Geneva / Addis
Ababa (ICRC) - A study by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) identifying 161 rules of customary international humanitarian law was presented at a launch ceremony for the African
continent held in Addis Ababa today under the auspices of the African Union.
The study shows that customary international humanitarian law has expanded the scope of protection for
victims of non-international armed conflict beyond what is provided for in treaty law, such as the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.
While treaty law is based on written
conventions, customary international humanitarian law derives from the practice of States as expressed, for example, in military manuals, national legislation and official statements.
A
rule is considered binding customary international humanitarian law if it reflects the widespread, representative and uniform practice of States accepted as law.
The ICRC expects the study
to be widely used in the training of military personnel and the drafting of domestic legislation.
It is hopeful that scholars and government experts will use it as a basis for discussion in
connection with challenges currently being made to the applicability of international humanitarian law.
The International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent commissioned the ICRC
to carry out the study in 1995.
ICRC legal staff, experts on various legal systems, academics and specialists from governments and international organizations spent over eight years
reviewing the practices of States around the world.
They also reviewed international sources such as the United Nations, the African Union, regional organizations and international
tribunals.
At today's launch, African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs Julia D.
Joiner and ICRC Vice-President Jacques Forster presented the study, published by
Cambridge University Press, to representatives of African Union member States, the diplomatic community and international organizations, and to African academics.
The event, which is part
of the worldwide launch of the study, was chaired by Ambassador Bruno Zidouemba, chairperson of the African Union Permanent Representative's Sub-Committee on Refugees, Returnees and Internally
Displaced Persons.
For further information, please contact: Patrick Mégevand, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel: 251 115 51 83 66 Marco Jiménez
Rodríguez, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 79 217 32 17
