918 an appeal that strongly protested against the use of poison gas, referring in particular to the terrible suffering it inflicted on soldiers. The ICRC appealed to the sentiment of humanity of the governments of the time and subsequently sent letters to the League of Nations and to governments urging them to conclude an agreement prohibiting the use of chemical weapons. This eventually led to the signature of the 1925 Protocol. Since that time the ICRC hosted two expert meetings in the 1970s which studied a number of modern weapons. The direct outcome of those meetings was the Convention adopted in 1980 by the United Nations, commonly referred to as the Inhumane Weapons Convention. However, discussions begun during those expert meetings were not completed; in particular it was agreed that further research was necessary on the effects of certain new weapons, and that information on other weapons, including laser weapons, was so scanty and undeveloped at that time as to preclude any real analysis. The present range of the 1980 treaty is thus very limited and does not fully meet the concerns of experts as to the suffering that some weapons may unnecessarily cause.

This address was given by the ICRC President at the opening of the fourth of a series of expert meetings which considered the use of new laser weapons to permanently blind enemy soldiers.

The ICRC had initially been alerted to this problem by the mention, in a number of technical and military publications, of the fact that both vehicle-mounted lasers and hand-held laser rifles are being developed which appear to have two purposes: the destruction of sensors on vehicles, and the targeting of soldiers' eyes. Several governments voiced their concern about this development at the International Conference of the Red Cross in 1986 and the ICRC decided to study the subject in more detail.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is deeply concerned about the gravity of the situation in Yugoslavia and its consequences in humanitarian terms.

At its latest meeting on 26 and 27 June 1991, the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross appointed a new member, Ms. Francesca Pometta. Her appointment brings the membership of the Committee, which is composed exclusively of Swiss citizens, to 22.

ICRC President Comelio Sommamga, accompanied by Mr. Jean-Francois Berger, regional delegate for the Balkan States, and Ms. Marlyse Schaer from the Division for Principles and Relations with the Movement were in Greece from 19 to 23 May 1991 at the invitation of the Hellenic Red Cross. The principal aims of their mission were to pay an official visit to the National Society and learn more about its activities, and to meet with the Greek authorities to discuss ways of promoting knowledge of international humanitarian law and other matters relating to ICRC activities.