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The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross (II)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
Extract
Francis Bacon once wrote that a man who does not treat his neighbour humanely is not truly human. The ideal of the Red Cross is much greater than its own action. It does not therefore limit itself to assistance and protection, but demands that everyone must respect the human person, his life, liberty and happiness—in other words, everything that constitutes his existence. This must naturally correspond to the requirements of public order and, in wartime, of military necessity.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- International Review of the Red Cross (1961 - 1997) , Volume 19 , Issue 211 , August 1979 , pp. 184 - 197
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1979
References
page 184 note 1 Siordet, Frédéric: Inter arma caritas, ICRC, Geneva, 1947.Google Scholar
page 186 note 1 Meaning, respectively, “Through humanity towards peace” and “In war, charity”.
page 187 note 1 Resolution XXV of the Fourteenth International Red Cross Conference, Brussels, 1930.
page 187 note 1 Resolution XXIV of the Council of Delegates, Geneva, 1963.
page 188 note 1 In 1962, at the time of a grave international crisis, the ICRC was asked to verify whether ships en route to Cuba were carrying nuclear missiles. The ICRC had agreed to do so and had organized a team of qualified observers. Finally, a political détente was arrived at before this team started its operations. The very fact of acceptance of this task by the ICRC, however, a task far removed from its traditional pattern of operations, encouraged this detente and had an impact on people's thinking. The ICRC had naturally made its participation subject to acceptance by all the three parties directly concerned and had received formal assurances in this respect from the General Secretariat of the United Nations. Later on however, at a Red Cross Conference, the Cuban representative stated that his government had not been consulted.
page 188 note 2 Resolution XX of the Twenty-first International Conference, Istanbul, 1969.
page 188 note 3 Decision No. 1 of the Council of Delegates, Bucharest, 1977.
page 189 note 1 The last meeting of the Council of Delegate set up a Commission to oversee the application of the Belgrade programme and propose suitable measures to achieve its objectives.
page 190 note 1 Nevertheless, in recent exchanges of views within the International Red Cross, it was emphasized that peace is inseparable from justice and that there can be no true peace in which the human person is not respected.
page 194 note 1 Preface to The Good Samaritan.
page 195 note 1 Pictet, J.: Red Cross Principles.Google Scholar
page 196 note 1 The activities of National Societies are of course mainly carried out within the borders of their own countries. No one would expect to have these Societies disperse their resources throughout the world, as we shall see under the subject of universality.