CGTN Europe interviewed Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The International Committee of the Red Cross has been facilitating the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
00:07Earlier this week, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, my colleague Lijan Hua spoke to the president of the ICRC, Moyanus Bulyaric.
00:15We see now in Gaza what we see in Syria is how important compliance with international humanitarian law is with the Geneva Conventions
00:24because the destruction, the human suffering are all linked to either a permissive interpretation of international humanitarian law
00:33or even a violation of IHL.
00:36And so we need to learn the lessons very quickly, turn the page and hopefully find some stability now with this recent agreement
00:46to alleviate the suffering and the suffering on both sides has been atrocious over more than a year.
00:52And in Syria for more than 13 years.
00:55The ICRC has facilitated the release and transfer of three hostages from Israel to Gaza and also 98 detainees.
01:05Some more families are still waiting anxiously for their loved ones to return home.
01:11What is the next step for the ICRC? Are we going to see more hostages and detainees released anytime soon?
01:18It is clear to everyone that this remains a very fragile agreement, but it is of utmost importance that it holds,
01:27that we can continue facilitating these operations until all families have been reunited with their loved ones
01:35or have been able to bury them with dignity.
01:39So we continue working with both sides. We are already preparing if there are more release operations to be able to support them.
01:48This cooperation is a very close one, but of course I cannot reveal what is happening in the background
01:53because our conversations remain confidential.
01:56But we want this deal to continue and we are ready all the time to continue facilitating the implementation or to support its implementation.
02:05And do you think the international humanitarian law is being challenged at this point?
02:10And what do you think we should do to make sure that can be on top of the agenda of the international community?
02:17International humanitarian law has never been more challenged probably in the history.
02:22We are classifying currently more than 120 armed conflicts around the world.
02:27This trend cannot continue, so we need to reverse the tide.
02:32Together with six states, France, China, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Jordan and South Africa,
02:40we just a few months ago launched a global initiative for a better respect of international humanitarian law.
02:48Many states have already come forward joining the initiative and we hope for universal support
02:55in preparing for a meeting in 2026 that will help us galvanize political acknowledgement that IHL has to become a priority
03:05in order to prevent some of the fallouts that we have seen and the vast humanitarian consequences that come with it.