Full text in PDF format - International Committee of the Red Cross

200 REPORT
52
Bernardino Avila/CICR
c. ICRC Advisory Activities in the Americas
During 200 , the ICRC carried
out intense activities across Latin
America and the Caribbean to provide
legal and technical assistance
on international humanitarian law.
It operated from its delegations in
Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas,
Lima, Mexico and Port-au-Prince,
with the support of its offices in
Brasilia, Guatemala City and Port
of Spain.
Specific activities consisted, in particular,
of the following:
• Bilateral consulting to solve problems
related to the adoption of
national measures implementing
international humanitarian law
treaties.
• Advice to facilitate the ratification
of international humanitarian law
treaties.
• Legal opinions on the compatibility
of draft laws and international
humanitarian law treaties, particularly
with reference to international
criminal law.
• Recommendations to integrate in
domestic law measures to prevent
the disappearance of persons in the
event of armed conflicts or other
situations of internal violence and
to respond to the needs of families
of missing persons.
• Guidance on the implementation
and operation of structures assist-
ing governments in complying with
international humanitarian law,
particularly through inter-ministerial
committees.
• Support to national committees
for the implementation of international
humanitarian law, in particular
regarding the definition of
action plans, training, and the exchange
between committees.
• Compilation and exchange of
information on measures for the
national implementation of international
humanitarian law, including
through the ICRC’s Advisory
Service data bank on such measures.
This data bank was updated
regularly with information on all 35
American States. The data bank can
be accessed at:
http://www.icrc.org/ihl-nat.
• Organization of and support to
events dealing with international
humanitarian law.
In 200 , the ICRC organized or
contributed to the organization of
the following meetings, seminars
and courses:
• Presentation of the book “El sistema
de garantías judiciales con especial
referencia a la justicia penal militar”
(The system of legal guarantees
with special reference to military
criminal justice) and the study on
customary international humanitar-