GENEVA: The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross sounded the alarm over the blatant disregard shown for the Geneva Conventions in conflicts worldwide, in an interview published Sunday.
\nMirjana Spoljaric called on countries to urgently recommit to respecting international law in an interview with Swiss daily Le Temps.
\nInternational humanitarian law (IHL) was being \u201csystematically trampled underfoot by those who lead military operations,\u201d she said.
\nShe pointed to \u201cthe number of wounded and dead during the conflicts in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine,\u201d which she said was \u201cbeyond our imagination.\u201d
\nThe ICRC is the caretaker of the Geneva Conventions which strives to act as a neutral intermediary in conflicts.
\nBut it was finding its access to populations in need \u201cincreasingly constrained (and) instrumentalized,\u201d said Spoljaric.
\nIt is \u201cindispensible to act now,\u201d she said, in support of international humanitarian law \u2014 the function of which is to limit the effects of armed conflict and protect civilians.
\nOn Friday the ICRC launched an initiative with six countries \u2014 Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa \u2014 in a bid to galvanizing political support for IHL.
\nThe Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1949 in the wake of World War II, \u201cembody humanity\u2019s shared conscience, values that transcend borders and creeds,\u201d they said in a joint statement.
\n\u201cYet, the suffering we witness today in armed conflicts around the world is proof that respect for and compliance with their most fundamental rules are not being upheld.\u201d
\nThe initiative will strive to develop concrete recommendations for ways to prevent IHL violations and promote increased protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, said the IHRC.
\nIt is working toward a high-level international meeting in 2026 focused on how to \u201cUphold Humanity in War,\u201d ICRC said.
\n\u201cThe current situation is extremely dangerous,\u201d said Spoljaric. \u201cThe trauma created by ongoing conflicts risks haunting us for decades.\u201d
\nShe added: \u201cThe idea is not reinvent the Geneva Conventions, which remain solid legal texts, but to urge States to apply them.\u201d
\n\u201cCountries must make the implementation of IHL a political priority.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA: The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross sounded the alarm over the blatant disregard shown for the Geneva Conventions in conflicts worldwide, in an interview published Sunday. Mirjana Spoljaric called on countries to urgently recommit to respecting international law in an interview with Swiss daily Le Temps. International humanitarian law (IHL) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":70898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70899,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70883\/revisions\/70899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}