Definitions are often the first step toward granting or denying a person's rights. The Guide's aim is to return precise meaning and content to terms such as "refugee", "genocide", and "human rights" -- terms that the media have introduced into everyday conversation, yet whose legal and political meanings are often obscure.
The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law explains the terms, concepts, and rules which constitute humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries. Written from the perspective of victims and those who bring them assistance, the Guide effectively interprets the relevant international conventions and legal instruments applicable in situations of danger; describes the populations and persons who must be protected; enumerates the rights of victims and humanitarian organizations in times of conflict, tension, and other crises; and defines the crimes set forth by humanitarian law and the recourses it provides. It also explains the rights, duties, and responsibilities of,the various national, international, and non-governmental actors in these situations and their margins of action, and lists the legal arguments that will enable them to defend their relief initiatives. Published in cooperation with Doctors Without Borders/Medecins sans Frontiers.
