At its second session, which it held in Geneva in May 1972, the Conference of Government Experts on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts (Commission I) prepared draft articles on medical air transport and an annex relating to their signalling and identification, which were to be embodied in a future legal instrument. The Commission also recommended that a closer study be made of medical transport at sea and on land. If these suggestions were to lead to a draft instrument, it would be imperative to have a general plan which, in the case of signalling, would extend to all medical personnel and material, whether civilian or military.

The subject I shall deal with is one that traditionally comes up for discussion, to the point of growing stale. Innumerable resolutions and recommendations on “Red Cross and Peace” have been voted by delegates to International Red Cross Conferences. One might even say that this type of recommendation, which of course is addressed to all responsible governments, has become a feature of every Red Cross gathering.

From 20 to 24 March 1972, the second session of the Conference of Red Cross Experts on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts was held in Vienna. It had been convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross and took place in Vienna at the invitation of the Austrian Red Cross. Almost a hundred delegates represented the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Burundi, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (Dem. Rep.), Germany (Fed. Rep.), Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Korea (Democratic People's Republic), Korea (Republic), Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Vietnam (Republic) and Yugoslavia.

The Conference on the Law of Treaties held at Vienna in 1968 and 1969, like the other important United Nations conferences on the codification of international law (Geneva Conferences on the Law of the Sea of 1958 and 1960, Vienna Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities of 1961 and Vienna Conference on Consular Relations of 1963), formulated and adopted a Convention on the basis of a draft which was the collective work of the International Law Commission (ILC) of the United Nations, carried out under the guidance of a Special Rapporteur.

We have thus been witnessing since 1958 the interesting process of the reduction into treaty law of a substantial part of the customary international law of peace; if this period is compared with the centuries that went before, the transformation of unwritten rules into written law which has thus taken place appears remarkably fast. This codification of public international law has of course served to clarify pre-existing rules but it has at the same time made it possible to bring these rules up to date so as to meet better the new requirements of the community of States—the society which is governed by that law and which has undergone significant changes in the last few decades.

It comes natural these days to associate the concept of solidarity with the universality of the work of the Red Cross. Serving the same ideal, respecting the same principles, carrying out similar activities, Red Cross Societies are linked to each other and belong, as it were, to a single body, the International Red Cross.

The solidarity, born of the very structure of the Red Cross movement, is also a powerful incentive, for it manifests itself in the active co-operation of all Red Cross members for the benefit of the whole. The urge which Red Cross men and Societies have to help each other beyond national boundaries has become so strong over the years that it is not too presumptuous to adopt it as a Red Cross principle. By giving the concept of charity a universal dimension for the benefit of suffering mankind, solidarity is akin to the principles of humanity and universality of which it is both the emanation and the moving force.

At the International Colloquium held by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, at Sanremo last September, a paper was submitted on military instructions concerning the treatment of prisoners in situations arising from guerrilla warfare. In view of the importance of the subject and of the interesting references made to history, we are publishing the introduction and conclusion of this study, which will later appear in the official records of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, as well as some of the historical examples given by the author. (Ed.)

We take pleasure in publishing the following study which was written in the spring of 1971. Some passages, as readers will observe, are no longer topical, such as the information given on the Conference of Government Experts, for our readers will know that, the 1971 conference is being followed by a second session from 3 May to 3 June 1972, in Geneva.

The study appeared in L'Univers politique 1970, and we express our thanks to the Editions Richelieu, Paris, for authorizing reproduction in our Review. (Ed.)

Wherever the United Nations Charter refers to promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms, it refers to human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. Within a State one distinguishes normally between nationals and aliens. But among the aliens there is a particular group—the refugees—whose position in traditional customary international law is especially precarious. This is due to the fact that in classic international law nationality is considered as the link between the individual and international law. In later editions of Oppenheim's leading textbook on International Law it is called the principal link.

Before trying to show what this difference is, we must firstly locate the nursing profession among all those other professions that together work to improve health. The very fact that the nurse falls within this category of professions means that she shares a number of characteristics with those working in other fields, e.g. she is devoted to the service of others, she is concerned about the individuality of each person, she has the power to intervene in the physical, psychological or social life of the person in her care, etc. Similarly, we must ignore certain characteristics concerning the particularly low economic status of the nurse, the fact that this profession is an almost exclusively feminine domain and that it commands a rather modest social position.

The 1951 Convention contains other important provisions relating to expulsion, even to a third country, not to a country where the person would be subject to persecution. In the case of refugees lawfully staying in the territory, expulsion shall only be resorted to for reasons of public order or national security.

To have won the Henry Dunant Medal comes as more than a surprise. It is a great honour, an honour beyond my wildest expectations. I knew, of course, of the nature and origin of the Medal but only as an interesting fact that had nothing to do with me. Therefore, to be personally part of this great Red Cross event makes me feel very grateful and very happy indeed.

For many years, the rescue and life-saving services operating in mountains and on water have been organized by the Bulgarian Red Cross, under the leadership of its Central Committee. These activities, which are of great utility, are familiar to all who benefit from them in Bulgaria and are much appreciated, and they strengthen still more the authority of the Red Cross as a humanitarian organization.

The second session of the Conference of Government Experts on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, convened by the ICRC, began in Geneva last May and terminated on 2 June. We give below a brief analysis of the results of the four commissions assigned, as mentioned in our previous issue, to the study of the content of the two draft additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. In a subsequent issue we shall refer to the final report on the work of the Conference, which the ICRC is now preparing and will shortly publish.

Throughout the world hundreds of thousands of men are deprived of freedom for having professed political or religious opinions opposing those of their country's leaders, or for having manifested their discontent with social conditions.

The overthrow of a legal government by the army may not always be accompanied by bloodshed; however, large-scale arrests of the former government's supporters will inevitably occur, with a concomitant situation of internal tension.

It will be recalled that a Conference of Government Experts, convened by the ICRC, met in Geneva from 24 May to 11 June 1971. At the closing meeting, the President of the International Committee announced that the ICRC had decided to convene a second session in the following year.

This session opened in Geneva on 3 May 1972 and closed early in June. It was attended by about 400 experts delegated by seventyseven governments. The Conference was also followed by United Nations observers, nine technical experts in problems of medical transport, ten observers from non-governmental organizations, the League of Red Cross Societies, and several National Societies.

The paper quoted below was submitted, under agenda item 21, to the League Board of Governors at its Mexico meeting in October 1971. We take pleasure in bringing it to the knowledge of our readers, in view of the importance and topical aspect of nature conservancy to which the Red Cross is known to be giving increasing attention in various countries. Several National Societies are drawing up plans for the protection and improvement of the environment. Others have already taken action and some co-operate with other organizations concerned about the subject and which often conduct their own publicity campaigns.

Further on, we give extracts from another communication which was presented by Professor Maurice Marois to the same meeting of the Board of Governors. It deals with the same problem as viewed by the Institut de la Vie from the angle of its own work for the protection of nature.

ICRC delegates in India and in Pakistan are working to help prisoners of war in accordance with the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention.

A hundred years after the founding of the Red Cross, several more or less recent biographies, in German, which are based on records, some of them newly discovered, tell us about the men who faithfully assisted Henry Dunant in his more difficult hours. Among the earlier writings about Dunant we find the name of Rudolf Müller, a Stuttgart secondary school teacher, in connection with the few documents available at that time, although they contain no indication of the extent to which Müller's effective activity influenced Dunant's later life.