Dissemination of IHL rules and principles

Actions taken:

• The Brazilian government has endeavored to disseminate and implement IHL related instruments into domestic law and military practice. In close relationship with the Regional Delegation of the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a number of academic, diplomatic and military activities, seminars, lectures and workshops take place every year, contributing to the awareness and training of various sectors of society on the importance of respecting and implementing IHL.
• The Brazilian Armed Forces are, at all levels, professionally trained in the application of IHL. Every year, Brazil`s Defense Academy holds an annual course on “The Law of Armed Conflict”, designed to high-ranking military and civil officials.
• The ICRC has engaged in activities and collaborated with local governments, organizations, and society to address and promote responses from authorities to the humanitarian needs of the population. The main areas of cooperation are:

1. 1. addressing the consequences of armed violence, a complex phenomenon with severe humanitarian consequences;
   2. promoting family reunification of migrants and displaced populations; and
   3. promoting IHL, human rights and humanitarian principles.

• Some of the main activities carried out between 2019 and 2024 include: Meeting on Reference Centers for Families of Missing
  Persons. Representatives from the federal government and the states of Ceará, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, as well as family members and the ICRC have discussed the establishment of specialized reference centers that provide integrated responses for the families of missing persons.

National Webinar to discuss the creation of multidisciplinary centers to support the families of missing persons. This initiative has been driven by the ICRC since the release of the report “Still? This is the most painful word”, in 2020. All these institutions co-organized the webinar and are part of an interinstitutional group that has been meeting virtually to follow up on the 1st Meeting on Reference Centers for Families of Missing Persons.

International Seminar on Best Practices in Police Education, Planning, and Internal Control, which involved the security forces of Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay to facilitate and exchange experiences and knowledge, strengthen cooperation and promote the
application of international humanitarian standards.

National Meeting of the “Safer Access to Essential Public Services Network” – a program designed to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of armed violence on the provision and access to essential public services. During the National Meeting, over 50 municipal and state authorities and professionals discussed mechanisms for the sustainability of the program and the formulation of public policies aimed at supporting these professionals and improving service delivery to the population. Currently, eight Brazilian cities implement the Safer Access Program, in cooperation with the ICRC.

National Meeting of Institutes of Forensic Medicine, which brought together authorities and professionals from all 27 Brazilian states in Brasília to discuss the development of a National Human Identification Protocol. This protocol aims to improve the procedures
for identifying deceased individuals and providing support to their families.

Seminar on the “70 Years of the Geneva Conventions: Contemporary Challenges of International Humanitarian Law”. A similar Seminar is scheduled to be held in August, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Conventions.

Implementation completion: