And for the excruciating grief and loss that we see on the faces of family and friends as they pass by in funeral motorcades carrying our fallen soldiers, we might also remind ourselves that what we are witnessing before us is one loss among thousands of soldiers and civilians alike in places we may never see. As volunteers and staff of one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, we are right to remind ourselves that human suffering is human suffering no matter for whom or how far away.

 

It was in the aftermath of World War II and in deep reflection of the horrors of war that representatives from nearly every country in the world convened in Geneva Switzerland on August 12^th, 1949 to ratify the Geneva Conventions. Shortly thereafter, the newly formed United Nations passed the Geneva Conventions into International Humanitarian Law. As such, these laws apply not only to governments but to all parties of armed conflict whether or not they are signatories to the conventions.

 

But the 1949 Geneva Convention was not the first Geneva Convention; it was the fourth. The First Geneva Convention was held in 1864, and was called to order by none other than Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  The Second Geneva Convention was held in 1882 and this time, at the urging of our very own Clara Barton who had the previous year founded the American Red Cross, the United States became a signatory member. The first two conventions dealt with the protection of sick and wounded soldiers at land and sea.   The Third Geneva Convention was held in 1929 and addressed the protection of prisoners of war. The Fourth Geneva Convention in 1949 brought all the other conventions under one roof and included the protection of civilians in combat.

 

Another major development in 1949 was that the United Nations mandated the ICRC to be the vanguard of the Geneva Conventions. As such, it is the duty of the ICRC to advise parties to armed conflict of their obligations under the Geneva Conventions and to report violations to the UN when necessary. The ICRC is also mandated to provide humanitarian assistance to all protected groups regardless if they are friend or foe. Lastly, it is the legal duty of the ICRC to visit POWs and to make recommendations to the responsible governments or other parties if their POWs are not being treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

 

This has never been an easy role for the ICRC to fulfill and has at times come at a cost to its image and perception in the world. But the ICRC’s strict adherence to its founding principles, which include neutrality and humanity, has also allowed the ICRC to work in places where other humanitarian organizations dare not tread and thus to help civilian populations when no one else can.

 

For our part, the American Red Cross helps to promote awareness of the Geneva Conventions through our International Humanitarian Law program (IHL) which is gradually transforming itself into a new model, Exploring Humanitarian Law (EHL). In both of these programs, we visit with young people and share with them the history of the Red Cross with respect to armed conflict and humanitarian law as well as the hardships and realities faced by civilians during and after armed conflict. As the program lead for our IHL/EHL programs, I try and get people to think about humanitarian law not just in terms of war and humanitarian crisis, but also as a matter of human dignity.

 

Today, August 12^th, might be a good day to remind ourselves that respect for human dignity is not just at the core of humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, it is the very essence of the work that we do in all our capacities.