Advances in the law of Geneva and the law of The Hague did not remain a dead letter during the World War I, but this was essentially with regard to the wounded and prisoners of war. Those categories of persons were better protected than civilians by treaty-based humanitarian law, which was still in its infancy. Although the ideal of humanity was realized on a large scale thanks to the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and myriad other charitable, denominational, or non-denominational organizations, none of the belligerents hesitated to infringe and violate the law whenever they could. The various occupied populations, on the Western and Eastern fronts and in the Balkans, served as their guinea pigs and were their perfect victims.

The development of unmanned systems (UMS) for naval combat poses a profound challenge to existing conventions regarding the treatment of the shipwrecked and wounded in war at sea. Article 18 of the 1949 Geneva Convention II states that warring parties are required to take “all possible measures” to search for and collect seamen left in the water after each engagement. The authors of the present paper analyze the ethical basis of this convention and argue that the international community should demand that UMS intended for roles in war at sea be provided with the capacity to make some contribution to search and rescue operations.

This paper raises two main questions. The first concerns the current idea that punishment – conceived as the loss of liberty – has an effect in preventing unlawful behaviour. It can in fact be shown that, in general, sanctions have a poor individual preventive effect. As to general prevention, punishment may be expected to have a deterrent effect when the unlawful behaviour is the result of a rational decision, that is, a decision based on a cost–benefit analysis. However, a wide variety of factors, from group support to situational and systemic factors, may very well counteract the threatening effect of the sanction. The second question concerns the feasibility of non-stigmatizing ways to cope with crime. The few examples borrowed from legal anthropology seem to indicate that viable alternatives exist. But the transfer of a non-Western, indigenous problem-solving process to culturally different contexts is problematic and should be carried out with extreme caution.

In modern times the Internet has become the only tool which can be used to spread information instantaneously and free of charge to anyone in the world who has an Internet connection. The ability to spread information is vital for any party engaged in an armed conflict. This article will show that groups engaged in a jihad have made the Internet their main outlet to the world. It will further examine the content of Islamic and jihadi websites, their main objectives and the communication strategies used. However, and with a particular focus on Iraq, the author will argue that the Internet does not serve as a platform of recruitment for jihad but is rather the most effective way for armed insurgent groups to win the “hearts and minds” of Muslims worldwide.

On sait que parmi les questions dont la Société des Nations avait été saisie par la Conférence de Gênes, figurait un projet de statuts d'une « Œuvre internationale de secours et d'assistance aux populations frappées de calamités. »

Le Ier septembre dernier, l'auteur de ce projet, M. le sénateur Ciraolo, président de la Société de la Croix-Rouge italienne, en exposait les grandes lignes par devant les membres du Conseil de la Société des Nations. On peut dès lors tenir pour assuré que la généreuse initiative de l'éminent sénateur du royaume d'ltalie sera mise à l'étude, et il faut souhaiter que lors de la 4me assemblée de la Société des Nations, au cours de laquelle se tiendra également à Genève la XIme Conférence internationale de la Croix-Rouge, le projet Ciraolo prenne corps et entre dans la voie des réalisations.

This article will use past issues of the International Review of the Red Cross to examine how the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement) has engaged with the issue of civilian protection over the course of its history. Although founded to organize humanitarian relief and legal protection for wounded and sick combatants, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the wider Movement have increasingly incorporated civilian war victims into their remit since their establishment. Yet, as this article will highlight, this process has not been straightforward. Focussing on the critical period between the two World Wars, the article will use the Review to illustrate why the Red Cross began engaging with the “civilianization” of conflicts in response to the threat of new technologies like gas and aerial bombardment. Using articles from the Review to highlight the key challenges faced by the Movement in protecting civilians over this period, it will also consider the gaps in the Red Cross's initial conceptions of who “the civilian” was, why belligerents attacked them, and what was the best means of protecting them.

Hoy, 8 de mayo, aniversario del nacimiento de su fundador Henry Dunant, el Movimiento Internacional de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja hace un solemne llamamiento, con motivo de la celebratión de su Día Mundial:

«¡En nombre de la Humanidad, undmonos frente a los desastres!»

Desastres y cátastrofes destrozan y trastornan la vida de millones de personas. Hambruna, inundaciones, sequía, huracanes, plagas de toda clase provocan sufrimientos inimaginables en todo el mundo. Las guerras empujan a poblaciones enteras hacia el exilio, la indigencia, la enfermedad y la muerte.

Se celebraron, el año 1978, el CL aniversario del nacimiento de Henry Dunant, el XXX aniversario de la Declaratión Universal de Derechos Humanos y el XXV aniversario del Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos; además, entraron en vigor el Convenio Americano de Derechos Humanos de 1969 y los Protocolos adicionales de 1977 a los Convenios de Ginebra. La coincidencia de esos memorables acontecimientos invita a reflexinar sobre las relaciones que hay entre el derecho internacional humanitario y los derechos humanos.

La Société japonaise de la Croix-Rouge a dès avant la guerre été, comme on sait, une des plus puissantes et des mieux organisées. En 1911, elle comptait plus d'un million et demi de membres (soit le 1/35 de la population totale, proportion qui ne se trouvait nulle part ailleurs, sauf erreur); son fonds de réserve atteignait, cette même année 1911, 15 millions de yens, et son assemblée générale réunit 35,000 membres.

Mme Diallo s'est rendue récemment en Afrique à la demande du CICR et elle a établi, à l'intention de celui-ci, un rapport que nous sommes heureux de publier, à titre informatif. Car on salt l'intérêt, pour la Croix-Rouge, de démontrer que l'idée profonde qui l'inspire, cette idée du respect de la personne humaine et de l'aide désintéressée à celui qui souffre, fait partie intégrante d'un patrimoine universel.

The question of the protection of victims of non-international conflicts was one item on the agenda of the XXth International Conference of the Red Cross at Vienna in 1965 which adopted a Resolution, No. XXXI, urging the ICRC to continue its work with the aim of strengthening Red Cross humanitarian, assistance to such victims. The same Resolution recommended governments of States parties to the Geneva Conventions and National Societies to support these efforts in their respective countries.