Preface
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338702400301 |
| Author | Jan Egeland,Louise Doswald-Beck,Yves Sandoz |
| Published date | 01 September 1987 |
| Date | 01 September 1987 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Preface
ISSN
0022-3433
Journal
of
Peace
Research,
vol.
24,
no.
3,
1987
International
humanitarian
law
(also
called
the
’law
of
armed
conflict’
or
’the
law
of
war’)
is
a
set
of
rules
-
established
by
treaty
or
custom
-
developed
over
the
years,
which
limit
and
regulate
the
means
and
methods
of
warfare
employed
by
bel-
ligerent
parties
and
which
provide
for
humanitarian
action
for
the
relief
of
those
adversely
affected
by
war.
The
untoward
publicity
recently
be-
stowed
on
the
Additional
Protocols
to
the
Geneva
Conventions
and
on
the
recent
Red
Cross
Conference
masks
the
true
rele-
vance
and
importance
of
humanitarian
law
today.
This
special
edition
of
the
Jour-
nal
of
Peace
Research
has
been
conceived
to
give
a
basic
background
and
under-
standing
to
this
subject
and
thus
place
humanitarian
law,
and
action
flowing
from
it,
in
the
context
of
the
major
issues
of
international
relations.
For
too
long,
humanitarian
law
has
remained
unknown
except
to
a
comparatively
small
number
of
specialists
and,
as
will
be
seen
when
read-
ing
the
various
contributions,
this
is
an
intolerable
state
of
affairs.
There
is
a
clear
correlation
between
the
existence
and
knowledge
of
international
humanitarian
law
and
the
protection
of
persons
in
situa-
tions
of
armed
conflict:
humanitarian
law
often
prevents
prisoners
being
executed,
civilian
populations
being
attacked
and
enables
humanitarian
action
to
be
carried
out.
Conflict
is
all
too
often
the
result
of
distrust
and
misunderstanding
which
these
days
are
both
more
dangerous
and
more
common
with
the
existence
of
almost
170
nation
States.
We
must
therefore
recognize
reality
and
that
violent
quarrels
in
our
community
need
to
be
regulated
in
a
uni-
form
fashion.
Compliance
with
humanitar-
ian
law
provides
a
set
of
values
creating
a
real
bridge
between
different
cultures,
thus
fostering
a
spirit
of
cooperation
in
adversity
and
encouraging
the
return
to
peace.
Founded
in
1863,
the
Red
Cross
has
a
greater
potential
for
humanitarian
action
than
ever
before.
With
145
recognized
National
Societies
and
some
15
more
in
formation,
the
International
Red
Cross
and
Red
Crescent
Movement
is
in
the
pro-
cess
of
becoming
the
world’s
first
global
humanitarian
network.
This
special
issue
of
the
JPR
is
an
important
example
of
how
this
Movement
gives
priority
to
strength-
ening
and
disseminating
humanitarian
law.
In
his
Focus
On
article,
Jacques
Moreil-
lon
outlines
the
importance
of
humanitar-
ian
law
in
today’s
world
and
points
out
the
danger
of
not
joining
in
international
efforts
to
respect
this
law,
in
particular
by
not
ratifying
the
important
Protocols
of
1977
Additional
to
the
Geneva
Conven-
tions
of
1949.
In
the
section
on
the
content
and
poten-
tial
of
humanitarian
law
Allan
Rosas
and
Par
Stenback
first
place
this
body
of
law
within
the
wider
context
of
international
legal
standards,
Jacques
Meurant
gives
an
overview
of
the
historical
development
of
humanitarian
law,
Louise
Doswald-Beck
evaluates
the
protection
given
to
civilian
populations,
Olivier
Dfrr
describes
the
application
of
humanitarian
law
to
the
various
kinds
of
armed
conflicts,
and
Ove
Bring
discusses
humanitarian
law
as
a
tool
for
regulating
conventional
weapons.
In
the
section
on
international
humani-
tarian
action,
Yves
Sandoz
discusses
the
contribution
of
the
International
Red
Cross
and
Red
Crescent
Movement
to
the
advance-
ment
of
peace,
David
Weissbrodt
assesses
how
international
human
rights
organiz-
ations
can
make
use
of
humanitarian
law,
Jean-Luc
Blondel
describes
the
expanding
work
of
the
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross
in
conflict
situations,
and
Laurent
Nicole
describes
humanitarian
efforts
to
fight
the
widespread
use
of
torture.
The
Henry
Dunant
Institute
-
a
centre
for
research,
publications
and
training
of
the
International
Red
Cross
and
Red
Cres-
cent
Movement -
and
the
International
Committee
of
the
Red
Cross
greatly
appre-
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