George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I rise to make a short statement on the anniversary of the Geneva conventions. Earlier today the Senate passed a motion noting the 60th anniversary of the Geneva conventions because it was on this day, 12 August, in 1949 that the four Geneva conventions directed to protecting the victims of armed conflict were opened for signature. Australia was an early signatory to those conventions and has, under governments of both political persuasions, been one of their strongest supporters ever since. This was a momentous step in the name of humanity. With the memories of the horrors of the Second World War still fresh, there was a determination that they should never occur again. While recognising that armed conflict would inevitably occur—as, of course, it did throughout the 20th century and continues in various places throughout the world today—the Geneva conventions proclaimed on behalf of humanity that such conflict must be conducted according to rules respected by all peoples. In the language of the Red Cross, even in wars there are still laws. The conventions make comprehensive provision for the protection of the most helpless: the wounded on the battlefield, the shipwrecked, prisoners of war and civilians in the hands of the enemy. They also recognise the emblems of the Red Cross and of the Red Crescent and—as from today in this country—in addition the emblem of the Red Crystal and require the respect and protection of those symbols.

The conventions and their protocols provide for measures to deter violations. It is the duty of all states to investigate, prosecute and punish those guilty of a grave breach, regardless of where the offence was committed and the nationality of the perpetrator. Sadly, in recent times we have seen the rise of so-called ‘non-state actors’ as agents of warfare across state borders and, indeed, with a putative battlefield that does not recognise any territorial limit. While the conventions are now recognised by all the states of the world, modern warfare and its laws and conventions must contend with those groups that do not hold themselves out as states and make no coherent case to be treated as analogous to states. Nevertheless, regardless of the identity of the protagonists, armed conflict will always create the helpless class to whose protection the conventions are directed. It is the challenge of civilised peoples to recognise the universal application of these principles and to afford protection to those who recognise no reciprocal obligation.

The continuing pervasiveness of armed conflict and the diverse identity of the actors involved are illustrated by the regions in which the International Committee of the Red Cross is most active today. Georgia/South Ossetia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Philippines, Liberia, Colombia and Haiti are among those arenas where conflict still occurs and the Red Cross is active. The conflicts range from warfare in the traditional sense, civil war and insurrection to widespread terrorism and societal breakdown caused by acute poverty.

In Australia, our national Red Cross Society has made an enormous contribution to the implementation of the conventions’ humanitarian ideals and principles as expressed in the conventions and protocols. On the most recent available statistics, its annual work has included educating over 17,000 people in international humanitarian law, handling nearly 3,000 international tracing and refugee services and assisting over 1,500 asylum seekers. This morning, on the lawns in front of Parliament House, I, along with the Attorney-General, Mr McClelland, participated in a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the Geneva conventions in the presence of the National Chairman of the Australian Red Cross, my very old friend Mr Greg Vickery, its Chief Executive Officer, the Hon. Robert Tickner, and the International Red Cross representative to our region, Mr Jean-Luc Metzker. It was a moving ceremony at which a bound copy of the four Geneva conventions and protocols was passed between politicians, members of the Red Cross and members of the armed services. The opposition supports the motion passed by the Senate earlier today and commends, in bipartisan fashion, the work of the Australian Committee of the Red Cross, the International Red Cross and the values and principles enshrined in the Geneva conventions.