The Swiss who have left their mark on the history of humanitarian law

KEYSTONE/Gaetan Bally

The four Geneva Conventions celebrate their 75th anniversary on Monday. To mark the occasion, SWI swissinfo.ch invites you to (re)discover six Swiss personalities who championed international humanitarian law from 1864 to 2024.

The four Geneva Conventions, signed in Geneva on August 12, 1949, form the basis of international humanitarian law, also known as the law of war, which aims to preserve humanity, even in the worst moments of war.

They protect civilians, medical personnel, wounded soldiers and prisoners of war. They have been universally ratified by all states, and Switzerland is the depositary country.

The obligations that stem from the Geneva Conventions may seem derisory at a time when they are largely ignored, from the war in Ukraine to conflicts in Gaza, Syria or Myanmar. But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) points out that they have saved millions of lives. And by alleviating the suffering caused by war, they facilitate the return to peace.

Over the years, many prominent Swiss figures have worked to develop and defend the Geneva Conventions. Here are the profiles of six of them.

Henry Dunant (1828-1910) and Gustave Moynier (1826-1910), the founding fathers

On February 17, 1863, five Genevans (Gustave Moynier, Louis Appia, Guillaume-Henri Dufour, Henry Dunant, and Théodore Maunoir) formed a committee that was to become the ICRC. KEYSTONE/Photopress-Archiv/Str

Henry Dunant was a Geneva businessman from a religious family. While travelling on business to Northern Italy, he witnessed the horrors of the Battle of Solferino (June 24, 1859). Faced with the suffering of some 40,000 wounded soldiers, Dunant volunteered to come to their aid, organising relief efforts with locals.

Back in Geneva three years later, he published “A Memory of Solferino”, in which he called for an international convention guaranteeing the protection of victims of conflicts. He also called for the creation of aid societies ready to help the war wounded. These two ideas were revolutionary at the time. The first gave rise to the Geneva Conventions and the second to the Red Cross movement.

But while the original idea belonged to Dunant, its practical implementation would not have been possible without the contribution of another Genevan, the lawyer Gustave Moynier. It was thanks to his legal talent and practical flair that the Geneva Convention of 1864 came into being, a year after the birth of a committee that would become the ICRC.

It was Moynier in particular who travelled across Europe ahead of the signing of this first treaty, which set out the limits and rules to be respected in the event of war. These included the protection of medical personnel and the dignified treatment of the wounded.

Moynier became the first president of the ICRC, while Dunant, who had fallen from grace in business, retired to a small town in northeastern Switzerland.

Max Petitpierre (1899-1994), Federal Councillor committed to humanitarian causes

Federal Councillor Max Petitpierre (right) shows the Soviet Union’s chief delegate, General Nikolai Slawin (centre), where to sign the Geneva Conventions on August 12,1949. KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Str

A law professor and lawyer from Neuchâtel, Max Petitpierre became Swiss foreign minister in 1945, just a few months before the end of the Second World War. In the aftermath of the conflict the conclusion was clear: international law needed to be updated and strengthened to avoid repeating the horrors of that war.

Four years later, Petitpierre convened an international conference in Geneva, which he chaired. This led to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, which ensured the protection of civilians.

Petitpierre spent 16 years in the Swiss government. He is recognised for his influence on the development of Switzerland’s active neutrality policy as well as the positioning of Geneva as the “capital of peace”.

Jean Pictet (1914-2002), father of contemporary humanitarian law

Jean Pictet (second from right) is surrounded by representatives of the ICRC, the UN and the Swiss Confederation on August 12, 1999, the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. AP Photo/Donald Stampfli

As the right-hand man of ICRC president Max Huber during and after the Second World War, Jean Pictet played a key role in the development and renewal of international humanitarian law, which had been severely tarnished. In the aftermath of the war, the Geneva lawyer undertook the preparatory work that led to the adoption of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

As well as taking part in the drafting of these historic texts, Pictet was involved in the negotiation of their Additional Protocols, adopted in 1977. His efforts and his contribution to the fundamental principles of the Red Cross, including those of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence, earned him the nickname “father of contemporary international humanitarian law”.

During his long career with the ICRC, Pictet held the positions of director general and vice-president.

Élisabeth Decrey Warner (b. 1953), founder of Geneva Call

The “1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005” association nominated five Swiss women, including Élisabeth Decrey Warner (right) at an event in Bern in 2005. KEYSTONE/Monika Flueckiger

A physiotherapist by training, Élisabeth Decrey Warner campaigned for years for a ban on anti-personnel mines. In 1997, when an international treaty banning them was signed in Ottawa, this member of Geneva’s Grand Council realised that it was of no use when it was armed groups – and not states – that were laying these devices.

As a result, she decided to found Geneva Call. Since 2000, this NGO has been talking to armed groups to raise their awareness and teach them about the laws of war, a mission which complements that of the ICRC.

During her more than 15 years at the head of the organisation, Decrey Warner travelled the world, from Colombia to Syria, trying to convince rebel groups – which many countries labelled as terrorists – to make commitments in favour of international humanitarian law.

“If we only talk to the good guys, it’s not going to change the world”, she told Le TempsExternal link in 2016. She has received several awards, including Officier de la Légion d’honneur (2023) and the Prix de la Fondation pour Genève (2016).

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger (b. 1972), first female president of the ICRC

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger at a press conference in Geneva in 2023. KEYSTONE/Salvatore Di Nolfi

President of the ICRC since October 2022, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is the first woman to hold this post in the organisation’s 161-year history.

Marked by the wars in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza, her first two years in office have not been easy. She has had to defend the increasingly misunderstood neutrality and role of the ICRC in the face of criticism, particularly from the Ukrainian and Israeli governments. After years of expansion, last year the president had to scale down the organisation, which was facing an unprecedented budget crisis.

Edited by Imogen Foulkes