Vietnam promotes enforcement of International Humanitarian Law

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Government and people always respect and promote the implementation of International Humanitarian Law, especially the 1949 Geneva Conventions, a Vietnamese official has said.

Le Thi Tuyet Mai, Director of the Department of International Law and Treaties under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a workshop opened in Hanoi on June 24 that Vietnam joined the 1949 Geneva Conventions on International Humanitarian Law in 1957.

The conventions protect wounded and sick soldiers on land during war, and wounded, sick, and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war; apply to prisoners of war; and afford protection to civilians, including in occupied territory, she said.

Apart from the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the country has also engaged in other conventions relating to International Humanitarian Law like the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, and the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Mai added.

Gianni Volpin, Chief Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Vietnam, described the workshop as a chance to encourage regional countries to increase their participation in realising, developing and interpreting International Humanitarian Law.

He voiced his belief that the activities during the five-day session will create an effective premise for representatives from government bodies and experts to contribute to the exchange of information and experience in the region concerning the current pressing issues of humanitarian law.

Jointly held by the ICRC and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, the workshop brought together about nearly 50 delegates from16 countries.-VNA