Abstract

HERNANDEZ-CONESA, Juana María. 150 Years of the Spanish Red Cross: humanitarian assistance as a human right. Index Enferm [online]. 2014, vol.23, n.4, pp.260-263. ISSN 1699-5988.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S1132-12962014000300014.

Spain has been connected to the Red Cross since its founding, now 150 years ago. Its inspirer, Henry Dunant, gave this world the legacy of the idea of humanitarian assistance as a human right. In 1863, a Spanish delegation attended the First International Conference in Geneva, where the International Committee of the Red Cross was created. Spain was the seventh nation to have ratified the First Geneva Convention in 1864, undertaking the obligation of impartially coming to the aid of all those wounded in war and to protect the civilians rendering help under the Red Cross symbol. This analysis focuses on the development of this right, invoking International Humanitarian Law. Similarly, it sets out the evolution of the Law of The Hague and the Law of Geneva. Concluding that, in the evolution of both of these bodies of law, the nature of humanitarian assistance is explained as a human right.

Keywords : Red Cross; Human Rights; International Humanitarian Law; Humanitarian Assistance.