In a period of 20 months, from November 1862 to August 1864, an almost unnoticed revolution took place, the result of the feelings aroused in various European countries by the publication of a small book, entitledA Memory of Solferino. Its author, the young Swiss businessman Jean-Henry Dunant, used the sympathy it generated to promote the idea that wounded soldiers should, since they are no longer capable of fighting, cease to be treated as enemies. He wanted nations to organize groups of volunteers who, with the full backing of their respective governments, would stand ready and able to render assistance to wounded and sick members of armies in the field, whether friend or foe.

It is true that the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross (October 1986), the work of which was extensively reported by the International Review of the Red Cross in its special November-December 1986 issue, was marked by the suspension of the South African government delegation.

In our opinion, the most important event at the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross was its adoption of the new Statutes and Rules of Procedure of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. These new texts are the outcome of a suggestion by the League and almost four years of negotiation with the ICRC. They set out guidelines for the Movement for the span of at least a generation, and the fact that they have been adopted by consensus is a guarantee of their soundness and their durability.

Ten years ago, on 8 June 1977, the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts adopted two Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, one relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts and the other to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts.

The questions facing the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement today are no different from those with which the Movement began: What is the best way to help? How can we give immediate aid and also provide long-term protection? To answer these questions we have to go back to the early years of the Movement.

In its Judgment of 27 June 1986 in the case concerning “Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua”, the International Court of Justice dealt at length with some of the most vexed questions in humanitarian law. Although the Court had previously touched upon certain problems in this legal field, for example in the Corfu Channel case and that of the Pakistani Prisoners, this was the first time it expressed itself in detail on more general issues, notably on the customary nature of the “general principles” of humanitarian law.

The Canadian Red Cross Society has strongly supported the adoption of the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 as logical, essential extensions of the Conventions. The Protocols bring the Conventions of 1949 up to date. They make the true application of international humanitarian law (IHL) in armed conflicts relevant, meaningful and possible in the modern world to fulfil its ultimate aim—to provide protection and assistance to all victims of all conflicts.

The world now has a population of 5 billion, as against 1 billion in 1863 when the Red Cross was founded and the codification of the law of armed conflicts was initiated. For almost a century, the Red Cross concerned itself successively with soldiers wounded in action, victims of naval warfare, prisoners of war and civilians abandoned in wartime to the arbitrariness of foreign rule.

Throughout history man has been exposed to all kinds of disasters; but in modern times mankind has become aware of its responsibility towards those struck by disasters, and of its increased capability of coping with their consequences. Out of this growing awareness arose the concept of humanitarian assistance as a reflection of solidarity; this was followed by the formulation of legal rules governing such activity. Parallel to the need to provide humanitarian assistance is the corresponding right to such assistance.

War separates families; it separates prisoners of war from the Power on which they depend and civilians from their country of origin or residence. Uncertainty about what has happened to a loved one who is missing on the battlefield or in enemy-controlled territory is much more difficult to bear than the news that he has been captured and interned by the enemy, or sometimes even that he is dead. Moreover, registering a captured person helps to protect him. The provisions for obtaining, collating and transmitting this type of information are a major step forward in international humanitarian law. The National Information Bureau (hereinafter NIB) plays a key role in the system laid down for this purpose by the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The NIB has the important but difficult task of obtaining and transmitting information on protected persons of the adverse party who are in the hands of the party to the conflict to which the NIB belongs.

The year 1977 may be considered a turning point for the dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law and the Principles and the ideals of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. If we briefly review events of that year, we see that from 21 to 30 March 1977 the first European Red Cross Seminar on the Dissemination of the Geneva Conventions, organized by the Polish Red Cross and the ICRC, was held in Warsaw. Representatives of European and North American National Societies and of the ICRC and the League attended the seminar which adopted the following principles:

«Although dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law is a responsibility of governments, it should be a direct concern of the Red Cross in general and particularly of each National Society in its own country.

Mr. Raúl Alfonsín, President of the Argentine Republic, visited ICRC headquarters on 10 June. He was received by Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the ICRC, accompanied by members of the International Committee and the Directorate. Several representatives of the City and Canton of Geneva were also present.

It is not enough simply to draw up a new international treaty—the States must also agree to respect it. A State demonstrates its willingness to respect new obligations first and foremost by ratifying or acceding to a treaty.

Spreading knowledge of international humanitarian law at universities raises three questions which this text will attempt to answer. Firstly, why disseminate knowledge of international humanitarian law at universities? Secondly, towards which section of the university community should such an effort be directed? Thirdly, how should the subject be presented at law schools?

Increasingly a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) appear to be demanding the right to provide humanitarian assistance and at the same time the right to denounce any violations of human rights. Whereas these are fine and understandable aspirations, they do not coincide with accepted principles of relief law and practice. This short article will explore certain aspects of this subject, primarily in relation to the treaty law applicable to circumstances of armed conflict and in occupied territories (International Humanitarian Law).

The International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent,

Proclaims that the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies together constitute a worldwide humanitarian movement, whose mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found, to protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being, in particular in times of armed conflict and other emergencies, to work for the prevention of disease and for the promotion of health and social welfare, to encourage voluntary service and a constant readiness to give help by the members of the Movement, and a universal sense of solidarity towards all those in need of its protection and assistance.

In May the Ethiopian Government authorized the ICRC delegation in Addis Ababa to resume in part its activities in northern Ethiopia, where the ICRC's assistance operation had had to be suspended in December 1986 by order of the Ethiopian authorities.

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the adoption on 8 June 1977 of the Protocols additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions by the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, the Review wanted to involve National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the preparation of a special issue; the intention is to reflect as wide a variety as possible of views from National Societies throughout the world with regard to the Protocols and to show what the Societies have done to have them ratified and ensure that they are more widely known.