Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions with members of the UN Security Council. A former child soldier and current Foreign Minister gave an impressive report on the benefits of international law.
International humanitarian law is being “ignored, relativized and sometimes even instrumentalized,” said Foreign Minister Cassis on Monday in Geneva.
Salvatore DiNolfi / Keystone
On one side of the street there is a statue of the pacifist icon Mahatma Gandhi, on the other Russia’s heavily guarded representation at the United Nations: in international law, the gap between expectations and reality is sometimes wide, as this curious neighborhood at the UN headquarters in Geneva makes clear. Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis also emphasized this on Monday at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.
At the invitation of Switzerland, representatives of the member states of the UN Security Council met in New York for two days in Geneva. At a panel discussion, Cassis referred to the “more than 120 armed conflicts” currently taking place around the world, to the wars in Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and the Middle East. International humanitarian law is being put to a severe test, said the head of the Foreign Ministry. It is being “ignored, relativized and sometimes even instrumentalized.”
Where is the line between popular uprising and terrorism?
According to Cassis, one difficulty for international humanitarian law is that wars are increasingly being fought by non-state actors who are not bound by international law. The Federal Council cited mercenaries from private companies as well as “terrorism and counter-terrorism” as examples. Where, for example, is the line drawn between a popular uprising and terrorism?
The four Geneva Conventions in their current form were adopted on August 12, 1949. They oblige warring states, among other things, to protect the wounded and medical personnel, prisoners of war and civilians. Three additional protocols since 1977 have clarified these rules and prohibit, for example, methods of warfare that cause “unnecessary suffering.” A precursor to the conventions was signed by twelve states in Geneva in 1864, also on the initiative of the Federal Council and the later International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Swiss delegation signed the four Geneva Conventions on 12 August 1949 in the Palais des Nations.
Photopress / Keystone
A prominent absentee on Sunday and Monday in Geneva was Russia, which has been waging full-scale war against Ukraine since 2022. The country was the only member of the UN Security Council not to accept the invitation from Switzerland, which is a non-permanent member of the Council until the end of the year. Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said at a press conference in New York last week: “To be honest, we don’t know what we can do in Geneva – it would be a waste of money, resources and time.”
When asked about this, Federal Councillor Cassis pointed out on Monday that this was not a meeting of the UN Security Council, but a meeting of its members to “reflect together on international humanitarian law”. Each member had to decide for themselves whether to attend or not.
Palestine protesters accuse Cassis
Statements by the Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, which is chairing the UN Security Council this month as a non-permanent member, clearly illustrate how effective international law can be despite all adversities. Timothy Kabba says he was drafted as a fighter as a child during the civil war in his country. He also owes the fact that he can be in Geneva today to the Geneva Conventions, said Kabba, who referred to the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, which was set up in 2002 at the end of the civil war.
In the afternoon, the Foreign Ministry held a small ceremony on the Place des Nations in Geneva, in front of the famous giant sculpture of a wooden chair and the flags of the UN member states. Cassis, Kabba and representatives of NGOs and the administration set up overturned chairs that formed the words “War has limits”. Meanwhile, around 30 demonstrators with Palestinian flags chanted “Free Palestine” and “Cassis – accomplice”, some of them loudly.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators accused Switzerland and Federal Councillor Cassis of being complicit in the suffering of the people of Gaza in the war between Hamas and Israel.
Salvatore DiNolfi / Keystone