Présentation - ICRC Draft Rules 1956

i n t r o d u c t i o n

Draft Rules for the Limitation of the Dangers incurred by the Civilian Population in Time of War. ICRC, 1956

In many ways these Draft Rules were a continuation of the efforts that the ICRC had begun since 1920 to persuade States to adopt treaty rules to protect civilian populations from the effects of bombardment, taking into account the rapid development of new methods and means of warfare. The Board of Governors in 1954 asked the ICRC to propose a text to the following International Conference of the Red Cross particularly with a view to "protect civilian populations efficiently from the dangers of atomic, chemical and bacteriological warfare". The ICRC drew up the Draft Rules with the help of experts and submitted the text to the XIXth Conference of the Red Cross which took place in New Delhi in 1957. Resolution XIII of this Conference encouraged the ICRC to submit to governments the text together with the amendments proposed during the Conference. As there was virtually no reaction by governments, no further action could be taken at the time. It is particularly noteworthy that many of the provisions in these Draft Rules resemble provisions finally adopted in the 1977 Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions. The Draft Rules are published with Commentary. The amendments proposed during the 1957 Red Cross Conference in New Delhi are published in the "XIXth International Conference of the Red Cross, New Delhi, October-November 1957; Final Record concerning The Draft Rules for the Limitation of the Dangers incurred by the Civilian Population in Time of War" ICRC, Geneva, April 1958.

Number of articles

Authentic text

French

Source

Draft Rules for the Limitation of the Dangers incurred by the Civilian Population in Time of War , ICRC, geneva, September, 1956

Keywords

PROTECTION; CIVILIAN; WAR VICTIM; NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT; CONDUCT OF THE HOSTILITIES; MEANS OF COMBAT; METHOD OF COMBAT; PROTECTED OBJECT; INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT; PROTECTED ZONE; USE OF WEAPONS; WEAPON; INCENDIARY WEAPON; CHEMICAL WEAPON; BIOLOGICAL WEAPON; INDISCRIMINATE WEAPON; PROTECTION AGAINST THE EFFECTS OF HOSTILITIES