Actions taken:
The Hungarian Red Cross has promoted the Red Cross Fundamental Principles by various means during the implementation period. Red Cross principles and ideals were educated within the HRC Red Cross Reference School Network over the past years including a basic IHL module. Besides youth peer training courses Hungarian RC professionals delivered presentations at the practical basic training course of the CIMIC PSYOPS about the Fundamental Principles, IHL and Red Cross working modalities on how to protect and assist the civil population in emergencies between 2016 and 2018.
The Hungarian RC Disaster Management team members were invited to attend the Vigorous Warrior Multinational Joint Medical Exercise, which was the largest dedicated medical exercise in the history of the NATO Centre of Excellence for Military Medicine with a considerable civilian component and took place in Romania in March 2019. For the first time in the history of the exercise, it was the responsibility of participants to monitor and enforce the compliance with the relevant parts of the Geneva Conventions during the care of injured persons. The participants of the Hungarian RC provided safeguard measures according to the 5th Article. Monitoring the compliance with the Geneva Conventions during the armed conflict and in case of violation of the Convention to report the case to the ICRC is a statutory obligation of Red Cross National Societies. According to NATO MILMED, they would like this component to be a permanent element in future exercises.
The Hungarian RC team’s experiences in Vigorous Warrior exercise will be presented as an example of the implementation of the IHL on the field within a dissemination and awareness raising campaign. The campaign will be launched at Red Cross Reference Schools and on the social media at the beginning of the new school year in September 2019 aimed to disseminate Red Cross principles and ideals for the youth.The present report will be completed in November with the results of the awareness raising campaign once the implementation is finished.
IHL Conference: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs organized an international conference on the topic of victims of armed conflicts at the juncture of international humanitarian law and human rights law at Budapest on the 11th May 2017.
With the participation of renowned international law experts the Conference endeavored to give an insight into the relationship between international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (HRL). The Conference brought together academics from various universities, experts and government representatives, members of diplomatic corps, legal advisers from a number of countries to discuss the following questions:
- What are the fields/issues where we can witness a blurring of line between human rights law and IHL?
- How do the interrelationship and delimitations of the two branches of law affect victims of armed conflicts?
- What are the strengths and limits of the compliance mechanisms of human rights law and international humanitarian law?
- What are the strengths and limits of the accountability measures of the two fields of law?
Is there a need for enhancing IHL fact-finding mechanisms or can national enquiries or international human rights enquiry mechanisms fulfil this role?
National IHL Committee: The National Committees for the Implementation of IHL, established in 2000, has a wide range of tasks including coordination between different ministries, government offices and the Hungarian Red Cross, giving advice on IHL implementation related questions, and cooperation with other national committees. The Committee is devoted to and actively engaged in the promotion and implementation of IHL, meets regularly and serves as a forum for open and constructive discussion.
The Committee was an active participant in the discussions at the Fourth Universal meeting of National Committees and similar bodies on international humanitarian law. The Committee was also engaged in the preparations for the afore-mentioned Conference organized in 2017 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on the topic of victims of armed conflicts at the juncture of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
Joint meeting of the National Committees for the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law of the Visegrad Countries: The National Committees for the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law of the Visegrad Countries had a joint meeting in Budapest on 3 May 2018, upon the invitation of the Hungarian National Committee for the Implementation of IHL. The representatives of the National Committees held an in depth discussion on issues of common interest with the aim of fostering cooperation and coordination among the V4 countries in the field of international humanitarian law. Developments regarding the intergovernmental process aimed at strengthening respect for international humanitarian law was among the topical issues discussed. Apart from reviewing ongoing international projects on strengthening compliance with international humanitarian law, participants held an exchange of views on the practical aspects of the functioning of National Committees. The auxiliary role of national societies was also one of the agenda items examined at the V4 meeting.
Dissemination of IHL: Given the fact that the success of IHL implementation and the fight against impunity in case of the most serious crimes depends in a great deal on the effectiveness of application, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has launched a project to provide lectures to judges on contemporary IHL questions, and a similar cooperation is being established with the Prosecutor’s Office. Collaboration is set; aiming to provide professional trainings to members of the judiciary and prosecution, the project’s implementation is still in progress. Lectures will include introduction to the relevant treaties, as well as discussion of new projects (i.e MLA) and cases (i.e. ICC judgements).
Financial contributions:
IIIM: Hungary has been a financial contributor to the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to assist in investigating and prosecuting international crimes committed in Syria for the past 3 years (through a voluntary contribution of 50.000,00 EUR).
ICC TFV: Hungary has provided a voluntary contribution of 10.000 EUR to the Trust Fund for Victims at the International Criminal Court for the past 4 years and plans to maintain its financial support for the year 2020.
