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Significant dates in the history of international humanitarian law and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

1863International Committee for the relief of military wounded: as from 1876, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) International Geneva Conference Establishment of national committees for the relief of military wounded.
18671st International Conference of the Red Cross.
1906Revision and development of the 1864 Geneva Convention.
1919 League of Red Cross Societies - as from 1983, League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - as from 1991, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
1928Statutes of the International Red Cross (revised in 1952
and 1986).
1949 Geneva Conventions:
- The wounded and sick in armed forces in the field [revision and development of the 1929
   Geneva Convention] (First Convention)
- Wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea [revision and
   development of the 1907 Hague Convention No. X] (Second Convention)
- Prisoners of war [revision and development of the 1929 Geneva Convention]
   (Third Convention)
- Civilian persons [supplements the 1899 Hague Convention No.II and 1907
   Hague Convention No. IV] (Fourth Convention)
- The four Conventions contain a common Article 3 relating to the protection of victims of
   non-international armed conflicts.
1976 Convention on the protection of the environment Prohibition of military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques.
1980Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects.
1989Agreement between the ICRC and the League.
1993Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction.
1995Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons (Protocol IV).
1997Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction.
1998Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
2006 Adoption of the third additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the adoption of an additional distinctive emblem.
The coming into force of this Protocol - and with it the additional emblem of the red crystal - is considered a concrete sign of the predominance of humanitarian principles over any other considerations governing the mission of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement.

The possibility of using the red crystal will make it easier for national societies who do not wish to use the red cross or the red crescent emblems to be recognized and admitted to the Movement. This consolidates the Movement's universality.

The Protocol provides for new flexibility, allowing national societies to include a combination of emblems recognized by the Geneva Conventions inside the red crystal for their identification.

Under international law, the red crystal offers the same protection as the red cross and the red crescent when marking military medical personnel, establishments and transport; the staff of national societies; staff, vehicles and structures of the ICRC and the International Federation. (Existing law - Additional Protocol I of 1977 - also allows use of the emblem by certain civilian medical establishments.)

The ICRC and the International Federation are allowed to use the red crystal in exceptional circumstances, if they consider it necessary for their work; but they will not change their present emblems or names.

The longer-term challenge is now to secure the same world-wide recognition and respect for the red crystal as given to the red cross and the red crescent. This will facilitate access by humanitarian workers to victims of conflict and other crises, in particular in situations where the use of an emblem devoid of any perceived political, religious, cultural and connotations may be an advantage.

The red cross and red crescent emblems are universally recognized symbols of assistance for the victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters. In use since the nineteenth century, these emblems unfortunately do not always enjoy the respect to which they are entitled as visible signs of the strict neutrality of humanitarian work. Moreover, certain States find it difficult to identify with one or the other.

To resolve these issues, the States party to the Geneva Conventions adopted a Third Additional Protocol to the Conventions at the diplomatic conference in December 2005 establishing the red crystal.

Mr Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies ©ICRC
Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross
Olivier Vodoz, vice-president
Christine Beerli, vice-president
 


 


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