- 5 months ago
Binigyang-diin ni International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric ang mga tungkulin ng kanilang organisasyon pagdating sa pagpapalaganap ng kapayapaan sa gitna ng mga pandaigdigang tensyon at kaguluhang nagaganap sa kasalukuyan.
Ipinaalam din niya ang kahalagahan ng international humanitarian law (IHL) sa kanyang pagsaalang-alang ng mga pagdurusang pwedeng maagapan ng mga estado sa gitna ng kanilang military pursuits.
Panoorin ang FULL EXCLUSIVE interview ni GMA Integrated News Senior News Producer Raffy Tima kay ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric sa video na ito.
Note: This interview was recorded on August 20, 2025.
Ipinaalam din niya ang kahalagahan ng international humanitarian law (IHL) sa kanyang pagsaalang-alang ng mga pagdurusang pwedeng maagapan ng mga estado sa gitna ng kanilang military pursuits.
Panoorin ang FULL EXCLUSIVE interview ni GMA Integrated News Senior News Producer Raffy Tima kay ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric sa video na ito.
Note: This interview was recorded on August 20, 2025.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Madam President, thank you for accommodating us. Let me start by asking you, how was your
00:06meeting with President Bongbong-Marcos? We had a very good meeting, a very informed
00:13discussion, not only about the situation in the Philippines but across the globe. There
00:20are many situations of armed conflict that we are involved in and where we try to deliver
00:27humanitarian assistance. Why is it critical for states to prioritize IHL in
00:35today's global context, especially with conflicts in in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan?
00:41The ICSC was founded more than 160 years ago based on the reality in situations of war.
00:52International humanitarian law doesn't prevent war but it prevents senseless suffering. It's designed
01:01to protect civilians and those who don't take part in combat. They shouldn't be abused, killed, maimed,
01:09instrumentalized in the pursuit of military objectives. Now unfortunately these things happen
01:15but there are also containments possible. We see that international humanitarian law, what is written
01:24in the Geneva Conventions is regularly also respected because we've regularly succeed in repatriating
01:32civilians, wounded soldiers, we visit detainees, we work with governments to provide safe passage not only
01:40for repatriations but also for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The problem is it's not
01:47happening consistently and states are not always complying. So this is a constant task for the ICSC to work
01:55with governments and all those who have an influence on the situation of war to make us able to provide
02:01assistance.
02:02What are the problems that you're encountering? Why is the compliance not consistent?
02:07It's particularly important today and in our time because we have seen an increase over the last
02:14decades in the number of armed conflicts but not only in the number of armed conflicts but also in the
02:20intensity with which these conflicts are being fought. This is supported on one hand by new technologies
02:28that amplify the force of weapons and their destructive force on civilian populations. You see high numbers of
02:35displacement in the Horn of Africa. You see the situation in Gaza.
02:42But there's another element that is very concerning for me as the president of the International Committee
02:49of the Red Cross and that is the dismissiveness with which international humanitarian law is being treated.
02:57Is the observation correct that it is the more powerful states that are violating the IHL?
03:03Yeah. It can be that more violent states or more powerful states commit more violations because
03:12they have the means. It's a possibility. But what is true first and foremost is that powerful states,
03:21regional and global powers, have more influence on parties to a conflict. And we ask them to exercise
03:30this influence in a manner it makes the parties return to the table and negotiate a political solution.
03:37Because a political solution is always the better one in comparison to a military approach.
03:44With harmful information and disinformation impacting humanitarian work,
03:48what strategies is the IHCRC employing to counter these challenges and maintain trust in your mission?
03:55And can you feel the effect of disinformation in today's world?
03:58The effect of disinformation cannot be underestimated or overestimated. It's such a powerful tool nowadays.
04:08It harms us as humanitarians. We are the subject of intense hate campaigns because we are neutral,
04:14because we are confidential and because it's easy to instrumentalize us with fake rumors.
04:23We see the impact of it. We receive threats. We are impeded in our movements. We are aggressed.
04:32Our delegates are really under a lot of strain because of it. But it also leads to, you know,
04:40to the prevention of humanitarian assistance because it's misunderstood. It also harms the,
04:49how do you say, the security and the safety of civilians that are already under a lot of strain.
04:54They don't know which source of information to trust. They don't know what is true, what is false.
05:00They don't know where to go to be safe. And the IHCRC has been working on it for many, many years.
05:05We have issued recommendations and we continue to do so for states, for the private sector,
05:11for academic institutions, for militaries, for national governments, measures that they
05:19can implement in order to mitigate the harm of misinformation.
05:23You recently said the promise made by countries through the Geneva Convention that even in war,
05:30there should be limits, is under serious threat. Can you expand on that?
05:35That's precisely the point. What we see is, and what we hear, is politicians using very dangerous
05:45language. Language. Language that dehumanizes the other side. And we, we should remember what happened
05:54in the Second World War. We should remember that we don't want to go back there. We should remember
05:59that we should never say that this specific people should be annihilated, expelled. We should never
06:08say things like this territory should be annihilated, destroyed so that the people can never return.
06:15Humanitarian space is shrinking due to challenges like funding and to some extent politicization of
06:21aid. What steps can governments take to protect and expand this space?
06:27Through their political means, their diplomatic relations with states, through their economic
06:34relations with states, but also through their military cooperation with states.
06:39What helps us, the humanitarian neutral intermediary on the ground to protect civilians and to bring
06:46assistance to them is when states call their allies that are involved in military operations and tell them
06:52to respect the rules so that we can act. To restrain the force when it comes to protecting civilians
07:00and civilian infrastructure. And the most important elements here are to protect hospitals,
07:07to protect water facilities and to protect energy distribution facilities or installations because
07:17you can have a hospital only if you have access to water and if you have access to electricity.
07:22and you can only provide food if there's water and if you have energy to reach the people.
07:29You recently visited Thailand and last year Myanmar. Can you tell us about those visits and how have these
07:36tensions between Thailand and Cambodia highlighted the importance of IHL in regional stability?
07:43We've been in Myanmar, we've been at the border between Cambodia and Thailand
07:50for a long time and we have a trusted dialogue with the authorities. So when conflicts erupt,
07:57we immediately offer to support the relevant entities including the national societies to help
08:04de-escalate the situation. These dialogues are confidential but I can say that they had very constructive
08:11conversations both in Myanmar with the neighbouring countries included in Bangkok that I visited earlier this week and these conversations will continue by myself, by my colleagues, by our delegations on the ground.
08:26In your assessment and your view, how is the Philippines doing in upholding the international humanitarian law?
08:36The Philippines are leading in many aspects in their cooperation with the ICSC.
08:41We have a very institutionalized, regular and constructive dialogue with the armed forces.
08:51We work with the foreign ministry, we work with local authorities. You have become a strong advocate for
08:59compliance with international humanitarian law in multilateral fora and this is very important for us.
09:05In the Philippines, where peace efforts like those in the BARM and with groups like the CPPA, NPA, NDF are prioritized, how can respecting IHL pave the way for a more sustainable peace?
09:19We speak with governments. Governments are the state parties to the Geneva Conventions and that's where our mandate is anchored.
09:27But we also uphold a humanitarian dialogue with approximately 250 armed groups.
09:40They are not state parties to the conventions but they have legal obligations through customary law
09:47to uphold the same rules and principles. And when we train forces, we also train armed groups. We reach out to them in a similar way
09:57and discuss with them how to uphold the rules of war. The dialogue in itself is de-escalating. Once people realize what the impact is
10:10of military operations on the civilian population, it can create measures or it can lead to measures of restraint.
10:21Similarly, conversations about the first steps towards the ceasefire can build confidence between the parties to return to the negotiation table.
10:31I give you very concrete examples. We visit detainees in border regions where there is conflict.
10:37We help with repatriations. Recently, we have conducted a large, very large operation between Russia and Ukraine.
10:45We repatriated detainees in Yemen in agreement with all the parties. We helped and supported the release of 148 hostages from Gaza,
10:551,700 Palestinian detainees.
11:00We work with both sides to a conflict or with all sides whenever necessary as we do currently between
11:07the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the different parties involved to establish mechanisms to repatriate
11:22disarmed servicemen, civilians, as a first step towards a more stable agreement.
11:30You are set to visit Marawi. There are still over 300 missing individuals from that conflict. How important
11:37is that this issue be resolved and addressed? And how is IACRC helping in this issue?
11:44I will visit Marawi for the first time and I'm preparing for this visit
11:51also because I want to understand the situation on the ground. There are several hundred missing
11:57people that we still need to identify, find, so that the families can mourn or bury their relatives and
12:06loved ones in dignity. The conflict erupts quickly. Destruction, displacement, killing happens quickly.
12:14But the trauma it creates lasts for generations and the society never fully returns to normalcy.
12:21You have to take this seriously because it's decisive in whether a region finds back to functioning
12:30economies and to lasting peace and stability. Is there any danger of conflicts occurring again if these
12:39issues are not resolved? Trauma, reconciliation, dealing with the past are essentials in bringing peace to
12:48a region. If you become dismissive about it, if you neglect the human suffering and the long-term consequences
12:57that it creates, you always increase the risk of recurring conflicts and reigniting tensions.
13:06Conflict happens. International humanitarian law doesn't prevent conflict, but we want to limit the harm
13:13so that the return to peace is more possible and faster. The more violence happens, the more atrocities
13:25happen, the longer it takes. Again, I'm referring to the second world war. We're still dealing with the past as far as
13:35the world wars are concerned. You see how long it takes. This is why you have to limit the harm. You have to limit
13:41the endless suffering because it haunts you and it haunts every country that watches it without trying
13:49to contain it. And this is why I'm calling on states to make the rules of war their political priority.
13:59Thank you very much, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you.
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