In October and November 1979 many Khmers fled from their villages and sought refuge in camps in Thailand or along the Khmer-Thai border. The ICRC and other humanitarian organizations, international or private, had to provide for the needs of a sudden influx of people uprooted from their homes, exhausted by famine, suffering, fear, sickness and the ravages of war. The first priorities in such a situation are to supply the basic hygienic facilities, adequate food, water and shelter of some sort, all indispensable for survival. But disease and death are an ever-present threat and have to be resisted. This, then, was the task of the medical teams sent out by the ICRC and the National Societies of the Red Cross, and of many other groups belonging to other organizations who came to help the refugees. An overall coordination of the medical aid was indispensable; responsibility for this was assumed by the ICRC.

War, more than peace, is likely to give rise to circumstances in which soldiers and civilians find themselves against their will in a setting where a foreign language is employed. In addition, they may be forced to have contact on their own territory with people using another tongue. Therefore in the context of war, the protection of basic language rights is perhaps even more crucial than in peacetime in easing the fate of those involved. One of the ways humanitarian law seeks to protect the victims of war is by guaranteeing their right to communicate in a language which they easily understand. The purpose of this study is to analyze linguistic rights in time of war.

In this issue International Review of the Red Cross commences the publication of a recent work, entitled “The International Committee of the Red Cross”, by André Durand, former ICRC delegate-general and author of a history of the ICRC.

The original version, in French, was first published by the Centre de Recherches européennes, attached to Lausanne University, under the direction of Professor Henri Rieben.

The full version of the book will be printed in the International Review and we extend our warmest thanks to the author and the director of the Centre de Recherches européennes for having kindly given permission to reproduce the book in the Review.

In the English and Spanish editions of International Review the text has been translated by the staff of the ICRC translation service.

The Twenty-fourth International Red Cross Conference, held in Manila, from 7 to 14 November 1981, was attended by a large number of delegations representing 121 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the ICRC, the League of Red Cross Societies and more than 80 States parties to the Geneva Conventions. The Conference was also attended by numerous observers from as yet unrecognized Red Cross Societies and from governmental and non-governmental organizations, which had been invited to follow the proceedings.

To speak on the theme “Solidarity and Protection of Political Detainees” is unquestionably a difficult undertaking. Today, in 1980, the problem of so-called “political” detainees is one of the most controversial of issues and also one that has become heavily politicized. It is no easy matter to discern any truly universal solidarity concerning such a problem.

On 10 October 1980, the “United Nations Conference on Prohibitions or Restrictions of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects” ended with the adoption by consensus of the following instruments:

– Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons,

– Protocol on Non-Detectable Fragments (Protocol I),

– Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II),

– Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III).

The founders of the Red Cross did not seek to establish their work on the elements of a doctrine. They referred to a concept of the world which was common to them all and which did not appear to need any explanation. They were impelled by the emotions which Henry Dunant's revelations and proposals had raised in them. Their purpose was to “take into serious consideration the idea proposed in the conclusions of the book entitled “A Memory of Solférino”, namely the foundation of Societies for the Relief of Wounded Soldiers and the addition of a corps of medical volunteers to the belligerent armies”, and their concern was “how” to put that idea into practice rather than “why”. It is true that those conclusions contained in embryo a whole set of guiding principles which were not formally stated until much later; but they appeared then as a necessary condition for the application of the initial decisions rather than as their source.

The XXIVth International Conference of the Red Cross,

considering that, in several situations of armed conflict, the identification of members of the armed forces killed on the battle-field is made extremely difficult for lack of identification documents,

recalling that Articles 16 and 17 of the First Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 provide for identity discs to be worn by members of the armed forces to facilitate their identification in case they are killed and the communication of their deaths to the Power on which they depend,

1. urges the Parties to an armed conflict to take all necessary steps to provide the members of their armed forces with identity discs and to ensure that the discs are worn during service,

2. recommends that the Parties to an armed conflict should see that these discs give all the indications required for a precise identification of members of the armed forces such as full name, date and place of birth, religion, serial number and blood group; that every disc be double and composed of two separable parts, each bearing the same indications; and that the inscriptions be engraved on a substance as resistant as possible to the destructive action of chemical and physical agents, especially to fire and heat,

3. reminds the Parties to an armed conflict that one half of each disc must, in case of death, be detached and sent back to the Power on which the member of the armed forces depended, the other half remaining on the body,

4. notes that the International Committee of the Red Cross is prepared to provide models to States asking for them.

Assistance is the essence of all Red Cross actions; protection and assistance are the essence of all ICRC actions.

To approach the subject of this paper “Red Cross assistance and protection”, one should recall a few basic rules and concepts as guidelines in this study.

Firstly it should be clear that we shall not deal here with situations of natural disasters, which normally require Red Cross assistance only. Nor shall we deal with situations of internal disturbances or tensions, which involve mainly the ICRC and its activities in favour of persons detained for political or security reasons.

In the years of transition and change between 1918 and 1939, the only constant was the contrast with the turmoil of the world wars which preceded and followed that period. In this passage from one world conflict to the next, three stages, not only in the evolution of the world but also in that of the ICRC, may he distinguished.

1. to amend Article 14 as follows:

Article 14 — Role of the League

The League acts as the information centre for the Red Cross regarding situations caused by disaster and co-ordinates at the international level the assistance provided by National Societies and the League or channelled through them.

On 18 September 1981, the Swiss Government received from Saint Lucia the instrument containing its declaration of succession to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of war victims, pursuant to the previous ratification of those Conventions by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The International Committee learned with great sorrow of the passing away on 25 April, at the age of eighty-three, of Lady Angela, Dowager Countess of Limerick, Vice-President of the British Red Cross Society and former Chairman of the Standing Commission of the International Red Cross from 1965 to 1973.

While in Geneva, Crown Prince Harald and Princess Sonja of Norway visited the headquarters of the ICRC and the League of Red Cross Societies on 10 June 1981.

Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, visited on May 6 the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva following her address to the Assembly of the World Health Organization.

On 28 September 1981, the Swiss Government received from the Commonwealth of Dominica the instrument containing its declaration of succession to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of war victims, pursuant to the previous ratification of those Conventions by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.