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International Committee of the Red Cross: Prevention policy

(Adopted by the Assembly of the ICRC on 18 September 2008)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2009

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Type
Reports and documents
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 91 , Issue 874: War victims , June 2009 , pp. 415 - 430
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2009

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References

1 ICRC Policy, “The ICRC: Its mission and work”, 2008.

2 The ICRC mission statement explicitly covers “armed conflicts and other situations of violence”.

3 Art. 5(2), Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, adopted by the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross, Geneva, 23–31 October 1986, amended in 1995 and 2006. See also, Res. 21, “Dissemination of Knowledge of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts”, Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, 7 June 1977, which was adopted in the framework of negotiations on the Additional Protocols. Numerous resolutions adopted during the International Conference further elaborate upon the ICRC's responsibility.

4 ICRC Strategy 2007–2010, “Committed to meeting new challenges through action”.

5 Oxford Dictionary of English, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2006.

6 See Blondel, Jean-Luc, “The role of the ICRC in preventing armed conflict: its possibilities and limitations, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 83, No. 844, December 2001, pp. 923–945.Google Scholar Blondel indicates that all ICRC activities contribute to three different objectives, albeit in varying degrees: (1) a normative and educative objective; (2) a corrective and curative objective and (3) a forward-looking and preventive objective. Ibid., p. 936.

7 “The ICRC: its mission and work”, supra note 1.

8 Ibid.

9 Approaches are distinct from activities or programmes. They are defined according to the specific aim which they pursue. Ibid.

10 For example, a prevention approach that aims to limit or put a stop to the use of cluster munitions and thus to the suffering caused by their use may include a range of activities: promoting the adoption of a new treaty (prevention activity); preparing reports about the consequences of cluster munitions on people not or no longer participating in the fighting (protection activity); compiling descriptions of the wounds caused by cluster munitions based on the ICRC's first-hand medical experience (assistance activity); and organising a seminar for National Societies to strengthen the Movement's public communication on the issue of cluster munitions (cooperation activity). At the same time, certain protection, assistance and cooperation activities which have a broad preventive character (e.g., vaccination campaigns, prison visits, strengthening the capacity of National Societies in the field of restoring family links), do not fall within the scope of the present policy.

11 For example, a protection approach that aims to put a stop to and prevent the recurrence of sexual violence may include promoting the enactment of domestic legislation prohibiting sexual violence (prevention activity). This prevention activity may concurrently fall within a prevention approach.

12 See Blondel, supra note 6. See also “Fundamental Guidelines for the Contribution of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to a True Peace in the World”, adopted by the Second World Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference on Peace, Aaland – Stockholm, 2–7 September, 1984.

13 Estimating the likelihood does not necessarily require measuring it precisely. When confronted with highly complex humanitarian problems, the most realistic and viable option may be to resort to approximations (e.g. low, high, very high likelihood) comparisons (i.e. less or more probable) or judgements based on past experience.

14 The ICRC's Roots of Behaviour in War study highlighted the main environmental factors that influence the behaviour of arms carriers and lead them either to respect or to violate IHL in a given situation. It stressed, in particular, the role played by manhood and culture (pp. 18–25), ethnicity and the sense of belonging to a group (pp. 46–49), military training, orders and sanctions (pp. 50–54, 68–86), the phenomenon of progressive moral disengagement under the pressure of dehumanisation and justifications (pp. 88–94) and the influence of “bystanders” (pp. 65–66). J.J. Frésard, The Roots of Behaviour in War, A Survey of the Literature, Geneva, ICRC, 2004. See also D. Muñoz-Rojas, J.J. Frésard, The Roots of Behaviour in War, Understanding and Preventing IHL Violations, Geneva, ICRC, 2004.

15 This was one of the main conclusions of the ICRC's Roots of Behaviour in War study and is consistent with findings by social scientists and prevention experts as well as with lessons learned by other organizations. See J.J. Frésard, ibid., pp. 98–112, D. Muñoz-Rojas, J.J. Frésard, ibid., pp. 11–16. See also A. Bandura, Social Foundations of Thought and Action, A Social Cognitive Theory, Prentice Hall Inc., New Jersey, 1986, pp. 1–46, R. Moran, C. De Moura Castro, Street-children and the Inter-American Development Bank: Lessons from Brazil, Inter-American Development Bank, Social Development Division, 1997.

16 In this sense “local” covers the community level up to country-level.

17 Some of these activities may fall concurrently within another ICRC approach.

18 In the field, this process takes place within each ICRC delegation. At Headquarters, it materializes through regional coordination teams and other forums that bring together different expertise.

19 Accountability goes beyond the implementation of activities and implies the possibility of attributing results to the organization.

20 This is usually clarified in related policy or guidelines documents.

21 In this context, engagement implies a certain level of investment (e.g. engaging human and financial resources, defining objectives, devising tailor-made responses, planning for a mid- to long-term strategy).

22 There are tools at the ICRC's disposal to facilitate its understanding of the humanitarian problem in context (e.g. stakeholder mapping). The organization's environment-scanning efforts strengthen its analysis at each organizational level.

23 The category of political authorities covers international authorities such as the UN, regional, and supra-regional organizations, national authorities at the various levels (including all branches of government), and other political actors such as political opposition groups and traditional leaders. The category of arms carriers includes military and armed forces, police and security forces, non-state armed groups, as well as private military companies and private security companies.

24 Art. 3(2), Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Article 3(2) further provides: “They disseminate the principles and ideals of the Movement and assist those governments which also disseminate them. They also cooperate with their governments to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and to protect the distinctive emblems recognized by the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.”

25 Seville Agreement, Council of Delegates, Seville, 25–27 November 1997, Article 7.2.2 provides that “The ICRC shall contribute to the development of the National Societies in the following matters, in coordination with the Federation:

  1. …

  2. b)

    b) support of the National Societies' programmes for disseminating knowledge of international humanitarian law and the Fundamental Principles;

  3. c)

    c) involvement of the National Societies in measures taken to promote international humanitarian law and ensure its implementation;

  4. d)

    d) preparation of the National Societies for their activities in the event of conflict …”

26 The ICRC has identified modes of action related to raising awareness of responsibility (persuasion, mobilization and denunciation), support and direct provision of services (substitution). “The ICRC: its mission and work”, supra note 1.

27 Substitution entails taking action in the place of the target public to create an environment conducive for respect (e.g. directly teaching IHL to academic circles).

28 However, the possibility that the ICRC may resort to public condemnation under certain circumstances may itself contribute to the organization's prevention effort.