IPA CIS and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Vectors of cooperation

The IPA CIS and the ICRC’s first contact date back to as early as 1997. The Cooperation Agreement was signed on 16 April 2004 and became the founding block of the further engagement.

Stanislav Korostelev, Deputy Head of Analytical Department of the IPA CIS Council, Executive Secretary of the Joint Commission at the IPA CIS for the Harmonization of National Laws Related to Security, Countering Emerging Threats and Challenges, spoke on the record of cooperation of the two international organizations.

He mentioned that the ICRC facilitated the adoption of a number of model laws such as Use and Protection of the Emblems of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Protection of Civilians and Rights of Prisoners of War in Conflicts (revised version adopted in 2000); Missing Persons (2008); recommendations on the implementation of the Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (2012), Guidelines for the Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (2014); Recommendations on the implementation of international humanitarian law applicable during armed conflicts in national laws of Member Nations of the CIS, and, draft recommendations on protection medical personnel and healthcare facilities during armed conflicts and other violence, the most recent vehicle adopted on 16 April 2015.

Joint events hosted by the ICRC and the IPA CIS are also an important dimension of their cooperation. The organization of conferences on various humanitarian issues contributed to the promotion of humanitarian law across the CIS and facilitated exchange of best practices.