The Neutrality Principle and the ICRC - Essay Example

There are international conflicts as well as local wars such as those in Somalia and Darfur that necessitate the existence of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

International Humanitarian law can be considered to have emerged with the Battle of Solferino between the Austro-Hungarian army and the Franco-Sardinian forces and with the presence of Henry Dunant, his experience of which he wrote in Memory of Solferino he stated that; “there is a need to provide voluntary relief to those wounded in battlefields as well as an international agreement based on which those voluntary societies might provide relief to the sick and injured during wartime”

This necessitated the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be formed, and adopted in the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field (1864).

The ICRC formally incorporated the neutrality principle on the basis that at no particular time should individuals take sides in hostilities or any controversies of a political, religious, or that which is ideological nature.

“Neutrality enables the ICRC to keep everyone’s trust by not taking sides in hostilities or controversies of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature. Neutrality does not mean indifference to suffering, acceptance of war, or quiescence in the face of inhumanity; rather, it means not engaging in controversies that divide peoples. The ICRC’s work benefits from this principle because it enables the organization to make more contacts and gain access to those affected.”

The other principles include; humanity, impartiality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality all being applied by the ICRC in the protection of those in armed conflict, the wounded, and the sick.

The report aims at providing an understanding of the basis for the application of the principle of neutrality in the ICRC its merits as well as the demerits of the application of the principle of neutrality principle of neutrality

Concepts of ICRC Neutrality

The ICRC as a neutral body

The role of ICRC is considered as being an ‘impartial, neutral and independent’ organization whose mission is exclusively to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance.’

The impartiality, neutrality, and independence of the ICRC are to ensure that humanitarian aid, as well as relief, is offered to those in need, vulnerable victims of war as well as in armed conflict. The ICRC gains its mandate from the International Community from the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005 which considers it the guardian and the promoter of IHL for victims of international armed conflicts, such as war wounded, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants.

An overlap in the use of impartiality and neutrality in the ICRC

The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocol I and II of 1977  as well as the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement provide the existence of the two principles; neutrality and impartiality as a basis for providing humanitarian relief and assistance. It is contended by many that the use of impartiality in the context is to refer to the victims while the principle of neutrality is used in the context of referring to the victims. Their application is derived from treaties hence they are both general treaty obligations.