This paper examines whether the interpretation of Article 30 of Geneva Convention III that allows the use of solitary confinement for prisoners of war with psychosocial disabilities is still valid in light of the new standards of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It proposes two alternative interpretations of Article 30 to demonstrate why isolation based on disability is unlawful and concludes that the use of solitary confinement on prisoners of war with psychosocial disabilities should be prohibited.

Rien n'est plus réconfortant à notre époque troublée et dans ce monde, où la paix a tant de peine à se rétablir, que de contempler l'activité de la Croix-Rouge et des institutions qui lui sont apparentées.

Loin de se reposer du travail épuisant fourni pendant la guerre, elles redoublent de zèle pour panser les blessures de tout ordre qui en sont la suite immédiate. Qu'il s'agisse des anciens pays belligérants ou des neutres, la plupart des Croix-Rouges sont en-gagées dans des entreprises diverses et fécondes; les régions dévastees et ruinées de l'Europe centrale et occidentale en sont le théâtre principal; mais, grâce aux efforts du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge, que vient puissamment encourager et soutenir la Société des Nations, l'action s'étend à travers la Russie et par delà les mers jusqu'aux frontières extrêmes de l'Orient pour y aller chercher les prisonniers de guerre survivants et les ramener dans leurs foyers.

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had shown just how difficult it was to ensure respect for international law during actual fighting. Mutual accusations of violations of the Geneva Convention, or more generally of the customary laws of war, showed that neither the scope of humanitarian law nor the dissemination of its principles had been sufficient to avert excesses by the combatants. The protection of medical services and of the wounded should remain independent of the conduct of hostilities. But violations of the law of war, whether real or imagined, inevitably undermine the implementation of the Convention. Public opinion (quickly aroused), the press (always keen on shoring up the spirit of resistance), and governments themselves never miss an opportunity to highlight or exaggerate criminal acts committed by the adversary and to make a blanket condemnation of all enemy combatants.

In July 1621 several regiments of the Swedish army were assembled at Årsta Meadow south of Stockholm awaiting transport by ship to the Baltic, where they were to fight the Russian forces which had invaded the provinces in early summer. It was on this occasion that they heard for the first time the new Articles of War read to them by chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. The text had been drafted by King Gustavus himself and revised by Oxenstierna the preceding spring, and the final decree had been signed by the King at camp on 15 July.

On 8 July 1996, the International Court of Justice finally rendered its Advisory Opinion on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons. The procedure had been dragging on since the start of the public sittings on 30 October 1995. Several deadlines set by the Court for reaching a decision came and went, ultimately giving rise to the fear that there would be no decisive majority to affirm the basic unlawfulness of the use of nuclear weapons. This would have been a bitter setback for the initiators of the Advisory Opinion proceeding and for the development of international law.

A self-evaluating state reporting system is a method for implementing international agreements. A self-evaluating state report provides information on the operation and implementation of a treaty regime. Self-evaluating means that a state monitors its own execution of an international agreement in its territory. The information may be submitted to an international institution with a supervisory role or to a technical secretariat.

The key tasks of a supervisory international organization are: collecting information and data, receiving reports on treaty implementation by States, facilitating independent monitoring and inspection, and acting as a forum for reviewing the performance of states or the negotiation of further measures and regulations. Such bodies may acquire law-enforcement and law-making functions.

This report describes the self-evaluating state reporting systems of the United Nations human rights conventions, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the disarmament treaties and the environment treaties.

There are several characteristics of determining importance for the functioning of a reporting system. In short, these are: the sensitivity of the subject of a treaty; the economic value of the subject; the specificity of the subject; the popularity of the subject in the media; secretarial support; the flexibility of the reporting procedure; a permanent body to which to report; the quality and efficient functioning of the supervisory body; follow-up; admission to an international instrument and the existence of a national monitoring body or procedure.

It should be noted that the allocation of sufficient human and financial resources will be essential to the effectiveness of a reporting system.

In our opinion, the most important event at the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross was its adoption of the new Statutes and Rules of Procedure of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. These new texts are the outcome of a suggestion by the League and almost four years of negotiation with the ICRC. They set out guidelines for the Movement for the span of at least a generation, and the fact that they have been adopted by consensus is a guarantee of their soundness and their durability.

Los juristas, conscientes de la multiplicidad de normas aplicables en la guerra, dan una definición relativamente elaborada del derecho international humanitario. Seguún ellos, «se entiende por derecho international humanitario las normas internacionales, de origen conventional o consuetudinario, destinadas específicamente a regular los problemas humanitarios que se derivan directamente de los conflictos armados, internacionales o no, y que limitan, por motivos humanitarios, el derecho de las partes en conflicto a utilizar los métodos y los medios de guerra de su elección o que protegen a las personas y a los bienes afectados, o que pueden ser afectados, por el conflicto».

That is what Henry Dunant wrote in his notebooks, most of which were never published, and we are pleased to publish a study shedding light on Dunant's role as promoter of protection for prisoners of war.

In Belgium's capital, ceremonies were recently held to mark the centenary of the Brussels Declaration. At the formal commemorative sitting, Mr. J. Pictet, Vice-President of the ICRC, drew attention to the parallel development of the law of Geneva and the law of The Hague, to which the Brussels Declaration gave a decisive impetus. The study is therefore well-timed. As usual, the, views expressed are those of the authors alone. It may be added that the original is in French and that the English version is a translation by the ICRC.

Violations of international humanitarian law are not a new phenomenon. Nor is the establishment of an international criminal court to counter such violations a new idea. The first project creating a link between violations of a humanitarian treaty — that is, the Geneva Convention of 1864 for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field — and penal sanction by a permanent international judicial body was drawn up by Gustave Moynier, one of the founders of the ICRC Like so many other projects, it did not materialize, however.

After two years of tortuous negotiations and despite support for a total ban on anti-personnel mines by nearly half of the 51 States participating in the final session of the Review Conference of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), held in Geneva from 22 April to 3 May 1996, only minimal restrictions on the use of antipersonnel landmines were finally adopted. Nine years after entry into force of amended Protocol II, anti-personnel mines will have to be detectable and those scattered outside of marked minefields, by air, artillery or other means, will have to self-destruct after 30 days. However, long-lived mines will remain available for production, export and use — including indiscriminate use. Regrettably, this modest legal response to a major international humanitarian crisis, though adopted by consensus, is unlikely to significantly reduce the horrendous level of mine casualties.

It is not the purpose of this article to develop or settle the delicate problems arising from the Geneva Protocol of 17 June 1925 for the Prohibition of the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and of bacteriological methods of warfare; it merely outlines, on the occasion of the forty-fifth anniversary of the Protocol, the role of the Red Cross in the development of law and the work now being carried out by the main international organizations.

We are very pleased to publish this report by Mrs. Diallo on research into the correlations between the principles of international humanitarian law and the humanitarian principles underlying African traditions. In earlier issues of International Review, various authors have drawn attention to the fact that historically, in Islamic countries, in India and elsewhere in the Far East, in a variety of ethical doctrines and in many different types of civilization, thoughts have been expressed which compare with those of the Red Cross—leading to the conclusion that they arise from aspirations common to most of mankind. It is particularly appropriate therefore to disclose certain concordances between them and to discover, in all these different places, a unity of view and of teaching in ethical and social affairs.

For almost two decades, the International Red Cross Movement has been engaged in a continuing process of self-examination regarding its contribution to peace and disarmament. At the same time, public attention is being focused on, and sometimes even captivated by, various bilateral and multilateral efforts to achieve progress in nuclear and non-nuclear arms control in fields such as the reduction of strategic and intermediate-range nuclear weapons, nuclear and chemical weapon-free zones, confidence- and security-building measures, and so on. The two lines of action are usually dealt with individually without proper consideration of the manifold interconnections existing between them. Only recently have efforts been made to clarify the relationship between the two. The purpose of this article is to bring them together and to do so by asking the question: To what extent can the effort to promote and implement international humanitarian law be seen as a contribution in terms of arms control?

La Revue Internationale a publié, l'an dernier, un article du général-major médecin E. Evrard sur la protection juridique des transports aériens sanitaires en temps de guerre. Nous sommes heureux de reproduire aujourd'hui le texte d'un rapport préliminaire présenté pour la Ve session de la Commission médico-juridique de Monaco. Car des études doivent être poursuivies dans ce domaine où les dispositions du droit international sont actuellement insuffisantes (Réd.).