The Department of International Law
(Secretariat for Legal Affairs) of the OAS and a
member of the Inter-American Juridical
Committee were invited to participate
virtually in the regional meeting of
National International Humanitarian Law
Committees and other similar entities of the
Americas that was held virtually from 2
to 5 February 2021.
The “Regional Meeting of National International
Humanitarian Law Committees (NIHLC) and other
Similar Entities of the Americas”, was an event
co-organized by the National Commission for the
Application of International Humanitarian Law of
Ecuador (CONADIHE) (by its acronym in Spanish),
which is chaired by the Ecuadorian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, and the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Ecuador was the host country.
The meeting had the objective to promote the
implementation and respect of IHL in the
continent and to discuss the mechanisms and
processes to reach the said goal. It provided a
space for exchanges on the role and work of the
NIHLC and other similar entities, their future
role and the modalities of cooperation among
them and the ICRC. Furthermore, it was an
important opportunity to deepen the
understanding on important issues such as the
difference between non-international armed
conflicts and other situations of violence,
sexual violence and gender violence as well as
IHL and cyber operations. The Regional
Conference of NIHLC and other similar entities
was also a space to follow up of the commitments
made during the XXXIII International Conference
of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Dr. Mariana Salazar Albornoz, Member of the
Inter-American Juridical Committee and
rapporteur on the application of international
law to cyberspace, gave a presentation on the: “Exchange
on IHL and cyber operations during armed
conflicts as a new challenge to IHL”. In
her presentation explained that it is a new
topic and mentioned the importance of
strengthening the capacities of the OAS Member
States on this regard. She concluded by
recalling that the OAS has sent a questionnaire
on this topic to all OAS Member States and that
9 countries have responded so far. In this sense
encouraged the participants to contribute, to
the extent of their possibilities, with the
responses to said questionnaire.
»
You will find the Meeting schedule from the
following
link.
»
You will find the resolution approved during the
Meeting from the following
link.
»
Additional information on recent developments in
the Committee's work can be seen
on
this link.