A) Objectives of the pledge:
Portugal and the Portuguese Red Cross express their deep concern about the frequent occurrence of alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in armed conflicts as reported in recent years. They therefore strongly support the dissemination and exchange of information on IHL, with the aim of increasing knowledge of applicable rules and recent developments in this area.
To this end, Portugal and the Portuguese Red Cross will continue their efforts to raise awareness of IHL and enhance its knowledge among the authorities of Portuguese-speaking countries, including military personnel, judges, prosecutors, diplomats and police officers, whose work may require them to apply and interpret IHL.
In light of the work that has already been carried out in this area, Portugal and the Portuguese Red Cross have pledged to organise two IHL specialised training courses for military personnel, judges, prosecutors, diplomats and law enforcement officers from Portuguese-speaking countries.
This pledge relates to the Resolution “Towards a universal culture of compliance with international humanitarian law”, in particular OP5 which “strongly encourages States to intensify their efforts to disseminate IHL” at the 34th Internacional Conference RCRC, entitled “Building a Global Culture of Respect for International Humanitarian Law”.
B) Action plan:
- Elaborate an electronic Compendium of the main texts of IHL and international criminal law, in Portuguese language, in order to disseminate the knowledge and maximize the training programmes.
- Create an overview of existing IHL (and international criminal law) trainers and training courses that are currently available or available in the near future in Portugal for military personnel, the justice system, security forces, healthcare professionals and volunteers.
- Identify the countries, departments and personnel of authorities in Portuguese-speaking countries that may need to apply and interpret IHL and international criminal law in their work.
- Propose new, appropriate forms of IHL training for Portuguese-speaking countries, including appropriate interlocutors, a thematic focus, the frequency and location of specialised training courses and the potential use of new technologies for training and collaborative work between CPLP member states and national societies.
- Organise at least two IHL specialised training courses within the scope of the ongoing training programme for trainers in the framework of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), together with the Portuguese Ministries of Foreign Affairs, National Defence, Internal Administration and Justice and the Portuguese Red Cross, in cooperation with the Portuguese-speaking countries authorities as well as the respective national societies, until the next ICRC Conference in 2028. The target audience for these training courses are military personnel, judges, prosecutors, diplomats, law enforcement officers, professionals and volunteers in the field of IHL, academia, journalists and opinion leaders.
- Share teaching materials and resources on IHL, public international law and criminal law and promote the development of joint actions by CPLP member states in cooperation with the national societies in the academic, diplomatic, judicial and military sectors.
C) Indicators for measuring progress:
- Publication of the Compendium;
- Number of specialised training courses organised;
- Number of participants in these specialised training courses.
D) Resource implications:
The human and financial resources required for the organisation of the specialised training courses will be provided by the organising institutions mentioned above.