By Ahmad Hallak, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mission in El Salvador
Humanitarian Balance 2022-2023
In turbulent times when situations of violence affect the daily routine of communities and generate profound humanitarian consequences, it is common for neutrality to be questioned, misinterpreted and condemned, and even confused with indifference, silence and passivity.
However, it is important to understand that being neutral does not mean turning away from human suffering; that public silence is not indifference. Not taking sides in political, religious or other controversies allows the ICRC, as part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, to open doors to reach those in need of humanitarian aid. This principle assumes empathy, compassion for victims of gun violence, and the ability to raise our concerns directly and confidentially with those who have the power to change the situation.
Neutrality is a vital tool for the ICRC to create environments of trust, open channels of communication, promote improvements and ensure the safety of its staff through confidential dialogue. The main purpose of this mode of action is to preserve the confidence of both the authorities and the population, to get where our humanitarian work is needed.
In El Salvador, neutrality allowed us to reestablish contact between family members who had lost communication during the armed conflict. It also gives us the chance to continue working on behalf of migrants, returnees or internally displaced persons, and the relatives of disappeared persons, as well as reaching places of detention and areas affected by violence where we can improve access to health. and education, rebuilding the social fabric, promoting community organization and carrying out other actions that change lives.
Being neutral does not mean being silent in the face of human suffering either. Instead, the ICRC maintains a confidential bilateral dialogue with those who can have a positive influence on people’s lives and meet their needs. It is an essential work modality of our organization that, in the 160 years of its existence, has allowed it to forge relationships of trust, open communication channels and promote changes. An international humanitarian organization will have a better chance of being accepted by all parties if it acts in a truly neutral and independent manner.
It is not an easy task to show the importance of the principle of neutrality, even more so when the work of the Movement may be the subject of social, religious or political controversies. Disregarding and threatening this principle implies risking the assistance and protection that the institution can provide to people affected by situations of armed violence.
Hans Haug, former president of the Swiss Red Cross and author of the book Humanity for All: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, warned surgically: “If the Movement wants to be a global community serving relief of human suffering, at all times and in all places, and, according to the definition of the principle of ‘humanity’, to promote ‘mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace among all peoples’, must respect very strictly and faithfully, in case of both armed conflict and peacetime dispute, this principle of neutrality”.
A world without neutral and impartial humanitarian action is a bleaker place for victims and for all.