The Role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Stability Operations

• Author: Laurent Colassis
• Position: Deputy Head of the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva
• Pages: 457-476

XVIII

The Role of the International Committee of

the Red Cross in Stability Operations

Laurent Colassis*

I. Introduction

Whatis the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

in stability operations in Iraq? In order to answer this question, it is

necessary to examine the ICRC's mandate, its main activities in Iraq and the major

legal challenges it faces as it conducts its activities.

II. The ICRC's Mandate

The ICRC is aneutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization for-

mally mandated by States party to the Geneva Conventions (GC) 1to ensure,

among other activities, assistance to, and protection of, victims of armed conflicts

or other situations of violence.2Its work is firmly rooted in public international

law. The Statutes ofthe International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement3and

resolutions ofthe International Conference ofthe Red Cross and Red Crescent un-

derscore the legitimacy ofthe ICRC's work. States have also given the ICRC the re-

sponsibility to monitor the application of international humanitarian law (IHL).4

As the guardian of IHL, the ICRC takes measures to ensure respect for, promote,

*Deputy Head of the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),

Geneva. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect

those of the ICRC.

The Role of the ICRC in Stability Operations

reaffirm and even clarify and develop this body of law.5The ICRC is also "particu-

larly concerned about apossible erosion of IHL and takes bilateral, multilateral or

public steps to promote respect for and development of the law."6

In order to carry out its activities in international armed conflicts, the ICRC has

been granted an explicit right to regular access to prisoners of war under Geneva

Convention III (GC III) 7and to civilians protected by Geneva Convention IV (GC

IV).8The ICRC also enjoys abroad right of initiative for other humanitarian activi-

ties.9In non- international armed conflict, the ICRC may offer its services to the

parties to the conflict under Common Article 3of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

In situations that have not reached the threshold of an armed conflict, the ICRC

"may take any humanitarian initiative which comes within its role as aspecifically

neutral and independent institution and intermediary." 10

III. ICRC Activities in Iraq

The ICRC has been present in Iraq since the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in

1980. 11 During these years, it maintained apermanent presence in the country,

even in March 2003 at the start ofthe international armed conflict between the US-

led coalition and the regime of Saddam Hussein. 12

As of this writing, the security situation in Iraq is still fragile. Some five hundred

people are killed on average every month and two thousand people are wounded in

indiscriminate attacks and mass explosions that occur predominantly in Baghdad,

Ninewa and Diyala governorates. 13 Security has improved, however, as compared

to the situation between May 2006 and August 2007 when two thousand to three

thousand civilians died each month because of the armed conflict. 14 Thanks to this

improvement, the ICRC has been able to expand its activities and its presence in-

side the country. After running amainly remote-control operation for afew years,

the ICRC delegation for Iraq has returned to direct implementation of all its activi-

ties 15 and can now access large parts of the country.

ICRC delegates are based in Baghdad, Najaf, Basra, Erbil, Suleymanieh and

Dohuk, and regular visits are made to offices in Khanaqin and Ramadi. 16 In 2008,

Iraq was the ICRC's third-largest operation in the world, preceded only by Sudan

and Somalia, representing an expenditure ofUS$88.5 million. The budget remains

about the same for 2009. 17 More than 530 staff are based in Iraq and in Amman,

Jordan, 91 of whom are expatriates. 18 In the current context, priority is given to

protection activities, with aparticular focus on persons detained19 or interned20 by

the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) in Iraq and by the Iraqi authorities.

In 2008, ICRC delegates carried out

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