6. 50thanniversaryoftheGenevaConventions
B5-0233,0234and0235/2000
EuropeanParliament resolution onsupportforthe GenevaConventions of12August 1949and
internationalhumanitarianlaw
The European Parliament,
‘dash having regard to its resolution of 14 April 1989(1) on international humanitarian law and support for
the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
‘dash having regard to the statement the Presidency made last year on behalf of the European Union on the
occasion of the 50th anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions, which seek to limit human suffer-
ing in times of armed conflict and to avert atrocities,
A. whereas the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, together with the Additional Protocols of 1977, form
the basis for international humanitarian law applicable in time of armed conflict, whether interna-
tional or internal,
B. whereas these humanitarian law conventions are today more topical than ever, and their enforcement
calls for constant work and attention,
C. whereas each of the 15 European Union Member States, in ratifying these Conventions, has under-
taken to ‘respect and ensure respect for’ international humanitarian law,
D. whereas humanitarian values as defined in the four 1949 Conventions should guide the action of the
European Union in situations covered by the 1949 Geneva Conventions,
E. having regard to the mandate conferred by the 1949 Conventions on the International Committee of
the Red Cross and to its role as a neutral and impartial international body in promoting and safe-
guarding international humanitarian law,
1. Calls on the Member States to promote the values enshrined in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and
the Additional Protocols of 1977, as well as awareness of international humanitarian law on the part of
civil society and, in particular, the institutions and agents responsible for its direct application, especially
members of the armed forces and security forces;
2. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support education programmes and specific infor-
mation and action campaigns seeking to promote the elementary principles of international humanitarian
law contained in the four Geneva Conventions;
3. Calls on the Member States to adopt and improve national measures to enforce international huma-
nitarian law;
4. Urges the Council to bear in mind the standards and principles of international humanitarian law,
most of all in the decisions it takes and in activities relating to the CFSP;
5. Calls on all countries which have not yet done so to ratify the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, their
two 1977 Additional Protocols and the other treaties of international humanitarian law, particularly the
Ottawa Convention prohibiting anti-personnel mines and the statute of the International Criminal Court;
6. Calls on the Council and Commission to ensure that cooperation with third countries operates on
the basis of respect for the four Geneva Conventions, the Ottawa Convention and the statute of the Inter-
national Criminal Court;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Secretary-
General of the United Nations.
(1) OJ C 120, 16.5.1989, p. 342.29.12.2000 EN C 377/335 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday16March2000