IMPLEMENTATION AND
ENFORCEMENT OF IHL
• Role of ICRC in Armed Conflict in General
• Role of ICRC and PNRC in IHL implementation in
the Philippines
• Individual Criminal Liability for IHL Violations
• Peacekeeping and Application of IHL
• International War Crimes Tribunal
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
International humanitarian law is a set of rules that seek to limit the effects of armed
conflict on people, including civilians, persons who are not or no longer participating in the
conflict and even those who still are, such as combatants.
To achieve this objective, international humanitarian law covers two areas: the protection
of persons; and restrictions on the means and the methods of warfare. International
humanitarian law finds its sources in treaties and in customary international law.
The following instruments form the core of modern international humanitarian law:
The Hague Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land;
The Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in
Armed Forces in the Field;
The Geneva Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and
Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea;
The Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War;
The Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War;
The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions and relating to the Protection of Victims
of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I); and
The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions and relating to the Protection of Victims
of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II).
CONT’N:
Other international treaties dealing with the production, use and
stockpiling of certain weapons are also considered part of
international humanitarian law, insofar as they regulate the conduct
of armed hostilities and impose limitations on the use of certain
weapons. Some of these conventions are:
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production
and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction;
The Convention on Cluster Munitions;
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production
and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and
on their Destruction;
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production,
Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction;
The Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain
Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively
Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects; and
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE
RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT
The National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the
International Committee of the Red Cross and the
International Federation 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
ROLE OF ICRC IN ARMED CONFLICT IN
GENERAL
Par. 2, Article 5 of the STATUTES OF THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS AND RED
CRESCENT MOVEMENT provides:
The role of the International Committee, in accordance with its Statutes, is in particular:
a) to maintain and disseminate the Fundamental Principles of the Movement, namely
humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and
universality;
b) to recognize any newly established or reconstituted National Society, which fulfils the
conditions for recognition set out in Article 4, and to notify other National Societies of
such recognition;
c) to undertake the tasks incumbent upon it under the Geneva Conventions, to work for
the faithful application of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts
and to take cognizance of any complaints based on alleged breaches of that law;
d) to endeavour at all times – as a neutral institution whose humanitarian work is carried
out particularly in time of international and other armed conflicts or internal strife – to
ensure the protection of and assistance to military and civilian victims of such events
and of their direct results;
e) to ensure the operation of the Central Tracing Agency as provided in the Geneva
Conventions; f
f) to contribute, in anticipation of armed conflicts, to the training of medical personnel
and the preparation of medical equipment, in cooperation with the National Societies,
the military and civilian medical services and other competent authorities;
g) to work for the understanding and dissemination of knowledge of international
humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts and to prepare any development
thereof;
h) to carry out mandates entrusted to it by the International Conference.
ROLE OF ICRC IN ARMED CONFLICT IN
GENERAL
