Newsletter - July 2010
International Humanitarian Law
 From
June 30 to July 2, the Department of International
Law participated in the International Conference of
National Commissions on International Law in Mexico
City. This event was organized by the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the
department made a presentation on the application of
international humanitarian law and the role of the
Organization of American States. In it, the
department spoke about the standards and principles
that have been recognized by the General Assembly in
the area of IHL, the role of the national
commissions on international humanitarian law, the
policy commitments that member states have assumed
on the subjects of criminal punishment for war
crimes and the implementation of arms treaties, and
the cooperative relationship between the ICRC and
the OAS General Secretariat, especially through its
Department of International Law. To this effect, it
should be recalled that the OAS signed a cooperation
agreement with the ICRC in May 1996, and a
supplementary memorandum of understanding in April
2003. Under these agreements, the Department of
International Law has been carrying out a series of
activities jointly with the ICRC for the promotion
and dissemination of IHL in the OAS. These
activities were also noted at the Mexico City
conference. The document on the meeting’s
conclusions and recommendations called for studying
the desirability of establishing mechanisms to
promote the participation of national commissions on
international humanitarian law in OAS activities and
to strengthen relations between these commissions
and the OAS General Secretariat, especially the
Department of International Law, for the
dissemination of the commissions’ activities and
contributions and for other purposes.
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