A self-evaluating state reporting system is a method for implementing international agreements. A self-evaluating state report provides information on the operation and implementation of a treaty regime. Self-evaluating means that a state monitors its own execution of an international agreement in its territory. The information may be submitted to an international institution with a supervisory role or to a technical secretariat.

The key tasks of a supervisory international organization are: collecting information and data, receiving reports on treaty implementation by States, facilitating independent monitoring and inspection, and acting as a forum for reviewing the performance of states or the negotiation of further measures and regulations. Such bodies may acquire law-enforcement and law-making functions.

This report describes the self-evaluating state reporting systems of the United Nations human rights conventions, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the disarmament treaties and the environment treaties.

There are several characteristics of determining importance for the functioning of a reporting system. In short, these are: the sensitivity of the subject of a treaty; the economic value of the subject; the specificity of the subject; the popularity of the subject in the media; secretarial support; the flexibility of the reporting procedure; a permanent body to which to report; the quality and efficient functioning of the supervisory body; follow-up; admission to an international instrument and the existence of a national monitoring body or procedure.

It should be noted that the allocation of sufficient human and financial resources will be essential to the effectiveness of a reporting system.

In this issue, the Review has chosen to feature the voices of hibakusha, those who survived the nuclear bombings in Japan.* These three hibakusha have shared their experiences with the hope that our readers will understand the horrors of nuclear weapons use. They have each suffered and witnessed the horrific suffering of others caused by nuclear weapons, and their families may continue to suffer medical problems for generations to come. Each calls for assurances that nuclear weapons will never be used again. These are their stories.

We are very pleased to publish this report by Mrs. Diallo on research into the correlations between the principles of international humanitarian law and the humanitarian principles underlying African traditions. In earlier issues of International Review, various authors have drawn attention to the fact that historically, in Islamic countries, in India and elsewhere in the Far East, in a variety of ethical doctrines and in many different types of civilization, thoughts have been expressed which compare with those of the Red Cross—leading to the conclusion that they arise from aspirations common to most of mankind. It is particularly appropriate therefore to disclose certain concordances between them and to discover, in all these different places, a unity of view and of teaching in ethical and social affairs.

It is not the purpose of this article to develop or settle the delicate problems arising from the Geneva Protocol of 17 June 1925 for the Prohibition of the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and of bacteriological methods of warfare; it merely outlines, on the occasion of the forty-fifth anniversary of the Protocol, the role of the Red Cross in the development of law and the work now being carried out by the main international organizations.

Violations of international humanitarian law are not a new phenomenon. Nor is the establishment of an international criminal court to counter such violations a new idea. The first project creating a link between violations of a humanitarian treaty — that is, the Geneva Convention of 1864 for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field — and penal sanction by a permanent international judicial body was drawn up by Gustave Moynier, one of the founders of the ICRC Like so many other projects, it did not materialize, however.

Rien n'est plus réconfortant à notre époque troublée et dans ce monde, où la paix a tant de peine à se rétablir, que de contempler l'activité de la Croix-Rouge et des institutions qui lui sont apparentées.

Loin de se reposer du travail épuisant fourni pendant la guerre, elles redoublent de zèle pour panser les blessures de tout ordre qui en sont la suite immédiate. Qu'il s'agisse des anciens pays belligérants ou des neutres, la plupart des Croix-Rouges sont en-gagées dans des entreprises diverses et fécondes; les régions dévastees et ruinées de l'Europe centrale et occidentale en sont le théâtre principal; mais, grâce aux efforts du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge, que vient puissamment encourager et soutenir la Société des Nations, l'action s'étend à travers la Russie et par delà les mers jusqu'aux frontières extrêmes de l'Orient pour y aller chercher les prisonniers de guerre survivants et les ramener dans leurs foyers.

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had shown just how difficult it was to ensure respect for international law during actual fighting. Mutual accusations of violations of the Geneva Convention, or more generally of the customary laws of war, showed that neither the scope of humanitarian law nor the dissemination of its principles had been sufficient to avert excesses by the combatants. The protection of medical services and of the wounded should remain independent of the conduct of hostilities. But violations of the law of war, whether real or imagined, inevitably undermine the implementation of the Convention. Public opinion (quickly aroused), the press (always keen on shoring up the spirit of resistance), and governments themselves never miss an opportunity to highlight or exaggerate criminal acts committed by the adversary and to make a blanket condemnation of all enemy combatants.

This paper examines whether the interpretation of Article 30 of Geneva Convention III that allows the use of solitary confinement for prisoners of war with psychosocial disabilities is still valid in light of the new standards of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It proposes two alternative interpretations of Article 30 to demonstrate why isolation based on disability is unlawful and concludes that the use of solitary confinement on prisoners of war with psychosocial disabilities should be prohibited.

Visiting an overcrowded prison is a journey into the private life of each person deprived of his or her freedom, into the community of the detainees and of the staff working in such a place. Using the senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch, combined with empathy and time for observation, helps ICRC delegates to explore vulnerabilities, discover how detainees and staff cope, and grasp the intricate complexity of such a prison system. Beyond what is left of human dignity in these places of detention, when coping mechanisms become survival mechanisms, the suffering shows that overcrowding is wrong. It follows that if overcrowding is “nobody's fault”, it is the responsibility of every individual and every institution of the criminal justice system to create solutions.

The current situation in Iraq could be described as a “war on civilians”, for it mainly affects the livelihood and well-being of the civilian population, while serious security problems prevent the Iraqi people from leading a normal life. Going beyond the direct victims of the conflict, this article deals with the daily problems faced by Iraqi society, namely the lack of security in terms of housing, education and health care, as well as protection for the more vulnerable such as women and children. The forcible eviction of many Iraqis is, however, the main problem threatening the basic cohesion of Iraqi society.

In July 1621 several regiments of the Swedish army were assembled at Årsta Meadow south of Stockholm awaiting transport by ship to the Baltic, where they were to fight the Russian forces which had invaded the provinces in early summer. It was on this occasion that they heard for the first time the new Articles of War read to them by chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. The text had been drafted by King Gustavus himself and revised by Oxenstierna the preceding spring, and the final decree had been signed by the King at camp on 15 July.

Since the First Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864, international humanitarian law (IHL) has become a complex and steadily developing body of international law. Its conventions, protocols and customary rules encompass a large range of subjects, from the protection of the sick and wounded, civilians, civilian objects, prisoners of war and cultural property to the restriction or prohibition of specific types of weapons and methods of warfare. All parties to a conflict are bound by applicable IHL, including armed groups involved in non-international armed conflicts.

A certain State-recognized civilian hospital employed two kinds of doctors who appeared on its staff lists: full-time doctors, and part-time doctors used to reinforce its medical team during an armed conflict with a neighbouring country. Some weeks later the country was occupied by the enemy. Two part-time doctors on their way home in a private car marked with a red cross for protective purposes were stopped by a police patrol, which seized the car and confiscated the doctors' identifying armlets. This was done on the grounds that improper use was being made of the Red Cross emblem as a protective device, contrary to Articles 24, 25, 26 and 44 of the First Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field, and Articles 20 and 21 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war.

Both in its advisory and contentious jurisdiction, the International Court of Justice has made considerable contributions to the evolution and interpretation of international humanitarian law (IHL). The judgments and advisory opinions of the Court in various cases have also developed the regulation of armed conflicts by showing the interplay of other bodies of international law and have shaped the development of non-binding IHL norms. The purpose of this short article is to consider the role of the International Court of Justice in the development of IHL.