armed conflict current armed conflicts article

Indeed, if armed conflict could be limited to its rational and instrumental character and if humanitarian action were not subject to uncountable constraints, morbidity and mortality caused by war and civil strife could be significantly reduced. In numerous armed conflicts the conditions required for conducting humanitarian operations are not fulfilled this constitutes yet another failure.

Moreover, the measures allowing for a monitoring of the application of international humanitarian law and the punishment of violations have not been sufficiently developed or implemented. It is not yet adapted to all conflict situations, however, leaving most forms of civil strife outside its domain of application. International humanitarian law is d esigned to set limits to the suffering caused by armed conflict by protecting the wounded, prisoners, and civilians. The human tragedies brought about by violations of international humanitarian law - a body of law that has been endorsed by most of the world's states - constitute a further failure.

Ĭontinuous recourse to violence and armed conflict as a means of solving political and economic problems shows that the preventive measures adopted by the international community in the framework of the United Nations have failed to achieve their purpose. Attention is thereby focused on fundamental issues of humanitarian actions in current armed conflicts. Following a description of traditional and current conflict patterns and an outline of principles and conditions of humanitarian action, the limits of any humanitarian action are evaluated and analysed. In the past 35 years, the ICRC increased its overall permanent staff from 200 to I 500 and its budget has now grown to more than 800 million Swiss Francs in 1993. In its 131 years of existence, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has carried out humanitarian activities in all international armed conflicts and, since 1960, in an increasing number of internal conflicts. This article was published in the journal Medicine and Global Survival, Volume 1, Number 4, December 1994 and reproduced with the kind authorization of the publisher.

Armed conflict current armed conflicts article