Detention / Detainees

This theme explores legal, humanitarian, and operational aspects of detention in armed conflicts, focusing on the treatment of detainees, compliance with international humanitarian law, and safeguarding human dignity in detention settings.

Detaining by algorithm

March 25, 2019 11 mins read Artificial Intelligence and Armed Conflict / Detention / Law and Conflict / New Technologies Ashley Deeks

Editor’s note: As part of this AI blog series, several posts focus on detention and the ...

Expert views on the frontiers of artificial intelligence and conflict

March 19, 2019 16 mins read Artificial Intelligence and Armed Conflict / Autonomous Weapons / Conduct of Hostilities / Law and Conflict / New Technologies / The most read blog posts in 2019 Sasha Radin

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have the potential to affect many aspects of our lives ...

Joint Blog Series: Better safe than sorry: Transferring detainees safely to Coalition Partners

January 20, 2019 3 mins read Detention / Joint Blog Series / Law and Conflict / Migration / Torture Tilman Rodenhäuser

Over the weekend, the third post in our Joint Series was published by Lawfare—Better safe than sorry: Transferring ...

5 operational realities of detention in contemporary armed conflict

November 30, 2018 12 mins read Counterterrorism / Detention / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Terrorism and IHL Laurent Saugy & Tilman Rodenhäuser

Hidden behind thick walls and barbed wire, detention realities are generally little known to the ...

Administration of justice by armed groups: Some legal and practical concerns

November 22, 2018 13 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Detention / Law and Conflict / Religion Ezequiel Heffes

Geneva Call recently issued a report on challenges faced by armed non-State actors (ANSAs) in ...

Detention and armed conflicts: Exploring realities and remedies

September 10, 2018 9 mins read Detention / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Sexual Violence Helen Durham

The honour of delivering one of the opening speeches at the Sanremo Roundtable on the ...

Essay Competition: Sanremo New Voices in IHL

April 16, 2018 3 mins read Call for papers / Detention / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / The most read blog posts in 2018

On the occasion of the 41st Round Table on Current Issues of International Humanitarian Law ...

The principle of non-refoulement in the migration context: 5 key points

March 30, 2018 10 mins read Detention / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Migration / The most read blog posts in 2018 / Torture Tilman Rodenhäuser

The current discussions on the Global Compact for Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees ...

The 1918 Bern Agreements: repatriating prisoners in a total war

March 29, 2018 10 mins read Detention / Humanitarian Action Cédric Cotter

100 years ago, under the auspices of the ICRC and the Swiss Confederation, the French and German governments signed the Bern Agreements. A ...

Just out! New Review issue on human cost of detention

February 12, 2018 9 mins read Detention / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Ellen Policinski & Vincent Bernard

The latest edition of International Review of the Red Cross has been released—Detention: Addressing the human cost. This edition of the International Review ...

Introducing the second multi-blog series on the updated Geneva Conventions Commentaries

February 21, 2017 2 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / ICRC Commentaries / Law and Conflict The editors

In order to bring to light the significance of the updated Commentary on the First Geneva ...

Torture: Primer on a wrong and illegal practice

January 27, 2017 5 mins read Law and Conflict / Primers / Torture Ellen Policinski

The ICRC’s position on torture is clear: torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, degrading or humiliating treatment are banned under international law. ...