International humanitarian law (IHL) is a body of international law which seeks, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare. International humanitarian law is also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict.
emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The emblems of the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement (the Movement) - the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and the Red Crystal - as well as our seven Fundamental Principles, are the two most distinctive features of the world's largest humanitarian network.
For further information about the emblems, click here.
IHL in New Zealand
Within New Zealand an International Humanitarian Law Committee consisting of government, military and civilian members with secretariat support from New Zealand Red Cross, works to increase the implementation and dissemination of IHL in New Zealand.
With an eye to the future, young people and university students are also targeted by New Zealand Red Cross dissemination activities. The strategy behind these activities comprises promotion of humanitarian law through teaching and training and integration of humanitarian law into official legal, educational and operational curricula.
IHL overseas
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works to ensure that States party to the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols work to implement IHL, and fulfil its requirements. In support of this, the ICRC established its Advisory Service on IHL in 1996 to enhance implementation of IHL across the international system of states.
The ICRC targets in particular those people and groups who determine the fate of victims of armed conflict or who can obstruct or facilitate ICRC action. These groups include armed forces, police, security forces and other bearers of weapons, decision-makers and opinion-leaders at local and international level.
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are part of international humanitarian law - a whole system of legal safeguards that cover the way wars may be fought and the protection of individuals.
They specifically protect people who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, chaplains, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war). The Conventions and their Protocols call for measures to be taken to prevent (or put an end to) what are known as "grave breaches." Those responsible for breaches must be punished.
The Geneva Conventions have been acceded to by 194 States and enjoy universal acceptance. The first Geneva Convention of 1864 dealt exclusively with care for wounded soldiers. The law was later adapted to cover warfare at sea and prisoners of war. In 1949 the Conventions were revised and expanded in response to developments during World War II in which civilians were deliberately targeted.
Additional Protocols I and II were especially created to deal with the changing nature of armed conflict and advances in weapons technology, while Additional Protocol III deals with a third additional emblem, the Red Crystal. The Additional Protocols are widely accepted globally with 169 states party to Additional Protocol I while 165 states are party to Additional Protocol II. Additional Protocol III is also widely accepted but due to the fact that it is still a relatively new piece of legislation it is still to be ratified by many states.
1st Convention (PDF) | 1st Protocol (PDF) - international conflicts Added in 1977 | ||
| 2nd Convention (PDF) - wounded and shipwrecked at sea - first adopted in 1906 | 2nd Protocol (PDF) - non-international conflicts Added in 1977 | ||
| 3rd Convention (PDF) - prisoners of war - first adopted in 1929, last revised 1949 | 3rd Protocol (PDF) - additional distinctive emblem Adopted in 2005 | | |
| 4th Convention (PDF) - civilians under enemy control - first adopted in 1949 | |||
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