Mesures prises:
Austria pledged to organize a conference in Vienna in 2020, in order to facilitate an ex-change of experiences and strengthen cooperation in Europe regarding the implementation of IHL, as well as to encourage the establishment of national IHL commissions in States not yet disposing of such bodies. The conference had to be postponed several times to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, on 13 and 14 March 2023, Austria, the Austrian Red Cross and the ICRC hosted the first European Regional Conference of National Committees on International Humanitarian Law (NCIHL) in Vienna. The conference, with about 80 participants from all around Europe, provided an opportunity for peer-to-peer exchange of best practises and reflection among NCIHLs as well as substantive discussion on topical IHL issues relevant to NCIHLs.
The closed part of the conference, addressed at NCIHLs as well as representatives of States interested in forming such a body only, included panels on the role and functioning of NCIHLs and collaboration among them as well as on topics such as the resolution of missing persons’ cases, explosive weapons in populated areas, universal jurisdiction, and humani-tarian exemptions to sanctions regimes.
The public part of the conference discussed the issue of “international humanitarian law and new technologies”, such as the automation and digitalisation of warfare and the idea of a digital emblem.
