Monday 18 to thursday 21 October 2021, near 400 senior officers over 90 countries took part in the 14th edition of the Workshop for Senior Officers on International Rules Governing Military Operations (SWIRMO). This high-level workshop is organized every year on the laws of war or international humanitarian law. (BREATH) and their application in military operations is an initiative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
This 14th edition revolved around the theme : "War in an urban environment". It enabled participants to do a simulation exercise in the form of a video game created by the ICRC, which places officers and soldiers in realistic situations requiring them to weigh military objectives against the risks to civilians in the event of an attack. But the pandemic linked to Covid-19 did not allow the ICRC to bring the participants together face-to-face with an interpretation service in English, in Arabic, in Spanish in French and in Russian. What tries to explain Stephen Kilpatrick, ICRC adviser in charge of relations with the military and armed groups. “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to change the organizational arrangements this year. Not being able to bring all the participants together in the same place, we have opted for a hybrid formula that combines online discussion sessions broadcast from the ICRC headquarters in Geneva and face-to-face sessions organized in more than 90 pays », he said. During this workshop, it was about presentations followed by discussion time and discussions on various themes such as the influence of values, of the culture, religion and other factors on the behavior of combatants. The event was also punctuated by interventions by the President of the ICRC, Peter Maurer, and the Director of the Department of International Law and Humanitarian Policy, Helen Durham. In addition, a special session was held moderated by Dominique Loye, Deputy Director of the Department of International Law and Humanitarian Policy, on the changing operating environment and its impact on civilians and the suffering they endure.
As a reminder, the SWIRMO workshop has always been organized jointly by the ICRC and the armed forces of a given country. Switzerland hosted the first workshop in 2007, and many other countries followed, especially France, South Africa, Malaysia, Colombia, China, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates and, more recently, Russia.
Patrice ADJAHO