Protection of the civilian population in the period of armed conflict

Resolution 2, adopted by the Twenty-sixth International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent

Geneva 3-7 December 1995

The twenty-sixth International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which greatly humiliated him

- widespread violence and massive and persistent violations of international humanitarian law in the world,

- The painful suffering of the civilian population in the event of any armed conflict or foreign occupation of territory, in particular the numerous acts of genocide, the practice of ethnic cleansing, rampant assassinations, forced displacement of persons and use of force to prevent them from returning to their homes, hostage-taking, torture, rape and arbitrary detention, all of which are violations of international humanitarian law.

- Grave violations of international humanitarian law, which consist of acts aimed at expelling or even exterminating the civilian population from certain areas or forcing some civilians to cooperate in the implementation of such practices;

- Serious violations of international humanitarian law also during internal and international armed conflicts, which consist of acts of violence or threat of violence aimed primarily at spreading terror among civilians and acts of violence or terror that make civilians the subject of attacks,

- The difficulties faced by humanitarian organizations in carrying out their tasks during armed conflicts, especially when the States structure is disintegrated;

- The growing disparity between the humanitarian commitments undertaken by certain parties to armed conflicts and the very inhumane practices of these particular parties;

- The rapid development of the arms market and the insane proliferation of weapons, in particular weapons that can be of indiscriminate effect or cause unnecessary pain;
Stressing the importance of full respect for and implementation of international humanitarian law, and recalling that international humanitarian law and international human rights instruments provide fundamental human protection,
Recalling States obligation to suppress violations of international humanitarian law, and urging them to intensify international efforts:

- To prosecute and punish war criminals and those responsible for gross violations of international humanitarian law;

- to establish an international criminal court on a permanent basis,
Reaffirming that each party to an armed conflict that violates international humanitarian law is obliged, where necessary, to compensate,

Recognizing that the need to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population during the period of armed conflict should not divert from the urgent obligation to combat the root causes of conflicts or to find solutions to them,

Humiliated by the deliberate and systematic destruction of movable and immovable property of importance to peoples cultural or spiritual heritage, such as places of worship, architectural, artistic or historical monuments, whether religious or secular,

Concerned in particular about the fate of women, children, fragmented families, persons with disabilities, the elderly and the civilian population who are hunger-stricken, deprived of water and victimized by the epidemic of anti-personnel mines and other weapons used without discrimination,

A. For the general civilian population:

(a) Reaffirms the obligation of all States to respect in any event the relevant principles and norms of international humanitarian law and the obligation of States parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, States parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and States parties to the Additional Protocols of 1977 to ensure respect for this Convention and the Protocols;

(b) Strongly condemns the systematic and intensive killing of civilians in armed conflict,

(c) Urges States and all parties to armed conflicts to observe in any event, to observe the relevant principles and norms of international humanitarian law and to take the necessary measures for their deployment with the support of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement;

(d) Affirms that international humanitarian law provides for the protection of the civilian population in situations of foreign occupation and their protection from attacks, the effects of hostilities and the dangers of military operations;
Expresses its appreciation for the ongoing efforts to develop the rules of international humanitarian law applicable to peace-keeping operations and multilateral repression,

(f) Also stresses the paramount importance of humanitarian norms in all circumstances, and stresses the need to respect applicable human rights norms,

(g) Condemns acts of sexual violence against any person and affirms that rape and coercion of prostitution committed during an armed conflict or at the instigation of any party to a conflict constitute war crimes;

(h) Reaffirms strongly that civilian populations in need are entitled to humanitarian and impartial relief, in accordance with international humanitarian law,

(i) Stresses the importance of the unrestricted and unconditional access of humanitarian organizations in the period of armed conflict to civilian populations in need, in accordance with the applicable rules of international humanitarian law,

(j) Invites States parties to Protocol I to implement and disseminate the Protocols rules on civil protection, and recommends that the International Committee, in cooperation with the International Organization for Civil Protection, encourage international cooperation in this area and include this issue in the agenda of international meetings on international humanitarian law;

(k) Urges the International Commission, National Societies and the International Federation to intensify their efforts to publicize these norms and to assist and protect the civilian population during armed conflicts, in accordance with the requirements of their respective mandates;

B. For womens fate:

(a) Expresses its outrage at acts of sexual violence in armed conflicts, in particular rape as a means of intimidation, forced prostitution and any other form of sexual assault;

(b) Recognizes the fundamental link between the assistance and protection of women victims of any conflict, and urgently requests that firm measures be taken to ensure the protection and assistance that women have under national and international law;

(c) Strongly condemns acts of sexual violence, in particular the use of rape, in the conduct of armed conflicts on the basis of war crimes and, in some cases, crimes against humanity, and urgently calls for the establishment and support of mechanisms that allow the investigation, prosecution and punishment of all those responsible,

(d) Stresses the importance of training prosecutors, judges and other personnel so that they may deal with such cases while safeguarding victims dignity and interests;
Encourages States, the Movement and other relevant entities and organizations to develop preventive measures, to assess existing programmes and to develop new programmes so that women victims of conflict receive medical, psychological and social assistance, provided if possible by qualified personnel who are particularly sensitive to these issues,

C. For childrens fate:

(a) Affirms as a matter of urgency the obligation to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and assistance of childrens rights under national and international law, and (b) strongly condemns the intentional killing of children, as well as the sexual exploitation, ill-treatment and acts of violence of which they are victims, and requests that strict measures be taken in particular to prevent and punish such acts;

(c) Also strongly condemns the recruitment and recruitment of children under the age of 15 into the armed forces or armed groups, in violation of international humanitarian law, and demands that those responsible be brought to justice and punished;

(d) Recommends that parties to conflict refrain from arming children under 18 years of age and take all possible measures to avoid the participation of children under 18 years of age in hostilities;

Supports the work done by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the participation of children in armed conflict, in the hope of adopting an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child for 1989, the purpose of which is to increase the protection of children involved in armed conflict;

(f) Takes note of the efforts of the Movement to promote the principle of non-recruitment and participation of children under the age of 18 in armed conflict, and supports the Movements practical measures to protect and assist all children who are victims of conflict,

(g) Encourages States, the Movement and other relevant entities and organizations to develop preventive measures, to evaluate existing programmes and to develop new programmes so that children who are victims of conflict receive medical, psychological and social assistance if possible from qualified personnel who are particularly sensitive to these issues;

D. For family reunification:

(a) Demands that the parties to an armed conflict avoid any act aimed at or entailing the separation of families in a manner contrary to international humanitarian law;

(b) Appeals to States to do their utmost to resolve at best the serious humanitarian problem of separation of families,

(c) Emphasizes that family reunification must begin with the search for separated members of the same family, at the request of one of them, and end with their meeting;

(d) Emphasizes the particular vulnerability of children separated from their families following an armed conflict, and invites the International Commission, National Societies and the International Federation, in accordance with their respective mandates, to intensify their efforts to identify, identify, reconnect with and include unaccompanied children in their families and to provide the assistance and support they need;

Notes that family form may change from one culture to another, recognizes the aspiration of separated families to be reunited, and urges States to apply family reunification criteria that take into account the situation of the most vulnerable members of the family;

(f) Requests that the legal status of members of any family living in a host country be prepared expeditiously and in a humane spirit, in order to facilitate family reunification;

(g) Calls upon States to facilitate the search activities for missing persons undertaken by their national Red Cross or Red Crescent societies by allowing them to obtain relevant data;

(h) Encourages national associations to demonstrate the greatest effectiveness in their work on the search for missing persons and family reunification by intensifying their activities related to the search for missing persons and the provision of social assistance, in close cooperation with the International Commission, government authorities and other relevant organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and non-governmental organizations involved in such work;

(i) Appeals to States to support national associations in their activities relating to the search for missing persons and family reunification;

(j) Welcomes the role played by the Central International Commission for the Search of Missing Persons in the search for missing persons and family reunification, and encourages the Central Agency to continue to coordinate the activities of national associations in this area, whenever necessary, and to train the staff of such associations in the principles and techniques of the search for missing persons;

(k) Stresses the need for families to obtain information on missing persons and their right to do so, including missing prisoners of war and registered combatants, and urgently requests States parties to an armed conflict to provide families with information on the fate of relatives whose news has been interrupted;

(l) Urges States and parties to an armed conflict to cooperate with the International Commission for the Search of Missing Persons and to submit the required documents;
(m) Notes the growing importance of the psychological and social aspects of the needs of victims of armed conflicts, and encourages the International Federation to advise and train national societies in this area,

E. For the civilian population suffering from hunger:

(a) Strongly condemns attempts to starve the civilian population in armed conflict,

(b) Emphasizes the following provisions of international humanitarian law:

- Prohibition of the use of famine as a means of warfare against civilians and of attacking, destroying, seizing or disrupting objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population;

- Prohibition of attacking, destroying, seizing or disrupting objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population;

- General prohibition of the displacement of the civilian population by force, since such displacement often leads to widespread famine;

- The obligation to accept relief of a humanitarian and impartial nature for civilian housing, in accordance with the requirements of international humanitarian law, when essential materials are about to be implemented for the survival of the civilian population;

(c) Urges the parties to the conflict to maintain conditions allowing the civilian population to secure their pension, in particular by refraining from any measure aimed at depriving them of resources that are essential to their livelihood, access to their agriculture or arable land, or, in general, deprive them of materials indispensable to their survival,
F. For the civilian population deprived of water:
(a) Emphasizes that water is a vital resource for victims of armed conflict and civilian populations and that it is indispensable for their survival,

(b) Appeals to the parties to the conflict to take all feasible precautions to avoid any action in their war operations that would sabotage or damage water sources and water-catering, treatment and distribution systems used by civilians alone or primarily;

(c) Calls upon the parties to the conflict not to impede civilians access to water, but rather to pave the way for the rehabilitation of water supply systems affected by hostilities, while ensuring the protection of personnel assigned to this task;

(d) Calls upon all States to encourage all efforts to restore, treat or distribute water supply systems that have been affected by military operations,

G. For anti-personnel landmines:

(a) Expresses its concern and discontent that anti-personnel mines kill or maim every hundred people, most of them innocent and defenceless civilians, and that they impede economic development and continue to have serious consequences long years after they are broadcast, preventing in particular the return and rehousing of refugees and displaced persons within their countries and the free movement of all persons;

(b) Notes that the Movement and an increasing number of States and international, regional and non-governmental organizations have undertaken to act urgently to eliminate anti-personnel mines completely,

(c) Also notes that the ultimate purpose of States is the ultimate elimination of anti-personnel mines, which have created viable options that can significantly reduce the risk to civilian population,

(d) Expresses its satisfaction with the unilateral measures taken by some States to remove anti-personnel mines, as well as with the temporary ban imposed by many States on their export, urges other States to take similar unilateral measures as soon as possible, and encourages all States to take other arrangements to limit their transfer,
Regrets that the 1980 Review Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Adverse Effects, held from 25 September to 13 October 1995, was unable to complete its work;

(f) Urgently requests the States parties to the 1980 Convention and the Movement to redouble their efforts so that the new sessions of the aforementioned Review Conference in 1996 will succeed in adopting firm and effective measures,

(g) Strongly encourages all States that have not yet done so to become parties to the Convention, in particular its Protocol II on landmines, in order to achieve universal adherence, and also stresses the importance of respect for these norms by all parties to armed conflicts;
(h) Urges all States and relevant organizations to take concrete measures to strengthen their support for demining work in affected States cooperation and assistance at the international level , which should last several decades, as well as appropriate technical and material assistance for the removal or neutralization of minefields, mines and explosive devices, in accordance with international law,

(i) Invites the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to follow up on these issues, in consultation with the International Federation and national societies, and to inform the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent of them, H: For weapons affecting the blind and other weapons:

(a) Recalls resolution VII adopted by the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross on actions relating to international humanitarian law in armed conflicts on land and sea,
(b) Reaffirms that international humanitarian law must be respected in the development of arms technologies,

(c) Expresses its satisfaction with the adoption by the aforementioned Review Conference of a new Protocol IV on blind laser weapons, which represents an important step in the development of international humanitarian law,

(d) Emphasizes the prohibition of the use or transfer of laser weapons specifically designed for permanent blindness, and (e) urges States to declare their commitment as soon as possible to the provisions of the above-mentioned Protocol and to ensure the adoption of the necessary national measures for its application;

(f) Expresses its satisfaction with the General Agreement concluded by the Review Conference, which states that the scope of the Protocol should not be limited solely to international armed conflicts,

(g) Requests States to consider, for example, at a subsequent Review Conference, additional measures relating to the manufacture and storage of blind laser weapons prohibited under the said Protocol, and to request that some other issues, such as those relating to the observance of the Protocol, be examined in greater depth;

(h) Stresses that all due attention should be given to other existing conventional weapons or weapons that are innovative in the future and may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects, and expresses its concern at the threat posed by floating sea mines to civilian maritime transport, and notes that a proposal to address such problems is the subject of discussion;

(j) Invites the International Committee to follow up on the evolution of the situation in these areas, in particular the wider application of the new Protocol IV, in consultation with the International Federation and national societies, and to inform the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.