Minsk City Executive Committee

16 September 2009 → Minsk to mark 60th anniversary of Geneva conventions

The international sci-tech conference “60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions: affirmation of adherence to the fundamental principles of IHL and their development” will take place in Minsk on 16 September, BelTA learnt from Irina Karanchuk, PR manager of the Belarusian Red Cross (BRC).

The conference has been organized by the Justice Ministry of Belarus under the auspices of the Commission for the International Humanitarian Law under the Council of Ministers and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The forum will be held in the International Institute of Labor and Social Relations.

The conference will mark the 60th anniversary of signing the Geneva Conventions to protect the victims of the 1949 war. The Geneva conventions lie at the core of the international humanitarian law that regulates the conduct of armed conflict and seeks to limit its effects. They specifically protect people who are not taking part in the hostilities and those who are no longer participating in the hostilities. All states take part in the Geneva conventions.

Belarus is the most active among the CIS countries in implementing the norms of the international humanitarian law at the national level.

The conference plans to consider a whole range of issues related to the international humanitarian law. Attending the forum will be governmental bodies, scientific circles of Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine, members of the Commission for the International Humanitarian Law, representatives of the Belarusian Red Cross.

The International Committee of the Red Cross will be presented at the conference by head of the ICRC regional delegation to the Russian Federation, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Francois Bellon who is currently in Belarus on an official visit.

The final declaration is expected to be signed after the conference.

News provided by Agency 'BelTA'

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