Brussels (ICRC) – The use of weapons such as cluster munitions and anti-personnel
mines, and their regulation under international humanitarian law (IHL), will be the focus of this year's Bruges Colloquium in Belgium.
Organized by the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) and the College of Europe, the event will be held from 18 to 19 October.
It will bring together experts from government offices, international organizations,
non-governmental organizations and universities to discuss achievements and challenges in this evolving field.
Ongoing efforts to prohibit the use of cluster munitions and to develop an
international treaty on the arms trade will be debated, along with ways of ensuring that the use of new technologies, such as "non-lethal" weapons, falls within the law.
In order to protect
civilians and limit the risk of unnecessary suffering among combatants, IHL restricts the types of weapon and means of warfare allowed in armed conflict.
Participants will also discuss
progress made towards eliminating the suffering caused by anti-personnel mines as the international community marks the 10th anniversary of the Ottawa treaty, which prohibits the use of these
weapons.
"Ever since States agreed to prohibit anti-personnel mines and address the post-conflict consequences of explosive remnants of war, significant progress has been made in protecting
civilians from the effects of certain weapons," says Françoise Krill, the head of the ICRC's delegation to the European Union and NATO in Brussels.
"However, a lot remains to be done
in order to ensure that this commitment is honoured and to address other, equally serious humanitarian concerns, such as the use of inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions and the widespread
availability of weapons," she adds.
The ICRC and the College of Europe have been holding annual colloquiums on IHL since 2000, within the framework of EU and NATO activities (additional
details on: www.coe-icrc.eu).
For further information, please contact:
Thomas Vanden Driessche, ICRC Brussels, tel.
+32 2 286 58 70 or +32 479 22 68 61 Caroline Vandenbussche, College of Europe, tel.
