Book on civilian protection laws launched

The UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) yesterday launched a book concerning international humanitarian laws and the importance of civilian protection in armed conflict.

The book – Introducing Humanitarian Laws and Civilian Protection During Armed Conflicts – is the first of its kind released for Arabic readers.

Dr Hamdan Al Mazrouei, RCA's Assistant Secretary General for Local Affairs, said: "Wars and conflicts take the lives of thousands of innocent children and women in various parts of the world. Even though laws cannot prevent wars from happening, they do protect the lives and belongings of innocent civilians especially those living in Occupied Territories, members of civil, medical and religious societies, and journalists."

He said the book aims to spread awareness about the basics of international humanitarian laws. "The RCA has worked for years in collaboration with the International Committee of Red Cross Societies (ICRC) and has organised a number of basic training courses for this purpose."

The society's next step will be encouraging national resources to support their humanitarian efforts in increasing awareness of the UAE in international humanitarian laws. The book, comprising four chapters, summarises the laws and explains them in a way understandable to the general reader.

The first chapter includes a basic introduction to international law and its articles. The second discusses international activities of the UAE Red Crescent, Red Cross and the committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The third chapter discusses civilians as one of the categories that fall under the protection of the laws. The fourth explains protection laws, outlining categories like women, children and volunteer societies, which are a source of concern for them.

Dr Ahmed bin Hazeem, Deputy Dean of Dubai Police College and one of the authors of the book said: "In the book we have not used difficult legal jargon and have not mentioned the philosophical conflicts and approaches to humanitarian laws. We have focused on main points to introduce readers to humanitarian laws as well as the activities of the Red Crescent."