Switzerland organizes conference for Palestinian civilians
Published: Thursday, Nov 14th 2024, 13:00
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On behalf of the United Nations, Switzerland is organizing a conference of the parties to the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in the Palestinian Territories Occupied by Israel. The conference is scheduled to take place in Geneva in March 2025.
At its meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Council was informed about the status of preparations, as the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday. The conference cannot adopt any binding resolutions, but can reaffirm the rules of international humanitarian law and the obligations arising from them.
According to the FDFA, the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention have been invited to the conference. Switzerland is holding consultations with these 196 states in order to explain the process and clarify expectations. The UN General Assembly mandated Switzerland to organize the conference on 18 September.
The High Contracting Parties, including Israel and Palestine, have been invited to the conference. Conferences of this kind have already been held in Geneva in 1014, 2001 and 1999, organized by Switzerland as depositary state of the Geneva Convention. The permanent representations of the contracting parties based in Geneva will take part.
The four Geneva Conventions form the foundation of international humanitarian law and include the protection of persons in times of war. As the Depositary State of the Conventions adopted in 1949, Switzerland has certain administrative tasks, such as maintaining the list of High Contracting Parties and document management.
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