international humanitarian law

Geneva Conventions and Commentaries

Section of the International Committee of the Red Cross website devoted to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their protocols. The four Conventions are: Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field; Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea; Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War; and Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

ASIL Electronic Resource Guide: International Humanitarian Law

Online guide to international humanitarian law (IHL), written by Joan Policastri, Foreign and International Legal Research Specialist at the University of Denver, and Sergio Stone, Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian at Stanford Law School. The guide is part of ASIL's Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law. The authors provide an introduction to the basic materials and concepts of IHL and give links to sites providing primary sources, including treaties, customary law, judgments of international tribunals and domestic courts, and state practice.

Crisis in Darfur: researching the legal issues

Online guide to the legal issues surrounding the Darfur crisis written by Amy Burchfield who is Access and Faculty Services Librarian at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library in the United States. The guide was published in May 2009 (and updated in 2023) on the Globalex website and made freely available by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law. The guide provides background information to the civil conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan and highlights "key online and print resources discussing the legal aspects of the Darfur crisis".

International Humanitarian Law Databases

This part of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) website provides free access to the ICRC's International Humanitarian Law (IHL) databases. There is a treaty database which includes IHL treaties and related documents and lists the states that have signed and/or ratified or acceded to the treaties. It also contains the ICRC commentaries to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.

International Institute of Humanitarian Law

Website of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, an independent not-for-profit organisation based in Italy. The Institute's activities include research; the training of civil and military personnel on international humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law and migration law; and the organisation of conferences and meetings. The site has background information on the history and principles of international humanitarian law and the right to humanitarian assistance, along with materials from events hosted by the Institute.

Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project

The Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts (RULAC) Project is an initiative of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. The aim of the project is to "report on every State and disputed territory in the world, addressing both the legal norms that apply as well as the extent to which they are respected by the relevant actors." The website provides background information to international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international criminal law and international refugee law.

War Crimes Research Office

Website of the War Crimes Research Office (WCRO) at the American University Washington College of Law. The WCRO specialises in international criminal and humanitarian law providing expert assistance and conducting research for international courts and tribunals. The site has information on the following international courts: the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC); the International Criminal Court (ICC); the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Exploring Humanitarian Law

Exploring Humanitarian Law (EHL) is an online education programme designed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Education Development Center Inc. (EDC). EHL is a free resource providing learning and teaching materials aimed at the 13 to 18 age group. The materials are organised into modules covering topics such as the humanitarian perspective, limits in armed conflict, the law in action, dealing with violations and responding to the consequences of armed conflict.

Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Washington College of Law provides support and training for human rights students, practitioners and activists around the world. Its website has information about the Center's training programmes, outreach work, conferences and publications. Publications are also available, including the student-run periodical, Human Rights Brief, and there is a link to the Center's YouTube channel.

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