Abstract
This chapter investigates the way the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has dealt with the issue of missing persons and the identification of dead bodies in armed conflicts and other situations of violence, covering the period from its creation in 1863 to the end of World War II in 1945. It shows that the ICRC does not record the number of people killed in armed conflicts, but is aware that disappearances are a highly emotional issue. The chapter concludes that families have the right to know the whereabouts of their relatives, and whether they are dead or alive. Therefore, providing information to the families of the victims is a humanitarian action.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The ICRC’s Mission Statement, viewed 27 March 2013, http://www.icrc.org/eng/who-we-are/mandate/index.jsp
- 2.
H Wayne Elliot, ‘Identification’, viewed 26 March 2013, http://www.crimesofwar.org/a-z-guide/511/
- 3.
To avoid anachronisms, we will use ‘International Committee’ when we refer to the International Committee for the Relief of Wounded. As from 1875, we will use the acronym ‘ICRC’.
- 4.
Resolution IV/2, Compte rendu des Travaux de la Conférence internationale tenue à Berlin du 22 au 27 avril 1869 par les Délégués des Gouvernements signataires de la Convention de Genève et des Sociétés et Associations de Secours aux Militaires blessés et malades, Imprimerie J.-F. Starcke, Berlin, 1869, p. 254. Translated by Bugnion (2003, p. 33).
- 5.
ibid.
- 6.
Article 4, Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field, Geneva, 6 July 1906, viewed 14 March 2013, http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/180?OpenDocument
- 7.
‘Annex to the Convention regulations respecting the laws and customs of war on land’, Convention (II) with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 29 July 1899, viewed 14 March 2013, http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/150
- 8.
Article 4, Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 27 July 1929, viewed 14 March 2013, http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/300?OpenDocument
- 9.
On August 1941, it managed to forward to the Soviet authorities a list of 300 Soviet prisoners detained by the German . Other lists of Soviet prisoners arrived from Finland, Romania and Italy; the Soviets, however, did not provide lists. The Germans then argued a lack of reciprocity, and stopped sending lists by the end of September 1941 (Bugnion 2003, p. 187).
- 10.
During World War II, the ICRC felt that publicly denouncing the deportations of Jews and other populations would not change the course of events, and could jeopardize the activities it carried out for victims concerning whom there were clear rules agreed upon in conventions. Adhering narrowly to the rules was – or so did the ICRC understand it at the time – a way of protecting its capacity to accomplish its humanitarian mission, and of contributing to preserve the relations between officially neutral Switzerland and the belligerent States. On these matters, see Vonèche Cardia (2012).
- 11.
“The term ‘civilian internees’ refers to those nationals of an enemy country who were in belligerent territory at the opening of hostilities, who had been interned and to whom the Detaining Power, acting on the proposal of the ICRC, had agreed to extend, by analogy, the application of the 1929 Prisoner of War Convention.” ICRC 1948, p. 52.
- 12.
Missing person s and international humanitarian law, viewed 14 March 2013, http://www.icrc.org/eng/war-and-law/protected-persons/missing-persons/overview-missing-persons.htm
References
Becker, A. (2012). The dilemmas of protecting civilians in occupied territory: The precursory example of World War I. International Review of the Red Cross, 94(885), 117–132.
Bugnion, F. (2003). The International Committee of the Red Cross and the protection of prisoners of war. Geneva/Oxford: ICRC/Macmillan.
Capdevila, L., & Voldman, D. (2002). Du numéro matricule au code génétique: la manipulation du corps des tués de la guerre en quête d’identité. International Review of the Red Cross, 84(848), 751–765.
Central Committee of the German Associations of the Red Cross. (1887). Quatrième Conférence internationale des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge tenue à Carlsruhe du 22 au 27 Septembre 1887. Berlin: Compte rendu.
Commission générale des Délégués. (1867). Conférences internationales des Sociétés de Secours aux Blessés militaires des Armées de Terre et de Mer, tenues à Paris en 1867, deuxième partie. Paris: Imprimerie Baillière & Fils.
Djurovic, G. (1986). The central tracing agency of the international committee of the Red Cross: Activities of the ICRC for the alleviation of mental suffering of war victims. Geneva: Henry Dunant Institute.
Dunand, A. (1986). Memory of Solferino. Geneva: ICRC.
Durand, A. (1984). History of the International Committee of the Red Cross: From Sarajevo to Hiroshima. Geneva: Henry Dunant Institute.
Förster, S., & Nagle, J. (Eds.). (2002). On the road to total war: The American Civil War and the German Wars of unification, 1861–1871. Washington, DC/Cambridge: German Historical Institute/Cambridge University Press.
ICRC. (1948). Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross on its activities during the Second World War (September 1, 1939-June 30 1947). Vol. II: The Central Agency for Prisoners of War. Geneva: ICRC.
ICRC. (2006). The missing (ICRC progress report). Geneva: ICRC.
ICRC. (2009). Missing persons: A handbook for parliamentarians, no. 17. Geneva: ICRC.
International Review of the Red Cross. (1919). 3
Martin, S. (2002). The missing. International Review of the Red Cross, 84(848).
Morgan, O., Tidball-Binz, M., & Van Alphen, D. (Eds.). (2006). Management of dead bodies after disasters: A field manual for first responders. Washington DC: PAHO/WHO/ICRC. http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/icrc-002-0880.pdf
Sassòli, M., & Tougas, M.-L. (2002). The ICRC and the missing. International Review of the Red Cross, 84(848).
The International Prisoners-of-War Agency. (2007). The ICRC in World War One. Geneva: Musée international de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge/ICRC.
Vonèche Cardia, I. (2012). Neutralité et Engagement. Les relations entre le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge et le gouvernement Suisse pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Genève: Société d’histoire de la Suisse romande.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vonèche Cardia, I. (2016). The International Committee of the Red Cross: Identifying the Dead and Tracing Missing Persons – A Historical Perspective. In: Pérouse de Montclos, MA., Minor, E., Sinha, S. (eds) Violence, Statistics, and the Politics of Accounting for the Dead. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12036-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12036-2_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12035-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12036-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)