ROLE OF HENRY DUNANT IN

DEVELOPMENT OF
INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW
 INTRODUCTION

International Humanitarian Law (IHL), is an international law which governs the war and
protect the people during the war. Its objective is to protect people who are affected or may
get affected due to arm conflict and solve humanitarian problems that arise because of such
armed conflict. IHL, have its origin back during 1859, and it was a vision of one man who
experienced the trauma of sick and wounded people on the battlefield and decided to make
laws to protect those wounded and sick during the armed conflict and brought a revolutionary
change. Henry Dunant was a person behind the origin and development of IHL, he was born
in Geneva on 8th may 1828, and was a swiss businessman and was involved in charity work
in Switzerland. During the battle of solferino in year 1859, he was shocked and disturbed by
witnessing how the victim of the armed conflict are being neglected on the battlefield.
Horrified by the act, his vision to provide protection and peace in the world, led to the
creation of Red Cross and Red crescent Movement which aims to protect and assist the
victim from armed conflict, it still holds significant now, as their work have become very
wide and they not only help the people who gets affected from war but also helps people
facing disaster, health and social problem as well. He also organized various diplomatic
conferences and proposal, which led to the adoption of the first Geneva convention in year
1864 which gradually led to International Humanitarian law (IHL) also known as “Laws of
war”.

HISTORY OF IHL

Origin of International humanitarian law (IHL), is however from the creation of the Red
Cross in 1863, but the origin of IHL can be traced back several millennia before our era. It
can be seen in many ancient texts like Mahabharat, the Bible and the Quran, where the rules
regarding the war and respect for the enemy is mentioned. Also, in medieval Europe, knights
were told to follow rules of war, which was a code of honour respecting the weak people,
who were unable to protect and defend themselves.

Liber code, is an example of the codification of such laws of war, enforced during the
American civil war, but Battle of Solferino is considered to be the moment in history which
gave rise to humanitarian law.
ROLE OF HENRY DUNANT TOWARD DEVELOPMENT OF IHL

The conception
of IHL can be
traced to the
Battle of
Solferino, a
terrible
conflict between
French and
Austrian forces
that took place
in northern
Italy in 1859.
 One witness of

that carnage, a
businessman
from Geneva
named Henry
Dunant, was
appalled not so
much by the
violence of that
battle, but
rather by the
desperate and
miserable
situation of the
wounded left on
the battlefields.
 With the help

of the local
inhabitants,
Dunant
immediately
decided to
collect and care
for the
wounded.
Back in
Geneva, Dunant
published a
short book in
1862, A
Memory of
Solferino, in
which he vividly
depicted the
horrors of the
battle:
 “ When the

sun came up on
the twenty-fifth
June 1859 it
disclosed the
most dreadful
sights
imaginable.
Bodies of men
and horses
covered the
battlefield:
corpses were
strewn over
roads, ditches,
ravines, thickets
and fields
The conception
of IHL can be
traced to the
Battle of
Solferino, a
terrible
conflict between
French and
Austrian forces
that took place
in northern
Italy in 1859.
 One witness of

that carnage, a
businessman
from Geneva
named Henry
Dunant, was
appalled not so
much by the
violence of that
battle, but
rather by the
desperate and
miserable
situation of the
wounded left on
the battlefields.
 With the help

of the local
inhabitants,
Dunant
immediately
decided to
collect and care
for the
wounded.
 Back in

Geneva, Dunant
published a
short book in
1862, A
Memory of
Solferino, in
which he vividly
depicted the
horrors of the
battle:
 “ When the
sun came up on
the twenty-fifth
June 1859 it
disclosed the
most dreadful
sights
imaginable.
Bodies of men
and horses
covered the
battlefield:
corpses were
strewn over
roads, ditches,
ravines, thickets
and fields
The conception
of IHL can be
traced to the
Battle of
Solferino, a
terrible
conflict between
French and
Austrian forces
that took place
in northern
Italy in 1859.
 One witness of

that carnage, a
businessman
from Geneva
named Henry
Dunant, was
appalled not so
much by the
violence of that
battle, but
rather by the
desperate and
miserable
situation of the
wounded left on
the battlefields.
 With the help

of the local
inhabitants,
Dunant
immediately
decided to
collect and care
for the
wounded.
Back in
Geneva, Dunant
published a
short book in
1862, A
Memory of
Solferino, in
which he vividly
depicted the
horrors of the
battle:
 “ When the

sun came up on
the twenty-fifth
June 1859 it
disclosed the
most dreadful
sights
imaginable.
Bodies of men
and horses
covered the
battlefield:
corpses were
strewn over
roads, ditches,
ravines, thickets
and fields
Henry Dunant after witness such horrific condition of victim during the arm conflict, he
wrote a book known as “A Memory of Solferino” depicting all the horrific incidents of the
war which led to the creation of an organisation of trained volunteers who would help and
assist wounded people in the war, known as “International committee for relief to the
wounded,” which further led to establishment of the International committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC).

It was started as an establishment of Red Cross and Red crescent Movement in year 1863.
The sole objective was to give full protection and assistance to the victims of the arm
conflict. The strong will and Dunant’s proposal for national relief societies for helping and
providing medical help during arm conflict brought together government representative, who
agreed Dunant’s Proposal, and in year 1864 the first Geneva Convention was adopted. The
objective behind this treaty was to take care of the wounded soldiers by the armies
irrespective of the side they were on, and this was known as “Tutti fratelli”. This also led to
the adoption of the protective and unified emblem for the medical service i.e., the Red cross
and the Red crescent.

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, hennery Dunant introduced, wearing of a badge
which will help the volunteers recognising and identifying the dead, not only this but he
himself helped and comforted the wounded people in the war. Around 1875, because of
Henry Dunant’s initiatives an international congress for the complete and final abolition of
the traffic in negroes and the slave trade was opened in London.

For his extraordinary and immense constitution for not only establishing medical service for
the victims of armed conflict known as Red cross and Red crescent, but also establishing
peace in the world he was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize in Year 1901.

In year 1899 and 1907, two major peace conference was held which was known as Hague
conference, which gave rise to many international protocols known as Hague conventions,
the objective of this conventions was to put an end to the progressive development of the
weapons and to establish peace. This is considered as the turning point in history as it was the
first time where the counties met not for any war but to ensure and establish peace. In 1906,
second Geneva convention; Convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded
in armies in the field was also adopted to protect and ensure care for the wounded people at
sea in case of any armed conflict that takes place at sea.

Later in year 1910, Henry Dunant died. On his birth Anniversary i.e., 8th May, is celebrated as
World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day.

But this was not the end of Red Cross and Red Crescent i.e., International committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC), his vision and mission to establish peace and protect people from arm
conflict later gave rise to more strong laws for protection of people.

During the first world war in year 1914, International committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
opened a central prisoners of war agency in Geneva, with the motive to restore link between
the captured soldiers and their families. It also intervened and asked for not using any arms
that causes extreme suffering, it also adopted a Geneva gas protocol in year 1925, in order to
ban the use of poisonous chemical and biochemical gages during the war. After such great
contribution toward establishing peace, many national societies felt a need of change for the
new world and for this ICRC, also persuaded many governments to adopt a new Geneva
convention in 1929, in order to provide greater help and protection for prisoners of war,
which later got revised at 1949 conference.

At the time of second world war in year 1939, the role of ICRC expanded, it tried to assist
and protect the victims on all sides. It helped to ship relief supplies across the globe for
prisoners as well as the civilians. ICRC, also after the war, helped in providing news about
the missing loved ones.

ICRC, also saw its drawbacks and failure of lack of action to protect victims of the
Holocaust, having no legal basis and its traditional procedures, it failed in understanding the
importance of change of procedures with the change in times, also since it has a tie with the
swiss establishment it was unable to take decisive action or speak out on various important
issues.

In 1949, the fourth Geneva convention was adopted, the objective was to protect the civilians
during the war, previous conventions only took combatants into consideration but the fourth
Geneva convention was also concerned with the protection of civilians, it adopted because of
the experience of the disastrous consequences and absence of such law during second world
war.

FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

Two separate laws, which had a contribution in formation of IHL was:

1. The Geneva Law- The main concern of this law was to protect the victims of armed
conflicts.
2. The Hague Law- The main concern of this law was to lay down rules related to
conduct of hostilities, and prohibition of specific means and method of warfare like
ban of biological and chemical weapons.

These laws were then merged with the adoption of the two additional protocols in 1977.

 1977: First and Second Additional Protocols - First protocol was applicable to the
international armed conflicts whereas the second protocol was applicable o the
internal conflicts. The protocols are laid down rules concerning the conduct of
hostilities.
This led to the formation of International Humanitarian Law. Treaties and customs are the
main source of IHL i.e., The Geneva convention of 1949, The Hague conventions and the
additional protocols of 1977. The states who have accepted the treaties of IHL are of binding
character and violation may also lead to individual criminal responsibility. IHL is applicable
in two situations: (1) International Armed conflicts (2) Non-international armed conflicts, and
not applicable in situation of internal violence and tensions.

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that Henry Dunant had played a major role in the development of IHL,
his one vision and mission to provide protection to the victims of armed conflict led to the
creation of The Red cross and Red Crescent, adoption of Geneva convention and further led
to the formation of IHL. It was because of one person who recognised the need of
humanitarian law to protect and provide medical assistance to victims during the war. Today
IHL, has gained its significance in the world as it has helped many countries during the war,
one of such examples is work of humanitarian law in protection of the right of belligerents in
Syria, also providing food, medicine, hygiene items, blankets to people in Syria. IHL is doing
its best in providing its help to countries in need and also helping countries during armed
conflicts by providing medical and other help.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Amanda Alexander, A Short History of International Humanitarian Law, European
Journal of International Law, Volume 26, Issue 1, February 2015, Pages 109–
138, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chv002.
2. International Committee of the Red Cross (icrc.org).
3. Dhupdale, Vivek. (2016). Origin and Development of IHL.
10.13140/RG.2.1.2681.7049.
4. TRT World | Where news inspires change.