The International Conference for the Protection of War Victims, held from 30 August to 1 September 1993 in Geneva, the “cradle” of humanitarian law, was an important event in international life. It gave an opportunity to diplomats of practically every nation not only to consider general issues of international humanitarian law, but also to discuss what to do in order to react adequately to the challenges of today, above all the escalation of armed conflicts and violations of international humanitarian law.

The present study deals with one specific aspect of the whole issue of finding ways and means of improving respect for international humanitarian law, namely, implementation of the obligation, as contained in Article 1 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and to their Additional Protocol I of 1977, to ensure respect for this law. It is based upon the premise that the interpretation of common Article 1, whereby the obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law implies that every High Contracting Party ought to take action with regard to any other High Contracting Party which does not respect this law, is uncontested. The study therefore does not discuss this issue, but rather identifies and briefly comments upon the various types of measures available to States in order to fulfil their obligation to ensure respect. The examples given for the various measures are merely illustrative and ought by no means to be considered as a judgement by the author regarding their justification in the light of the circumstances under which they were adopted.

After nearly 130 years of existence, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement continues to play a unique and important role in the field of human relations.

Its origin may be traced to the impression made on Henry Dunant, a chance witness at the scene, by the disastrous lack of medical care at the battle of Solferino in 1859 and the compassionate response aroused in the people of Lombardy by the plight of the wounded. The Movement has since gained importance and expanded to such a degree that it is now an irreplaceable institution made up of dedicated people all over the world.

We are grateful to the Government of France for having called for a conference to review the 1980 United Nations Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects.

The Review Conference for the 1980 Convention is an important event, as it provides the opportunity, for the first time since that Convention entered into force in 1983, for States to make an assessment of its impact and to decide whether it needs to be amended in order to be more effective.

The immense problems created by the indiscriminate laying of mines are now beginning to be recognized. ICRC surgeons have for some time reported that some of the worst injuries they see are caused by mines, and it was our Medical Division that decided it was essential to study this problem thoroughly from all relevant angles. As a result, in April 1993 the ICRC organized a multidisciplinary symposium on antipersonnel mines. The symposium gathered information on the present use of mines and the humanitarian and social consequences of such use, the trade in mines, the technical characteristics of mines, mine clearance, the professional military use of mines and the legal situation. The symposium was attended not only by specialists in these fields, but also by a representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, a number of non-governmental organizations that had begun to take a serious interest in the problem and some journalists. As a result, there is now more information available on the various problems caused by mines. More important, the efforts undertaken by interested persons to draw the attention of governments to the need for action have begun to bear fruit: several governments have declared a moratorium on their mines exports, the United Nations has just adopted a resolution setting up a fund for demining operations, and possible further restrictions on the use of mines will be discussed in 1994 during a United Nations conference which will review a treaty on the use of conventional weapons.

At its meeting of 7 and 8 December 1993, the ICRC Assembly took note of the departure of Professor Marco Mumenthaler. Elected a member of the ICRC in 1989, for personal reasons Professor Mumenthaler did not seek to have his mandate renewed.

In addition, the Assembly conferred honorary membership on Mr. Pierre Languetin, who had reached retirement age.

July-August 1993 — No. 295

Anti-Personnel Mines by Gerald C. Cauderay,

Page 275. The objective in laying minefields, lines 12-17.

The quotation by Col. C. Sloan referred to by A.P.V. Rogers only contains the paragraphs a), b) and c) in italics.

The following two paragraphs as follows:

“Anti-personnel mines are also used to protect military positions and installations or to prevent access to a locality, village of particular region.

Unfortunately, it is also a fact that anti-personnel mines are sometimes laid to prevent the civilian population from leaving a region or from having access to arable land, pastoral areas and ricefields”

are wrongly in italics, as they are not part of the said quotation, but they should be in Roman characters, as they are part of G. C. Cauderay's text.