Actions taken:
Republic of Poland and its National Red Cross Society (PRC) maintaining a long-standing partnership relations in the promotion, dissemination and implementation of international humanitarian law, recognize the importance of such activities at the national level. In this connection as well as in the light of the forthcoming humanitarian challenges, Republic of Poland and its National Red Cross Society pledge to work together to the widest possible dissemination and effective implementation of the international humanitarian law’s norms.
Action plan:
– continuation of the work of the Commission for International Humanitarian Law, operating at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Commission for the International Humanitarian Law Dissemination, operating at the Governing Board of the Polish Red Cross in the area of knowledge exchange, organization of trainings and promotional activities
– strengthening cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross in support and use of new forms of IHL dissemination
– continuation of advocacy of respect for IHL and promotion of positive examples
of compliance with the law
Indicators for measuring progress:
– number of joint initiatives in the area of IHL dissemination
– implementation of new forms of disseminating IHL
Resource implications:
– an increase of knowledge and respect for IHL regulations in society
Implementation:
Polish Red Cross
The Polish Red Cross runs the International Humanitarian Law Promotion Centre at the Bureau of the PRC Executive Board. The Centre carries out a number of activities, the most notable of which include:
- Professor Remigiusz Bierzanek Contest for the best bachelor, masters, doctoral, and postgraduate dissertations on humanitarian law, human rights, humanitarian aid, and corresponding subjects, held in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- “Exploring Humanitarian Law”, a learning programme organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science (currently the Ministry of National Education) and the Centre for Education Development.
- Courses and lectures on international humanitarian law, humanitarian aid, and the protection of the red cross emblem, delivered to soldiers in the framework of cooperation with the Military Centre for Civic Education.
- The International Humanitarian Law Library at the Bureau of the PRC Executive Board, a repository of domestic and foreign publications on humanitarian law.
- Publication of papers, positions, and information and educational booklets, including Międzynarodowe Prawo Humanitarne – odpowiadamy na twoje pytania. Kompendium dla słuchaczy Polskiej Szkoły Międzynarodowego Prawa Humanitarnego (International Humanitarian Law—Answers to Your Questions. A Compendium for Attendees of the Polish School of International Humanitarian Law).
- The Polish School of International Humanitarian Law, run in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the National Headquarters of the State Fire Service of Poland.
Given the migration crisis on the border between Poland and Belarus and the armed conflict in Ukraine, the PRC has actively promoted the basics of humanitarian law, urging that they be observed. The measures in question have been supported by the presence and work of International Committee of the Red Cross delegates to Poland, who have been dealing in particular with the protection of civilians fleeing the war in their homeland.
Ministry of National Defence
The curricula of undergraduate studies, postgraduate Master’s degree studies, uniform Master’s degree studies, and officer trainings for non-commissioned officers, privates, and civilian candidates comprise the subject of International Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts (the universities that teach that subject include the Military University of Armed Forces, the Polish Naval Academy, the Polish Air Force University, the Military University of Technology, and the War Studies University). The Armed Forces General Command holds trainings on the following subjects: the status of the veteran and other persons engaged in combat or excluded from combat; prisoners of war; legal protection of persons and objects under IHL; protection of cultural property; International Committee of the Red Cross in the event of an armed conflict; the issues of the military order; the rules of responsibility for disobeying the IHL norms; occupation—rights and obligations; human rights protection in the area of responsibility of the Polish Contingent; the international humanitarian law of armed conflicts and the rules of using force. In 2019, an international conference on Laws of Armed Conflict & Military Ethics was organised in cooperation with the US Army Europe, the Pentagon, and the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. Also in 2019, the Armed Forces General Command held conferences on operational law and the IHL, and workshops in operational law for career soldiers. The IHL is included in the curricula of all degree, postgraduate, and qualification courses, and corresponding trainings are delivered for career and Territorial Defence Force soldiers as part of their in-service development as well as for students of non-military subjects.
In fulfilment of its mission to disseminate international humanitarian law in regard to the protection of cultural property, the International Centre for Training and Research on Cultural Heritage in Danger (the Centre) holds domestic trainings and courses for soldiers and civilians on the protection of cultural property in the event of an armed conflict or crisis situations. The educational offer encompasses courses and trainings for commanders of different ranks, specialists and advisers for the protection of cultural property, and soldiers and employees of the Defence Ministry whose duties pertain to the subject. Once the individual courses and trainings become NATO certified, the offer will be extended to other allied armies. Also, the Centre delivers the following annual upskilling courses: Legal aspects of the protection of cultural property in practice; Protection of cultural property in peacetime, during a crisis, and in wartime; Protection of cultural property in military operation planning for a brigade/regiment; Protection of cultural property in military operation planning for a battalion/squadron; Protection of historic military objects; Protection of cultural property as a task of the educational corps; Protection of historic objects at military parishes; Protection of cultural property as a task of the military fire service; Report and photography in the protection of cultural property. Additionally, an annual postgraduate course in Protection of cultural property in the operations of the Polish Armed Forces is scheduled for launch at the military academy in 2025. Since 2021, as part of its Civic Education programme, the Centre has disseminated its publication on the rudiments of cultural property protection in the light of international, national, and ministerial-level law (Podstawy ochrony dóbr kultury w świetle prawa międzynarodowego, krajowego i resortowego) and offered an e-learning course on the protection of cultural goods in the Polish Armed Forces. In cooperation with the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre in Helsinki, NATO Stability Policing Centre of Excellence in Vicenza, and Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence in The Hague, the Centre has been working on an international course in Cultural Property Protection, conceived as an Advanced Distributed Learning project for NATO personnel. Since 2021, the Centre has also regularly organised and delivered the ZABYTEK workshops on Cultural Goods Protection in Crisis Situations, attended by representatives of the Polish Armed Forces, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Provincial Offices for the Protection of Historic Monuments, and provincial-level public administration.
Ministry of the Interior and Administration
The National Headquarters of the State Fire Service and the School of International Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts cooperate regularly to hold trainings in humanitarian law aimed at educating the current and future staff of the NGOs that deliver humanitarian aid, preparing humanitarian and military personnel to take part in foreign missions to countries in armed conflict. The lectures and workshops are concerned with subjects including international humanitarian law of armed conflicts, the definition of the armed conflict, the protection of the injured and diseased, the work of military medical personnel during armed conflicts, the prohibitions and limitations on the means of warfare, the status of the veteran and the prisoner of war, the methods of warfare, protection of the civilian population in an armed conflict, the specificity of aerial warfare in the light of IHL, individual accountability for crimes, naval warfare in contemporary international law, human rights protection in the situation of an armed conflict, implementation of international humanitarian law of armed conflicts, the legal situation of refugees in armed conflicts, protection of cultural property in armed conflicts, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and its role in developing and disseminating IHL. The trainees come from public administration and NGOs. Since 2021, the trainings have been delivered online.