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The International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC's) role in situations of violence below the threshold of armed conflict

Policy document, February 2014

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2014

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International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 96 , Issue 893: Scope of the law in armed conflict , March 2014 , pp. 275 - 304
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Copyright © icrc 2014 

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References

1 Policy document adopted in 2008, available at: http://www.cicr.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p0963.htm.

2 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977.

3 Sandoz, Y., Swinarski, C. and Zimmermann, B. (eds), Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, ICRC/Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, 1987, pp. 1354–1355Google Scholar, paras. 4474–4478, available at: http://www.icrc.org/ihl.

4 WHO, World report on violence and health, 3 October 2002, available at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2002/9241545615_eng.pdf. The same typology was used by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in IFRC Strategy on violence prevention, mitigation and response 2011–2020, Strategic directions to address interpersonal and self-directed violence, available at: http://www.ifrc.org.

5 The first two are not covered by this policy's field of application, see section III below. According to the WHO definition, ‘collective violence’ includes armed conflicts and other situations of violence. Only situations of collective violence below the threshold of armed conflict are covered by this policy document.

6 World report on violence and health, above note 4, p. 6.

7 The violence may be physical or psychological. Psychological violence refers to acts and behaviour affecting the psychological integrity of a person, a group or a community, such as emotional hostility, insults, threats, withholding information, forced isolation, the destruction of property, intimidation, passive aggression. It is not always easy to clearly distinguish between the humanitarian consequences of acts of psychological as opposed to physical violence, which are often committed at the same time. See also section VI.A.1 below on the humanitarian consequences.

8 In practice, some of the situations of violence covered by this policy document unfold in contexts that are also affected by armed conflicts. In such contexts, this policy document applies only to the situation of violence below the threshold of armed conflict. In addition, a distinct legal framework is applicable (see section V below). For the definition of armed conflicts, see Vité, Sylvain, ‘Typology of armed conflicts in international humanitarian law: legal concepts and actual situations’, in International Review of the Red Cross (hereafter IRRC), Vol. 91, No. 873, 2009, pp. 70–94CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc-873-vite.pdf.

9 ‘Family and intimate partner violence (…); Community violence – violence between individuals who are unrelated, and who may or may not know each other (…)’, World report on violence and health, above note 4, p. 6. What sets interpersonal violence apart from collective violence is the fact that the latter is committed by a large number of people, usually for social, political and/or economic reasons.

10 ‘[S]uicidal behaviour and self-abuse’, ibid.

11 For example, the insurrection in Herzegovina (1875) and the political strife in Hungary (1919), which were both situations of violence below the threshold of armed conflict.

12 For example, policy document D851 of 1965, which confirms the role of the ICRC in ‘internal disturbances’ and formalizes its right of initiative in ‘other cases of intervention’. Cited in Moreillon, Jacques, Le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge et la protection des détenus politiques, Editions L'Age D'Homme, Lausanne, 1973, pp. 164–166Google Scholar. See also the 1978 policy document entitled Action du CICR en cas de conflit armé non international, de troubles intérieurs et autres situations (ICRC action in the event of a non-international armed conflict, internal disturbances and other situations).

13 Ibid., p. 160.

14 See in particular internal report D205 of 1952, cited in ibid., p. 120.

15 The organization became increasingly active outside Europe (Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa).

16 The content of this policy was published in the form of an article by its author, Harroff-Tavel, Marion, ‘Action taken by the International Committee of the Red Cross in situations of internal violence’, in IRRC, No. 294, 1993Google Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/article/other/57jmhy.htm.

17 The term ‘Red Cross law’ designates all the legal and regulatory texts adopted at the Movement's statutory meetings. ‘Red Cross law’ is ‘soft law’ (non-binding in international law), unlike the ‘hard law’ constituted notably by treaty-based law.

18 For further information on the Movement's statutory meetings, see http://www.cicr.org/eng/who-we-are/movement/index.jsp.

19 The Movement's three components are the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the ICRC.

20 ‘Article 7 – The International Committee of the Red Cross (…) shall continue to be a neutral intermediary whose intervention is recognized as necessary, especially in time of war, civil war or civil strife. (…) all questions calling for examination by a specifically neutral body, shall remain the exclusive province of the International Committee of the Red Cross.’ See International Red Cross Handbook, ninth edition, ICRC/League of Red Cross Societies, Geneva, 1951, pp. 307–308.

21 ‘Article 6 (…) – 5. As a neutral institution whose humanitarian work is carried out particularly in time of war, civil war or internal strife, [the ICRC] endeavours at all times to ensure the protection of and assistance to military and civilian victims of such conflicts and their direct results. (…) 6. It takes any humanitarian initiative which comes within its role as a specifically neutral and independent institution and intermediary and considers any question requiring examination by such an institution.’ See International Red Cross Handbook, eleventh edition, ICRC/League of Red Cross Societies, Geneva, 1971, p. 276.

22 ‘ARTICLE 5: The International Committee of the Red Cross (…) 2. The role of the International Committee, in accordance with its Statutes, is in particular: (…) d) to endeavour at all times – as a neutral institution whose humanitarian work is carried out particularly in time of international and other armed conflicts or internal strife – to ensure the protection of and assistance to military and civilian victims of such events and of their direct results; (…) 3. The International Committee may take any humanitarian initiative which comes within its role as a specifically neutral and independent institution and intermediary, and may consider any question requiring examination by such an institution.’ See Handbook of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, thirteenth edition, ICRC/International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, 1994. The Statutes were subsequently amended in 1995 and 2006 and are available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/statutes-en-a5.pdf.

23 The French term ‘troubles intérieurs’ can be translated as either ‘internal disturbances’ or ‘internal strife’ in English; the two are considered to be synonymous.

24 For an English translation of the resolution, see Bugnion, François, The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Protection of War Victims, ICRC/MacMillan, Oxford, 2003, pp. 260–262Google Scholar.

25 See Sixteenth International Conference of the Red Cross, London, June 1938, Report, The British Red Cross Society, London, 1938.

26 At the time, notably because there was no IHL applicable in ‘civil wars’ (the IHL governing non-international armed conflicts was codified in 1949), the term ‘civil war’ also covered situations of violence below the threshold of armed conflict, in particular ‘internal disturbances’. See J. Moreillon, above note 12, pp. 58, 96 and 103.

27 See Handbook of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, above note 22, p. 751.

28 See, for example, Resolution XX of 1948, Resolution XIX of 1957 and Resolution XXXI of 1965.

29 Agreement on the organization of the international activities of the components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Council of Delegates, Seville, November 1997, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jp4y.htm.

30 Supplementary measures to enhance the implementation of the Seville Agreement, Annex to Resolution 8, Council of Delegates, Seoul, November 2005, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/resolution/council-delegates-resolution-8-2005.htm.

31 Insofar as domestic legislation is in conformity with international human rights standards.

32 The commentary on that article reads as follows: ‘Internal disturbances and tensions are not at present within the field of application of international humanitarian law; the ICRC has carried out activities in this field on an ad hoc basis. However, this does not mean that there is no international legal protection applicable to such situations, as they are covered by universal and regional human rights instruments.’ See Y. Sandoz, C. Swinarski and B. Zimmermann (eds), above note 3, p. 1356, para. 4479.

33 According to the International Court of Justice, these fundamental rules include general principles, such as elementary considerations of humanity, which must be respected in all circumstances, in peace as in war (see Corfu Channel Case (Merits), ICJ Reports 1949, p. 22, and Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Merits, ICJ Reports 1986, p. 102, para. 215).

34 See above note 1.

35 See section X below.

36 See ‘The International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC's) confidential approach’, in IRRC, Vol. 94, No. 887, Autumn 2012, pp. 1135–1144CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2012/irrc-887-confidentiality.pdf.

37 See above note 1.

38 ‘Control or regulatory mechanism’ refers in particular to local or national mechanisms that are political (e.g. parliamentary), judicial or administrative (e.g. inspection) in nature, and to appeal mechanisms (ombudsman, national observer, human rights commission).

39 For more information on the ICRC's modes of action, see ‘ICRC Protection Policy’, in IRRC, Vol. 90, No. 871, September 2008, pp. 751–775CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: http://www.cicr.org/eng/resources/documents/article/review/review-871-p751.htm.

40 Situations of violence that are not armed conflicts do not have a monopoly on criminality – or on the main perpetrators of the violence being criminals. This is also a feature of some situations of armed conflict. The criminal nature of the environment, or the fact that those responsible for the violence are criminals, has no impact on the legal qualification of situations of violence.

41 See the policy document entitled The ICRC: its mission and work, above note 1.

42 According to this Fundamental Principle, the Red Cross ‘makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress’. See the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross proclaimed in Vienna in 1965, at the Twentieth International Conference of the Red Cross, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/fundamental-principles-commentary-010179.htm.

43 Policy document entitled The ICRC: its mission and work, above note 1.

44 For more information on the ICRC's modes of action, see ‘ICRC Protection Policy’, above note 39.

45 In particular if the violence is the work of ‘organized crime’ (including ‘transnational organized crime’ within the meaning of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 15 November 2000), defined as all unlawful activities carried out by criminal organizations and territorial gangs, including activities that result in resort to armed violence.

46 The policy document entitled ICRC Assistance Policy, in IRRC, Vol. 86, No. 855, 2004Google Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/66dez7.htm, discusses these time-related aspects. See also Harroff-Tavel, M., ‘Do wars ever end? The work of the International Committee of the Red Cross when the guns fall silent’, in IRRC, Vol. 85, No. 851, 2003Google Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc_851_haroff-tavel.pdf.

47 ‘ICRC Protection Policy’, above note 39; ‘International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) policy on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment inflicted on persons deprived of their liberty’, in IRRC, Vol. 93, No. 882, 2011Google Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2011/irrc-882-policy-torture.pdf; Pejic, J., ‘Procedural principles and safeguards for internment/administrative detention in armed conflict and other situations of violence’, in IRRC, Vol. 87, No. 858, 2005CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc_858_pejic.pdf; Aeschlimann, A., ‘Protection of detainees: ICRC action behind bars’, in IRRC, Vol. 87, No. 857, 2005CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc_857_aeschelimann.pdf; Enhancing protection for civilians in armed conflict and other situations of violence, ICRC, 2012, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p0956.htm. See also Professional standards for protection work carried out by humanitarian and human rights actors in armed conflict and other situations of violence, ICRC, 2013, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p0999.htm.

48 The policy document entitled ICRC Assistance Policy, above note 46.

49 ‘International Committee of the Red Cross: prevention policy’, in IRRC, Vol. 91, No. 874, 2009Google Scholar, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/article/review/review-874-p415.htm.

50 Policy document entitled Policy on ICRC Cooperation with National Societies, 2003, available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/policy_cooperationicrc_ns_ang.pdf; certain specific aspects of cooperation within the Movement are also discussed in other reference texts, for example ‘ICRC Protection Policy’ (above note 39), ICRC Assistance Policy (above note 46), The ICRC: its mission and work (above note 1), and ‘The International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC's) confidential approach’ (above note 36).

51 ‘Activities’ is used here in the broad sense. Of course, certain specific ICRC activities may be reserved for certain types of situation; visits to ‘prisoners of war’, for example, can only take place in international armed conflicts.

52 For example, IHL is not an appropriate legal framework for an operational dialogue (in terms of prevention or protection) with the perpetrators of violence in a situation of violence below the threshold of armed conflict; or, in a situation of violence with a strong criminal component, the ICRC cannot engage in dialogue with the criminals on matters related to the protection of the population in the same way that it might engage in dialogue on protection of the civilian population with a rebel group in an armed conflict.

53 See above note 50.

54 See http://www.icrc.org/saferaccess.

55 See note 29 above.

56 See note 30 above.

57 On the ground, some operating National Societies are increasingly acting as lead agency in situations of violence.

58 The policy document entitled The ICRC: its mission and work (above note 1) states that the ICRC's neutral, independent and impartial humanitarian action ‘offers the best chance of being accepted during an armed conflict or other situation of violence’.

59 In armed conflicts, it is a principle that the belligerents are equal before IHL. That principle does not exist in other situations of violence, in which IHL is not applicable.