To speak on the theme “Solidarity and Protection of Political Detainees” is unquestionably a difficult undertaking. Today, in 1980, the problem of so-called “political” detainees is one of the most controversial of issues and also one that has become heavily politicized. It is no easy matter to discern any truly universal solidarity concerning such a problem.

In the course of its meeting on 7 and 8 December 1983 the ICRC General Assembly decided to step up its efforts to promote the respect and development of international humanitarian law and of humanitarian principles.

The reasons for that decision and the projects intended to give it effect are outlined below.

La República de Panamá ratificó, el 18 de septiembre de 1995, los Protocolos adicionales a los Convenios de Ginebra del 12 de agosto de 1949, relativos a la protección de las víctimas de los conflictos armados internacionales (Protocolo I) y no internacionales (Protocolo II), aprobados en Ginebra el 8 de junio de 1977.

De conformidad con sus disposiciones, los Protocolos entrarán en vigor, para la República de Panamá, el 18 de marzo de 1996.

There emerged at the close of the three years of preparatory work by the Government Experts convened by the ICRC, from 1971 to 1973, a provision that had no counterpart in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. This was a provision requiring the employment of legal advisers to military Commanders. It was a bold provision, for which the Canadian Experts can claim the credit for its introduction, although the idea went through a number of changes both of substance and presentation in the course of debate.

At the time when the Centenary of the Red Cross is about to be celebrated, it would be fitting to remember the rôle so many members and officers of the International Committee of the Red Cross have played in the drafting and the proclamation of the Rights of the Child. This declaration called the Declaration of Geneva was proclaimed forty years ago by the Council of the “Save the Children International Union” (SCIU). It was on May 17, 1923, that the final draft in five brief clauses was adopted. It is to be recalled that at that time the ICRC and the SCIU worked in close co-operation. Indeed, it was Dr. Frédéric Ferrière's report (then Vice-President of the ICRC) on the disastrous situation in which children lived in Vienna which incited Eglantyne Jebb to come to Geneva for the first time.

Henry Dunant very clearly understood the value of good communications or he never would have written A Memory of Solferino—a book that moved the conscience of nations to action. In the United States, Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was also a communicator. Unlike many of her time, she maintained good rapport with the press because she recognized the value of timeliness, human interest and repetition. What she conveyed to the public was an image of consistency and devotion to humanitarian ideals.

In the past few years there has been a growing awareness of the need to strengthen implementation of international humanitarian law. States thus have to create the means enabling them to fulfil their obligation to respect and ensure respect for humanitarian law. This requires them to take action in peacetime and to adopt national measures to guarantee compliance with the law in all circumstances.

A mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the eighth since 1955, went to Algeria from January 25 to February 23, 1961, in order to visit the principal centres and prisons in which arrested persons had been detained as a result of the events. This mission, which consisted of Mr. Pierre Gaillard, Mr. Roger Vust and Dr. J. L. de Chastonay, visited 61. places of detention of various categories, as well as hospitals in which there were prisoners and detainees. During the course of these visits, relief supplies were handed over to persons under detention. Wherever they went the delegates of the ICRC were able to talk without witnesses and at length with detainees whom they themselves had selected or with those who had expressed the wish to speak with them.

La República de Guatemala ratificó, el 19 de octubre de 1987, los Protocolos adicionales a los Convenios de Ginebra del 12 de agosto de 1949 relativos a la protección de las víctimas de los conflictos armados internacionales (Protocolo I) y no internacionales (Protocolo II), aprobados en Ginebra el 8 de junio de 1977.

De conformidad con sus disposiciones, los Protocolos entrarán en vigor, para la República de Guatemala, el 19 de abril de 1988.

La República de Guatemala es el 70.° Estado Parte en el Protocolo I y el 63.° en el Protocolo II.

En DIH, el refugiado no es objeto de una protección especial, excepto en algunas disposiciones que examinaremos más adelante. No hay tampoco una definición específica del refugiado como persona protegida por el DIH. El refugiado es, ante todo, una persona civil protegida, como tal, por el DIH, según la normativa estipulada en el DIH para la protección de las personas civiles. El IV Convenio de Ginebra se limita, en efecto, a establecer el criterio de la ausencia de protección por parte de algún Gobierno. El término «refugiado» se emplea, pues, en sentido lato. En derecho internacional público, se definen dos categorías de refugiados, a las que conviene agregar una tercera, generalmente asimilada a ellas. Esas tres categorías son:

Se trata de refugiados en el sentido de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Estatuto de los Refugiados del 28 de julio de 1951, de su Protocolo del 31 de enero de 1967 y del Estatuto del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR).

Desde hace algunos años, varios organismos, particularmente las organizaciones no gubemamentales, dedican su atención a la situatión de las personas desplazadas en el interior de un país. El interés por la protección de los derechos humanos y la vocatión caritativa de esas organizaciones han hecho que se concentren en el fenómeno de las personas que abandonan su lugar habitual de residencia en un contexto caracterizado por la violencia política. La comunidad international ha tornado así conciencia simultáneamente de dos elementos: que en los países que afrontan un conflicto armado interno hay un elevado número de personas desplazadas, y que los enfrentamientos armados generan muy a menudo importantes movimientos de población. El desplazamiento de comunidades minoritarias puede convertirse incluso en una política deliberada.

Actualmente, ese aspecto, a veces ignorado, de los sufrimientos que causa la guerra, figura en el orden del día de la diplomacia multilateral. Es una oportunidad que no debemos desaprovechar para recordar el derecho existente y trabajar para que se aplique.

In its Final Declaration of 1 September 1993, the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims inter alia urged all States to make every effort to:

“Consider or reconsider, in order to enhance the universal character of international humanitarian law, becoming party or confirming their succession, where appropriate, to the relevant treaties concluded since the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, in particular:

—the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts of 8 June 1977 (Protocol I);

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

—the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons and its three Protocols;

—The 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict”.

The international law of armed conflict (jus in bello) has undergone a long course of development. Its first traces date from antiquity, but we find a more substantial evolution during the latter part of the Middle Ages.

One of the remarkable elements in this development was the «Code of Chivalry». Although this was not a written document, being transmitted only by tradition, it possessed great authority. It prescribed that combat must take place in such a manner as not to compromise the honour of the knight and condemned unnecessary killing and killing by treachery. It required that the vanquished be treated with generosity and that assistance be rendered to the helpless and destitute.

At the end of March 1978, the ICRC in a private ceremony took leave of Mr. Claude Pilloud who had reached the age limit and was leaving the service of the ICRC after a fruitful career lasting nearly forty years. On behalf of the ICRC, its President, Mr. A. Hay, thanked Mr. Pilloud for the eminent services he had rendered to the whole of the Red Cross movement.