Volume 91 Number 876 December 2009 Humanitarian debate: Law, policy, action International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent CONTENTS 661 Editorial International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent 663 Interview with Masood Khan Pakistan’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Articles 675 The International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent: challenges, key issues and achievements Franc¸ois Bugnion 713 The importance of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to National Societies: fundamental in theory and in practice Michael Meyer 733 Participation of States in the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and assemblies of other international organizations Deborah Casalin and Christopher Lamb 759 The emblem that cried wolf: ICRC study on the use of the emblems Baptiste Rolle and Edith Lafontaine Selected articles on international humanitarian law 779 Humanitarians and their moral stance in war: the underlying values Eva Wortel 803 Military intervention for humanitarian purposes: does the Responsibility to Protect doctrine advance the legality of the use of force for humanitarian ends? Eve Massingham 658 Volume 91 Number 876 December 2009 Articles published by the Review reflect the views of the author alone and not necessarily those of the ICRC or of the Review. Only texts bearing an ICRC signature may be ascribed to the institution. 833 What does ‘intent to destroy’ in genocide mean? Kai Ambos Reports and documents 859 Expert meeting on procedural safeguards for security detention in non-international armed conflict. Chatham House and International Committee of the Red Cross, London, 22–23 September 2008 883 Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Nairobi, Kenya, 23–25 November 2009 Resolutions Books and articles 941 Recent acquisitions of the Library and Research Service, ICRC 659 Volume 91 Number 876 December 2009 EDITORIAL Ever since it was first held in 1867, the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has been a unique forum for discussing issues of humanitarian concerns with the Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and the states. The thirty Conferences held in more than 140 years bear witness to the birth and development of the law of war and the history of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Humanitarian challenges, humanitarian norms, and the relations between governments and the Red Cross and Red Crescent form the backbone of the International Conference. Many issues arising at the Conference are dealt with in other international fora, but the specific Red Cross and Red Crescent angle and the added value justify addressing similar issues such as environment and migration. The orientation towards victims – and what each issue means for them – remains hereby the deciding parameter. By reaffirming the responsibility of all states to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, the Conference regularly explores new challenges and trends as observed in contemporary armed conflicts. The ICRC’s mandate and the whole Red Cross and Red Crescent history are indeed inextricably linked to the origins and development of international humanitarian law, and the challenges to it are of essential importance for the International Conference. The predominant preoccupation is certainly to ensure access to and protection and assistance for victims of armed conflicts and other situations of violence. Constraints in a changing conflictual environment increase the difficulty in gaining such access – hence, the importance of acceptance and understanding by all belli- gerents of the rules on international humanitarian law and of the respect due to humanitarian action, in particular when undertaken under the protection of the red cross, red crescent, and red crystal. *** The Conference brings together, at equal level, the 194 states parties to the Geneva Conventions, the International Committee, the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (currently numbering 186), and their International Federation. In this four-yearly Conference, more than 2000 delegates, including a great number of observers, gather for five days to debate and share views and experiences, both formally and informally. The participation of nearly all states in the International Conference testifies to the recognition of the Red Cross and Red Crescent specificity as a universal and privileged humanitarian actor, distinct from the doi:10.1017/S1816383110000196 661 Editorial UN system. It underlines the partnership between the components of the Movement and governments, in particular the auxiliary role of National Societies to their public authorities in the humanitarian field. Together with the Movement – their main partner in protecting and assisting the victims of armed conflicts and natural or technological disasters – states seek to increase the effec- tiveness of international emergency response and to build local capacity to address the most vulnerable members of their own society. Politically loaded discussions about the participation of states, National Societies, and/or observers have sometimes overshadowed the content of the Conference and even led, in 1991, to its cancellation, when the participation of Palestine could not be solved beforehand. Usually, however, the Red Cross and Red Crescent character and careful preparation have succeeded in avoiding a politicization of the Movement. The Conference is part of a complicated and lengthy process, which starts with the elaboration of the agenda, followed by the drafting of the reports and a broad consultation process, and finishing with the implementation of the decisions after the Conference. This preparatory and follow- up process facilitates an ongoing dialogue between the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the states on humanitarian issues. Plenary sessions and commissions are the main formal forum for partici- pants to debate and discuss the items on the agenda and form the basis of the most important Conference ‘outcomes’. Often, however, the decision-oriented drafting committee is the most salient part of the Conference: the dry language of the resolutions is but a partial reflection of the process of decision-making that largely shapes the future orientation of humanitarian law and humanitarian action in the long term. Toni Pfanner Editor-in-Chief 662 Volume 91 Number 876 December 2009 Interview with Masood Khan* Masood Khan has been Pakistan’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China since September 2008. From March 2005 to September 2008, Ambassador Khan served as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva. As an official of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has served in Islamabad and abroad for thirty years. In 2009, he was promoted to the highest rank – that of Federal Secretary – in Pakistan’s civil service. Earlier, among other functions, he worked as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Director- General for the United Nations and for Disarmament, and as its spokesman. Over the years, he has acquired expertise in multilateral diplomacy, security and disarmament issues, human rights, humanitarian diplomacy, and social development. He has also specialized in international conferences, having held several leadership positions, such as President of the Conference on Disarmament, President of the 6th Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, Coordinator of the Group of the Organisation of Islamic States in Geneva, Chairman of the International Organization for Migration Council, Chairman of the International Labour Conference Reform Committee, and Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. You have been involved in many international conferences. How do you situate the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent? It’s a unique process. Of course, I have chaired many other conferences, but the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is different because it brings together roughly three sets of stakeholders and constituents: the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; the international components of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement;1 and states. What you see here is an interface. The Movement’s influence multiplies because of the 100 million * The interview was conducted on 27 January 2010 by Toni Pfanner, Editor-in-Chief of the International Review of the Red Cross. doi:10.1017/S1816383110000160 663 Interview with Masood Khan volunteers in the vast network of National Societies which work directly with populations. Could it be categorized more as a state-oriented conference, or rather as a conference with greater importance for the non-state participants? The International Conferences are important for states and the National Societies. When I chaired the Drafting Committee in 2007, there was a prior consultation with National Societies. One of the delegates from the National Societies stood up and said, ‘Yes, we are going into the International Conference, but it will be dominated by the member states, and National Societies will not have an adequate voice.’ And I replied, ‘We will make sure – and you should make sure – that National Societies’ points of view are heard loudly and clearly’, and that’s precisely what happened. I would say that, here, National Societies have an edge because they are interacting and working directly