Recalling that their broad ratification established baseline norms on the treatment of civilians and prisoners of war, as well as the shipwrecked, sick and wounded, several speakers pointed out that international law strikes a balance between military necessity and humanity in times of war.īriefing by video-conference from Geneva at the meeting’s outset, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that in adopting the Geneva Conventions, countries made a critical declaration: “That even in armed conflict, even between fierce enemies, there must be limits on the suffering that we can inflict upon each other.” Today, international humanitarian law remains a key tool for dealing with contemporary conflict, he added. In a global landscape marked by complex, asymmetrical conflicts - as well as the increasingly common use of autonomous weapons - the 1949 Geneva Conventions are more crucial than ever, prominent legal and humanitarian figures told the Security Council today, as members considered the relevance of international humanitarian law in a rapidly changing world.Ĭouncil members joined United Nations and other humanitarian experts in hailing the adoption of the four Geneva Conventions - the seventieth anniversary of which was observed on 11 August - as one of the international community’s most important accomplishments.
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