ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has raised alarm over what it described as a weakening commitment to the Geneva Conventions, warning that the next 76 years of the humanitarian treaties will be shaped by decisions world leaders make today.
Marking the 76th anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 on Tuesday, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said the promise made by the international community in the aftermath of World War II, that even in war there are limits, is “under serious threat.”
“The rules remain, but the commitment to uphold them is weakening, with catastrophic consequences for people trapped in conflict,” Spoljaric said in a statement from Geneva.
She stressed that the Geneva Conventions, universally ratified and among the most widely accepted international treaties, are not meant to serve the powerful but to protect the powerless, civilians caught in the crossfire, the wounded on the battlefield, and prisoners behind bars.
“Respect for the rules of war is not optional. When respected, they prevent brutality in war and preserve pathways back to peace,” she noted.
Spoljaric recalled that in September last year, the ICRC, in partnership with Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa, launched a global initiative to revive political will for international humanitarian law (IHL).
Since then, over 70 countries have signed on, and she urged others to follow suit.
“The protective power of IHL is only as strong as leaders’ political will to uphold it,” she warned. “The next 76 years of the Geneva Conventions will be defined by the choices they make today, to preserve, or abandon, humanity in war.”