IRELAND: Ireland's EU Presidency should promote the use of humanitarian law in conflict situations, according to the head of the international Red Cross.
Dr Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said Ireland was uniquely placed to achieve this objective because of its traditional "sensitivity" towards humanitarian law as a means of resolving conflicts.
On a visit to Dublin yesterday, he called on the EU to provide a "concrete follow-up" to its pledges in this area. He suggested this could be done by putting humanitarian law on the school curriculum, and by providing training in this area in other countries and to UN peacekeepers from outside Europe. Dr Kellenberger held separate briefings yesterday with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith and the Minister of State for Overseas Co-operation, Mr Tom Kitt. Later, he met the President, Mrs McAleese.
Speaking to The Irish Times, he praised Ireland for remaining sensitive to "forgotten conflicts" around the world. "You never had the tendency to focus on those areas that attract most attention in the media, and this is something the Red Cross appreciates."
However, his talks with Irish officials inevitably focused on the challenges posed by the West's response to the September 11th attacks. The Red Cross believes humanitarian law is adequate to meet the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts, but as Dr Kallenberger has remarked: "It is not the rules that are lacking, but it is too often the will to apply them."
This week marks the second anniversary of the detention by the US of combatants from the war in Afghanistan on a naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Dr Kellenberger is expected to raise Red Cross concerns about their treatment when he goes to the US later this week.
The US has denied the detainees prisoner-of-war status, but has allowed visits by the Red Cross officials. They report a "worrying" deterioration in the psychological health of many prisoners, who have been placed "beyond the law" and have no idea about their fate. Dr Kellenberger admitted the US and the Red Cross had "divergent views" on the status of the prisoners. The ICRC believes the Guantanamo prisoners should be regarded as prisoners-of-war unless a "competent tribunal" decides otherwise. But in keeping with the Red Cross practice of refusing to comment on individual cases, he declined to comment further on the circumstances of their detention.
The ICRC was set up almost 150 years ago to campaign for a limit to suffering in war. It polices the Geneva conventions on the treatment of wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked and prisoners-of-war. The organisation operates separately from the International Federation of Red Cross Societies, which is the umbrella for national Red Cross societies focusing on humanitarian relief in disaster situations. The Irish Red Cross supports the work of both international bodies.
While many commentators have remarked on the changed state of the world post-September 11th, Dr Kellenberger said there was nothing new about the challenges his organisation faces in ensuring that conflicts are fought in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
"The non-recognition of international humanitarian law was a long-standing problem in many parts of the world before 9/11. It's not a new phenomenon." Humanitarian law involves striking "a fine balance" between the legitimate security requirements of states and the necessity of protecting the human dignity of combatants, he said. "And since 9/11 we have had to insist more than ever on this balance."
For the ICRC, the so-called "war on terrorism" is a "metaphor, rather than a legal reality" under the precise terms of humanitarian law. Where there are conflicts, as in Iraq or Afghanistan, humanitarian laws apply to the conduct of warfare and the protection of people at risk. Beyond this, it's probably someone else's business.
This narrow focus, and its general refusal to speak about the abuses it witnesses, has led to criticism of the Red Cross, but Dr Kallenberger believes the organisation derives its strength from this concentration on the core principles of the Geneva Conventions.
