From 14 to 26 October 1985 representatives from 130 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (approximately 500 delegates) attended the statutory meetings, the IVth session of the General Assembly of the League and the Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross, held in the premises of the International Labour Office in Geneva.

In his opening address the President of the League, Mr. Enrique de la Mata, paid tribute to the thousands of volunteers for their very effective work over the past two years in times of natural and man-made disasters. He said to the delegates, “We must try and improve our services to the community to the point of perfection”, and encouraged them to speak out freely on failures and shortcomings.

The Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1977, broaden the protection afforded by international law to wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces and to medical personnel, medical units and military medical transports in certain circumstances. Their main purpose, however, is to extend to civilians, civilian medical personnel etc. the protection which hitherto was enjoyed only by military personnel. Thanks to the Additional Protocols, military personnel and civilians today enjoy equal protection.

We have looked at the protection offered to children in conflict situations by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977. The principle that children are particularly vulnerable and in need of special protection has been developed in these provisions.

When the idea of a Convention on the Rights of the Child was first put forward there were debates about whether this was the best way to proceed. The International Union for Child Welfare expressed reservations about the Polish draft proposal stressing the legal difference between a Declaration and a Convention. Although a Convention is theoretically stronger than a Declaration because it is legally binding, experience has shown that a Declaration adopted unanimously has a greater moral impact than a Convention only ratified by a few countries.

Evi Underhill in a paper (undated) “Comments on the Draft Convention on the Rights of the Child” posed not only the question whether Conventions are necessary but also whether they are effective or implemented and if they correspond to the large variety of national customs, political, economic and legal structures.

Certainly, concern has been expressed about the lack of geographical representation of Member States attending the working group which is drafting the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In the meantime some NGOs are urging that the drafting process should be speeded up.

On 25 October 1986, the suspension of the South African government delegation from the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross jeopardized the principle of universality whereby all States party to the Geneva Conventions consequently attend the Conference.

Several provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and of Protocol I of 1977 stipulate, expressly or implicitly, that the respective Contracting Power must implement them as soon as said instruments enter into force, that is already in peacetime. This is the case, in particular, of the articles common to the four Geneva Conventions concerning the widest possible dissemination of the text of the Conventions and the obligation of the Contracting Parties to communicate to one another the official translations of the Conventions, as well as the laws and regulations they adopt to ensure the application thereof.

The International Review of the Red Cross is pleased to publish this essay by Professor Vangah Francis Wodie on the perception of humanitarian law by African states, and their contribution to this law's development in view of the problems confronting them. The essay reflects the personal views of the author, who gives special attention to the legal and humanitarian problems facing many states as a result of the influx of refugees and the use of mercenaries in some conflicts.

— A person is hors de combat if:

a) he is in the power of an adverse Party;

b) he clearly expresses an intention to surrender; or

c) he has been rendered unconscious or is otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness, and therefore is incapable of defending himself

provided that in any of these cases he abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape (Protocol I, Art. 41).

The Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross was held in Geneva from 23 to 31 October 1986. It was attended by delegations from 137 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and 113 States party to the Geneva Conventions, as well as by many observers from National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the process of formation and from governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The Council of Delegates is the statutory body of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (International Red Cross) composed of delegates of National Societies, delegates of the International Committee (ICRC) and delegates of the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It met in Geneva on 25 October 1985 at the headquarters of the International Labour Office (ILO).

Mr. Alexandre Hay, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, received an honorary doctorate from Geneva University, together with eight other eminent figures from scientific, cultural, teaching and religious fields.

In case of armed conflict, the following groups are entitled to relief:

— the civilian population of an occupied territory (Fourth Conv., Art. 59; Prot. I, Art. 69);

— the civilian population of a territory under the control of a party to the conflict, other than an occupied territory (Fourth Conv., Art. 23, 38; Prot. I, Art. 70);

— prisoners of war and civilian internees in the territory of a Party to the conflict or in an occupied territory (Third Conv., Art. 72; Fourth Conv., Art. 108).

This paper deals with the provisions of contemporary international humanitarian law which prohibit “terrorist acts”, commonly referred to, simply, as “terrorism”.

Since the paper is mainly of a descriptive nature, experts in international humanitarian law will learn little that is new. But if it succeeds in highlighting one specific aspect of the well-known obligations and prohibitions set forth in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols—namely, the absolute and unconditional ban on terrorism—the objective will be attained. A few basic facts will then have been recalled which should make it somewhat easier to tackle the complex questions as to the essence and legal bounds of guerrilla warfare.

During May, Mr. Alexandre Hay, President of the ICRC, carried out a series of missions taking him first to the United Kingdom (1–2 May) and then to Asia (3–15 May), where he visited Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, India and Bangladesh.

In London, Mr. Hay had a meeting with Sir Geoffrey Howe, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, which was concerned mainly with the ratification by the United Kingdom of the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions.

Following the adoption of the Additional Protocols in 1977, the ICRC decided to start working on the interpretation of these new treaties of international humanitarian law, just as it had published a Commentary on the Geneva Conventions after their adoption in 1949.

At the opening ceremony on 23 October, Mr. Kurt Bolliger, President of the Swiss Red Cross, which was hosting the Conference, gave a welcoming address to the delegates. He recalled that 85 years ago, in 1901, Henry Dunant had received the first Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian action. “It behoves us, particularly during this ‘International Year of Peace’, to do our utmost to show ourselves worthy of this heritage—not by making mere solemn appeals, nor by interceding in high-level politics, but through specific, daily humanitarian action which demands neither gratitude nor publicity”, declared Mr. Bolliger.

Since 1981, the ICRC has maintained regular contact with the United Nations International Law Commission, a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly. The Commission is composed of 34 members, elected from among the most eminent representatives of all the world's legal systems. Its mandate under the UN Charter is to work for the codification and progressive development of international law.

The Council of Delegates,

Mindful of the decisive contribution made by the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 to the development of international humanitarian law and, in particular, to the protection of the civilian population against the harmful effects of armed conflicts

Pursuant to Decision No. VI of the Twenty-fourth International Conference of the Red Cross (Manila, 1981) to accept the offer made by the Swiss Red Cross to organize the next International Conference in Geneva, the relevant invitations were sent out to the members of the Conference in February of this year by the host Society.

The members of the International Conference are the duly recognized National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the States party to the Geneva Conventions, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has approached Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, at present Swiss State Secretary for External Economic Affairs, to succeed Mr. Alexandre Hay, who has expressed the desire to retire from the presidency of the Institution before the end of his third term of office, which expires at the end of 1988.

Mr. Sommaruga has just accepted the ICRC's proposal. He will take up his duties during 1987 on a date to be specified later. Until then President Hay will continue in office full-time.

The ICRC learnt with very deep sorrow of the death on 18 March 1986 of Mr. Roger Gallopin, honorary member and former President of the Executive Board of the institution. In him the International Committee has lost one of its most faithful and lifelong servants.

He was 27 years old when he joined the ICRC in 1936. A young Doctor of Laws and author of a thesis on the Anglo-Irish conflict, he seemed destined for a brilliant carreer in law. And indeed his main activity consisted initially in making preparations, with one of his colleagues, for the Diplomatic Conference for the Revision of the Geneva Conventions which was due to be held in 1940 and which the outbreak of hostilities then postponed. His subsequent career revealed his talents as an organizer and diplomat.