Despite the narrative of success surrounding the Northern Ireland peace process, which culminated in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, there remain significant humanitarian consequences as a result of the violence. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has opened an office in Belfast after its assessments demonstrated a need for intervention. While a two-year ‘dirty protest’ in Northern Ireland's main prison has been recently resolved, paramilitary structures execute punishments, from beatings to forced exile and even death, outside of the legal process and in violation of the criminal code. This article examines the face of modern humanitarianism outside of armed conflict, its dilemmas, and provides analysis as to why the ICRC has a role in the Northern Ireland context.

The Conference on the Law of Treaties held at Vienna in 1968 and 1969, like the other important United Nations conferences on the codification of international law (Geneva Conferences on the Law of the Sea of 1958 and 1960, Vienna Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities of 1961 and Vienna Conference on Consular Relations of 1963), formulated and adopted a Convention on the basis of a draft which was the collective work of the International Law Commission (ILC) of the United Nations, carried out under the guidance of a Special Rapporteur.

We have thus been witnessing since 1958 the interesting process of the reduction into treaty law of a substantial part of the customary international law of peace; if this period is compared with the centuries that went before, the transformation of unwritten rules into written law which has thus taken place appears remarkably fast. This codification of public international law has of course served to clarify pre-existing rules but it has at the same time made it possible to bring these rules up to date so as to meet better the new requirements of the community of States—the society which is governed by that law and which has undergone significant changes in the last few decades.

Cuando se creó, el CICR, reconociendo la imprevisibilidad e inevitabilidad de la guerra, tenía la esperanza de poder atenuar sus consecuencias más funestas, gracias a sus actividades humanitarias de protección y de sensibilización con respecto al derecho intemacional humanitario. Todas las actividades de la Institución tienen origen, pues, en la guerra: la asistencia médica y los socorros se prestan en función del número de víctimas, la protección a los prisioneros obra en favor «de las personas detenidas a causa de la situación»; la Agencia Central de Búsquedas intercambia mensajes familiares cuando se interrumpen las comunicaciones, busca a las personas desaparecidas a causa del conflicto, reúne a los familiares separados por los acontecimientos. Las únicas actividades que no responden exclusivamente a necesidades generadas por la guerra son la difusión del derecho y de los principios humanitarios y la cooperación con las Sociedades Nacionales de la Cruz Roja y la Media Luna Roja.

A. Legislation

Afghanistan

A. Legislation. Afghanistan. The Order of the Minister of National Defence on the Establishment of a Board of Curriculum on [the integration of] the International Law of Armed Conflict into the Educational and Training Institutions of the National Armed Forces, as well as National Army Units was adopted in July 2005. The Order nominates the members of the Board and defines a number of duties and actions to be undertaken for the training and education of national armed forces in the law of armed conflict. These activities include in particular the preparation of teaching materials, the appointment of instructors, and the proposed establishment of a legal department within the education and training institutions of the Ministry of Defence.

This paper discusses three main areas of controversy relating to detention in the context of multinational operations: the relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights law; the principle of legality in the context of relying on United Nations Security Council resolutions as a justification for taking detainees; and the transfer of detainees where there is, for example, a substantial risk of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The paper then considers how the Copenhagen Principles address these issues.

La comunidad internacional se ha percatado recientemente de los efectos negativos que pueden tener, en los países afectados por crisis, algunas acciones de urgencia en las fases posteriores a la reanudación del desarrollo. Por ello, se ha puesto de moda el concepto de continuidad «urgencia-desarrollo». Se trata de conciliar las acciones que deben organizarse durante la fase de crisis aguda con las de etapas ulteriores.

Working in the humanitarian sector as an aid worker has become a dangerous endeavour, with attacks against humanitarian workers becoming more common. In this personal story by a former head of office at an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) surgical hospital, a short, violent encounter leads to a long journey of recovery. There is an important role for the community in supporting the healing process; the author suggests that an integral and collaborative involvement by organizations like the ICRC is effective in addressing the impact of violence directed towards humanitarian aid workers.

At the invitation of the German Red Cross in the Federal Republic of Germany, the President of the ICRC, Mr. Marcel A. Naville, together with the ICRC Delegate-General for Europe, Mr. Melchior Borsinger, went to Bonn on 14 November for a five-day visit. He there met Dr. Gustav Heinemann, President of the Republic, and several members of the Government.

Después de consultar a los organismos internacionales y las organizaciones no gubernamentales concernidos, los Estados representados en la Conferencia de Ottawa, o sea, el «Grupo de Ottawa», nan acordado incrementar la cooperación y la coordinación de los esfuerzos para luchar contra las minas antipersonal, basándose en las preocupaciones y objetivos siguientes:

1. La comprobación de que los elevadísimos costos humanitarios y socioeconómicos que causa el empleo de minas antipersonal requieren la intervencion urgente de la comunidad internacional para prohibir y eliminar este tipo de armas.