Actions taken:
Since 2019, the Czech Red Cross (“CRC”) in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense (“MOD”) has organized eleven 25-hour IHL courses, attended by 228 persons (88 civilian IHL trainers, including teachers, and 140 members of the Czech Army). Two of these courses (42 participants) were organized exclusively for members of the Czech Armed Forces. The participants will further disseminate basic knowledge and understanding of IHL within the “POKOS” program (Preparedness to Defend the State Program) at elementary and high schools throughout the Czech Republic.
The CRC supports Czech universities with integration of IHL into their curricula; the cooperation is based on Memoranda of Understanding concluded between the CRC and Czech universities to that effect. At Palacký University in Olomouc, the CRC IHL course has been included among optional courses of the study program for high school teachers. The Medical Faculty of the same university, in cooperation with the CRC, has launched a new 1-semester course focused on basic information about the Red Cross and IHL for medical staff. A new memorandum was concluded between the CRC and the Medical Faculty of the University in Ostrava. In 2022 and 2023, the CRC in cooperation with experts from MOD and the academia organized two seminars for general audience on Red Cross and Red Crescent Emblems.
In total, between 2020 and 2024, the CRC through its network of disseminators carried out 533 events focused on disseminating IHL, attended by 19 177 persons.
During the reporting period, the National Committee on Implementation of International Humanitarian Law (“National Committee”) and the CRC have also continued dissemination of IHL by publishing materials and manuals on IHL. In particular, the National Committee has translated into Czech and published on its website the Executive Summary of the UNESCO 2016 Military Manual on the Protection of Cultural Property (2021) and Safe Schools Declaration and Guidelines (2022). The Czech version of latter two documents was made available also at the website of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attacks. The CRC issued the handbook “Geneva Conventions, Customs and Principles of IHL”, which provides a brief overview of IHL, focusing on Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims and their Additional Protocols. The handbook contains an inventory of rules of customary international humanitarian law as well as an overview of the IHL fundamental principles, reflecting the new ICRC Commentaries on Geneva Conventions (2020). Recently, the CRC published a brochure “Red Cross and Red Crescent Emblems”, which focuses on prevention of misuse of these emblems (2022), and a leaflet “Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, universality”, which summarizes basic information on components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and IHL.
In April 2021, the National Committee launched a website (www.nsmhp.cz ), where visitors can find in-depth information on implementation of IHL within the Czech Republic and information about the National Committee’s activities.
In December 2022, the Czech Republic in its capacity of the Presidency of the Council of the EU organized a virtual event on the launch of the Fifth Report on the EU Guidelines on Promoting Compliance with International Humanitarian Law. The purpose of the event was to increase the visibility of the wide range of measures undertaken by the EU in favour of IHL in 2021, and more general, to contribute to the dissemination of rules of international humanitarian law.
