Geneva Call

Some members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines were concerned that the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, also known as the Ottawa Treaty, was only binding on states. Geneva Call was created in 1998, one year after the Ottawa Treaty was signed, to begin engaging armed non-State actors on the subject of landmines. However, Geneva Call took little action until March 2000, at a conference organized by the Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines called Engaging Non-State Actors in a Landmine Ban. This conference, the first of its kind, created a foundation for approaching armed non-State actors about a landmine ban, and served as the official launch of Geneva Call. Geneva Call is a non-profit organization under Swiss law. It is headed by a board composed of local personalities with expertise in international law, in the thematic issues that compose Geneva Call's mission, in business or politics. The board is organizing an advisory council consisting of further experts in Geneva Call's work. ==Mission==

Geneva Call engages with armed non-State actors to encourage them to comply with international humanitarian norms, improving the protection of civilians in armed conflict. These international humanitarian norms are enshrined in the Geneva Conventions and other international treaties. While initially focusing on the ban of anti-personnel mines, Geneva Call has expanded its work into additional areas that deserve specific attention, namely the protection of children in armed conflict – notably from recruitment and use in hostilities – as well as the prohibition of sexual violence and gender discrimination, the protection of cultural heritage, displacement and the protection of medical care in armed conflict. launched in 2000 ; • Deed of Commitment for the Protection of Children from the Effects of Armed Conflict, launched in 2010 ; • Deed of Commitment for the Prohibition of Sexual Violence in Situations of Armed Conflict and towards the Elimination of Gender Discrimination, launched in 2012 ; • Deed of Commitment for the Protection of Health Care in Armed Conflict, Landmine ban The struggle against anti-personnel mines was the original focus of Geneva Call. Geneva Call engages armed non-State actors to reduce the impact of anti-personnel mines on the civilian population by promoting the ban and encouraging cooperation in mine action. In 2000, Geneva Call launched a first Deed of Commitment under Geneva Call for Adherence to a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine Action. Displacement In a context where each year, millions of people become internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to armed conflict, Geneva Call has organized events on this issue since 2011 and has started to formally engage ANSAs on displacement issues since 2018. For example, Geneva Call organizes training sessions on displacement with ANSAs. Those activities were undertaken in various countries, such as the DRC, Myanmar, Iraq and Syria. • Burma / Myanmar • Thailand • Philippines • Afghanistan • Ukraine • Pakistan Middle East Source: • Iraq • Lebanon • Syria • Yemen Latin America • Colombia Africa Source: • DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) • Mali • South Sudan • Sudan • Libya • Burkina Faso Humanitarian norms In addition to engagement on specific norms (anti-personnel mines ban, protection of children from the effects of armed conflict, prohibition of sexual violence and gender discrimination, protection of cultural heritage, displacement and protection of health care), Geneva Call seeks to build armed non-State actors knowledge of broad IHL rules, and their capacities to implement them. In recent years, Geneva Call has increasingly provided training sessions and technical advice to armed non-State actors on how to incorporate IHL into their policies, codes of conduct and other internal regulations and on implementation. In some cases, especially where Geneva Call’s current themes of engagement are not priority issues or best starting points for dialogue, activities around IHL can serve as a method for engagement. ==Impact==

Success From its inception in 2000, Geneva Call has engaged with more than 100 armed non-State actors worldwide and sensitized thousands of their leaders and members on international humanitarian norms. As of today, 54 armed non-State actors have signed the Deed of Commitment banning anti-personnel mines, 31 have signed the Deed of Commitment protecting children in armed conflict, 25 have signed the Deed of Commitment prohibiting sexual violence and gender discrimination, and 4 have signed the Deed of Commitment protecting health care in armed conflict. In addition, a number of armed non-State actors that have not signed the Deeds of Commitment have nevertheless taken steps towards compliance with international standards. For example, some have committed themselves to limiting mine, or facilitating mine action, and also to promoting respect and protection of healthcare facilities and humanitarian and health workers in areas under their control. Praise Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General from 2007 to 2016, has mentioned Geneva Call and its work on multiple occasions, including a speech where he identified the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment as a "successful example" of special commitments with non-state actors. The International Forum on Armed Groups and the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, held by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in July 2006, recognized the Deed of Commitment as "one of the most innovative forms of persuading armed groups to make unilateral declarations to abide by IHL norms". In 2013, The Global Journal ranked Geneva Call 68th best NGO in the world and in 2017, NGO Advisor has rated Geneva Call as the 85th best NGO in the world in its 2017 edition of the ranking. Criticism and Controversy At the Seventh Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Treaty, Turkey accused Geneva Call of signing a Deed of Commitment with the Kurdistan Workers' Party without knowledge or consent from the Turkish government, describing the act as "inappropriate and unacceptable." Geneva Call claims that it informed Turkey of the engagement. Turkey refuses to allow Geneva Call into its borders to conduct verification missions with the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The 2010 United States Supreme Court case Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project ruled that organizations providing international law training to organizations recognized as terrorist groups by the Department of State are committing a crime. Because of Geneva Call's work with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, some of the organization's activities could be considered illegal under American law. Geneva Call President at the time Élisabeth Decrey Warner responded that "civilians caught in the middle of conflicts and hoping for peace will suffer from this decision. How can you start peace talks or negotiations if you don't have the right to speak to both parties?" Nevertheless, Geneva Call points out that its dialogue with ANSAs does not intend to legitimize them. In February 2022, Alain Délétroz, Geneva Call’s Director General, claimed that the organization adopts a "depoliticized talk" approach with ANSAs. As a humanitarian principled organization, Geneva Call undertakes humanitarian dialogue with all armed non-state actors to the conflict regardless of their ideologies, to increase the compliance with IHL and IHRL to better protect civilians from the negative effect of the armed conflicts. This includes, for instance, the Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo, present in North Kivu, the Ukrainian armed non-State actor Azov Special Operations Detachment, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, based in the Philippines. ==References==