The traditional annual press conference given by the President of the ICRC took place on 10 January 1985 at the headquarters of the Committee. It provided not only an opportunity to make the usual assessment of events in the year 1984 but, in particular, was the moment chosen by the ICRC to launch an “Appeal for a Humanitarian Mobilization”.

El Consejo Ejecutivo de la Liga de Sociedades de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja celebró su 23ª reunión en Ginebra, los días 20 y 21 de abril de 1989, presidida por el señor Mario Villarroel, presidente de la Liga.

En su alocución, el presidente expresó su esperanza de que el 70º aniversario de la fundación de la Liga y el «Gesto Humanitario» celebrado el mes de mayo en el marco del 125. ° aniversario del Movimiento incitarán a las Sociedades Nacionales a continuar el desarrollo del Movimiento con el mismo espíritu de paz que animó a sus fundadores.

Seguidamente, el secretario general, señor Pär Stenbäck, presentó un informe sobre las actividades de la Secretaría desde octubre de 1988, destacando las operaciones de socorro y el desarrollo de las Sociedades Nacionales.

It is well known that African societies are shaped by custom and tradition. African thought, deeply imbued with humanism, has given birth to concepts and practices that place these societies among the world's humanitarian civilizations. With the advent of the colonial era and the establishment of institutions based on foreign values, the manifestations of African ideas was put into abeyance. Subsequent independence, while giving African States the opportunity to participate alongside other nations in constructing a universal civilization, paradoxically brought the continent face to face with a dilemma in regard to economic, political, social and cultural matters: the choice between the wholesale adoption of foreign, particularly European, models, or a radical return to ancestral traditions. However, humanitarian concerns are among the few that can—and should—transcend such Manichean considerations.

Au cours de la dernière guerre, plusieurs Sociétés nationales de la Croix-Rouge se trouvèrent obligées, par les circonstances du moment, de rétribuer leur personnel volontaire ou de lui accorder des indemnités. Dès lors, elles se sont demandé si cette rémunération était ou non contraire aux principes essentiels de la Croix-Rouge. A cette question qui lui fut posée au Comité consultatif des Infirmières il y a deux ans, le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge tient à répondre, en ce qui concerne plus spécialement le personnel employé dans les «services actifs » de la Croix-Rouge en temps de guerre:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was set up in 1951 with the main function of providing protection for refugees. This mandate corresponded to the task immediately confronting it, that of solving the refugee problem affecting Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War.

It will be recalled that on 30 September 1969, two delegates of the International Committee, Dr. Dragan Herčog, a member of the Yugoslav surgical team, and Robert Carlsson, member of a Swedish relief team, were killed during the fighting that was then raging around Okigwi, some miles north of Umuahia. At the same time and place, two persons working for the World Council of Churches were also killed and another member of the Swedish team wounded. Last November, the International Review published the circumstance of this drama which profoundly disturbed the Red Cross everywhere. It also mentioned that ICRC Commissioner-General, Mr. August Lindt, had protested strongly to the federal military government at Lagos. He demanded an enquiry and the punishment of those responsible. He further demanded the tightening up of orders to Nigerian front-line troops to ensure the safety of Red Cross personnel.

Suite aux allégations mettant en cause quelques-uns de ses délégués pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, parues dans la presse au cours de l'été 1996, le CICR s'était engagé à faire toute la lumière sur cette période de son passé. Ces allégations étaient fondées sur un certain nombre d'observations enregistrées par des agents de l'Office of Strategie Services (OSS) américain; elles laissaient entendre que des délégués avaient eu un comportementpeu compatible avec le mandat humanitaire du CICR.

Les agents chimiques de guerre ont été utilisés à grande échelle pour la première fois pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Employés sur tous les fronts principaux, ils ont fait un nombre sans précédent de victimes, de sorte que dès la fin du conflit, des efforts ont été entrepris pour interdire cette nouvelle arme. C'est à la Société des Nations (SDN) que fut confiée la responsabilité de rédiger les textes de droit spécifiques, preuve que le problème était considéré comme un sujet de préoccupation pour le monde entier, et non pas pour les seuls vainqueurs de la guerre.

In 1990, the following States became party to the Protocols: Barbados, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Paraguay, Romania, Ukrainian SSR and Yemen.

The President of the ICRC regularly broached the subject of ratification of the Protocols, both in discussions with visitors to Geneva and during his own visits elsewhere. The ICRC also often approached the authorities of the countries in which it has a delegation and its legal adviser responsible for the matter in Geneva continued to encourage those States not yet party to the Protocols to ratify or accede to them.

Le principe de proportionnalité, qui paraît pourtant évident, est difficile à appliquer pleinement dans la pratique; il se heurte à maints obstacles.

Most of the provisions of the 1977 Protocols to the Geneva Conventions are applicable only in time of armed conflict.

However, there are two types of provisions which may require States Parties to the Protocols to adopt certain measures upon ratification or accession, that is to say already in peacetime. These are:

— provisions which lay down a standing obligation, such as Article 83 of Protocol I and Article 19 of Protocol II, relating to dissemination of the Protocols;

— provisions which need to be supplemented by domestic legislation or regulations, or which require practical action to be taken at an early stage so that they may be applied when the need arises.

The Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction, of 13 January 1993 (Chemical Weapons Convention - CWC) enters into force on 29 April 1997, following the deposit by Hungary on 31 October 1996 of the 65th instrument of ratification. This landmark Convention complements and reinforces the 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons by also banning the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons — as well as their use — and requiring the destruction of existing stockpiles. The 1925 Geneva Protocol was adopted following a dramatic appeal against chemical warfare by the ICRC at the end of the First World War. The Biological Weapons Convention, in force since 1975, has outlawed the development, production and stockpiling of these weapons.