Irene Horejs in conversation with Claude Maon, Knut Dörmann, Günther Barnet and Shoura Zehetner-Hashemi

HUMANITARIANS UNDER ATTACK
Does the “Zeitenwende” threaten International Humanitarian Law and humanitarian action?

Since WWI and WWII, the international community has established a series of legal and institutional instruments to reduce the horrors of war and put efforts of prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts in the centre of multilateral policy. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols constitute the core of International humanitarian law (IHL) – the “ius in bello” – whose purpose is to protect the lives and dignity of civilians, civilian infrastructure, access to food, water, medicine and humanitarian support – to allow for UN aid agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent and humanitarian NGOs to alleviate the suffering of civilians in warfare.

After decades of Western leadership in strengthening the humanitarian system and in establishing mediation capacities and enforcement procedures of human rights by reinforcing international institutions (like the UN High Commission for Human Rights, the special UN rapporteurs, the International Criminal Court etc), the same Western nations suddenly seem to accept a world in which armament and war are again the means of first choice to deal with conflicts. Today´s wars in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine are marked by the ferocity of killing, blatant disregard for international humanitarian law and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid. And while humanitarian needs are multiplying, funding is being cut, not only by the US but also by EU member states. Today the humanitarian system is under-funded, overstretched and constantly under assault. Humanitarian workers face indiscriminate hostilities, deadly attacks and incessant obstruction of their work.

This event is the first one under the focus on “Humanity in der Zeitenwende”. We will discuss the implications of the permanent violations of IHL and the reduction of finance on humanitarian action and affected populations in current conflicts. What are the implications of EU double standards in the interpretation of IHL on future political developments, in particular in the context of rearmament policies in Europe? How to give humanity a stronger voice in this period of the “Zeitenwende”?

Knut Dörmann, former Head of the Delegation to the EU, NATO and the Kingdom of Belgium and former Chief Legal Officer and head of the ICRC’s Legal Division,

Claude Maon, Director of the International Legal Department at Médecins Sans Frontières, Brussels

Günther Barnet, Department for Regional Cooperation with Africa and the Middle East, Austrian Ministry of Defence

Shoura Zehetner-Hashemi,Lawyer, Executive Director Amnesty International Austria

Moderator:
Irene Horejs, Former Director of DG ECHO and former EU Ambassador to Peru, Mali and Niger