Geneva is the home of international law, the rules that are supposed to stop the worst violations in war. But does anyone respect it anymore? Andrew Clapham, Professor of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute, says: “It’s quite blatant that when we like what the International Criminal Court is doing we will support it, but as soon as it steps out of line we will call it a ridiculous institution. So, it is a bit of a crossroads for international law.” The Geneva Conventions are 75 years old – are young people even aware of them? “We have the law, and at least my generation or younger generations tolerate much less those types of violations, and we are reporting more,” says Cristina Figueira Shah, a student at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Check out our selection of newsletters. Subscribe here. Are there any rules of war that work? Laurent Gisel, from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), explains that “far fewer people know about the prohibition of ...
