International Humanitarian Law

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

There are over 180 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world. There are seven basic principles that all the national societies share: humanity, impartially, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was established 1919 in order to coordinate the work of the national societies. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference is the highest decision-making body of the movement. The Conference is held every fourth year. Representatives from all National Societies, the Federation, the ICRC and all states that have ratified the Geneva Conventions take part.

As of 2009, there are 186 national societies.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Henry Dunant, the initiator of the First Geneva Convention, also established ICRC. The ICRC is an independent and neutral organisation with a specific mandate to ensure humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war and armed conflict as stated within international humanitarian law (IHL). ICRC is present in armed conflicts with the objective to give medical care, protect civilians and prisoners, trace and reunite separated families, and to use humanitarian diplomacy to improve compliance with IHL.

To ICRC's website

ICRC commentaries

ICRC also has a role as the “promoter and guardian” of IHL which, among other things, means to work for the faithful application of IHL, for the understanding and dissemination of knowledge of IHL, and to prepare any development thereof. ICRC has written commentaries to all the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and to the additional protocols of 1977

To ICRC's commentaries

The red cross and red crescent symbols

The emblem

In order to easily recognise medical personnel and property, all the medical staff, buildings and items should be marked with a red cross or a red crescent on a white background. (The red lion has not been used since 1980. In a diplomatic note, the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that the Red Crescent will be used instead.

The Red Crystal

Over the years there have been several attempts to find a solution to be able to include other national societies in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that would like to to use both emblems or use a different symbol than the red cross or red crescent.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement welcomed the decision of the Diplomatic Conference held in Geneva in December 2005 to adopt a third protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions, creating another emblem alongside the red cross and red crescent. The third additional protocol entered into force on the 14 January 2007.

The red crystal

“The additional emblem would be free of any perception of religious, political or other connotation. It would enable National Societies that have not been able to use the existing emblems to become full members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, enabling the Movement to fulfill its fundamental principle of universality.” (ICRC press release of 14 September 2005.)

Revised
20/04/2011 Berenice Van Den Driessche ihl@diakonia.se