In its “Final Declaration” adopted on 1 September 1993, the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims (Geneva, 30 August to 1 September 1993) conferred upon an intergovernmental group of experts to be convened by the Swiss Government the mandate to study “practical means of promoting full respect for and compliance with [international humanitarian] law, and to prepare a report for submission to the States and to the next session of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent”.

This document is based on the Final Declaration of the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims, the report prepared by the ICRC for that Conference and the note sent to States at the beginning of March 1994 by the Swiss Government, concerning the meeting of the group of experts.

The present paper does not take up all the points referred to in the Swiss Government's note, but defines more precisely, for certain of them, issues that the experts might look into more closely.

Wishing to associate the National Societies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with the follow-up to the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims (August-September 1993) and with preparations for the meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts to be held in January 1995, the ICRC convened a consultative meeting in Geneva on 12 and 13 September 1994 to which legal advisers and experts in humanitarian law from several National Societies and from the Federation were invited. This meeting was also in line with Resolution 2 of the October 1993 Council of Delegates, which urgently requested “the National Societies, the ICRC and the Federation to do everything possible, through their own action and by mobilizing governments, to ensure that the Final Declaration of the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims is followed up by tangible steps which lead to a substantial improvement in the situation of the victims…”.

In accordance with the Final Declaration of the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims (August-September 1993), the Swiss Confederation will convene a meeting of governmental experts from 23 to 27 January 1995 for the purpose of drawing up a report on specific measures designed to promote compliance with and respect for international humanitarian law. The report will be submitted to the 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which will decide on the action to be taken to implement its recommendations.

In its Final Declaration of 1 September 1993, the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims inter alia urged all States to make every effort to:

“Consider or reconsider, in order to enhance the universal character of international humanitarian law, becoming party or confirming their succession, where appropriate, to the relevant treaties concluded since the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, in particular:

—the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts of 8 June 1977 (Protocol I);

—the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts of 8 June 1977 (Protocol II);

—the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons and its three Protocols;

—The 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict”.

The importance of adopting national measures to implement international humanitarian law has been stressed on many occasions. It was repeated in the Final Declaration of the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims (Geneva, 30 August–1 September 1993), which reaffirmed the obligation laid down in Article 1 common to the four Geneva Conventions to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law in order to protect the victims of war. The Declaration urged all States to make every effort to “adopt and implement, at the national level, all appropriate regulations, laws and measures to ensure respect for international humanitarian law applicable in the event of armed conflict and to punish violations thereof”. The Conference thus reasserted the need to bring about more effective compliance with that law.

The Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at its meeting of 25 August 1994, elected Ambassador Eric Roethlisberger as new permanent ICRC Vice-President. He will take up his duties in the course of this autumn.