Re: [gnso-igo-ingo] RCRC Comments on the WG IGO/INGO template

["David W. Maher" <dmaher@xxxxxxx>]

I reiterate my position that the special protection of the Red Cross and Red 
Crescent, if any, should be based on policy issues related to humanitarian 
considerations, and not based on legal considerations. The laws referred to 
below do not have anything to do with ICANN's procedures for the registration 
of domain names.
David W. Maher
Senior Vice President – Law & Policy
Public Interest Registry
312 375 4849

From: Stephane Hankins <shankins@xxxxxxxx<mailto:shankins@xxxxxxxx>>
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2012 06:54:05 -0500
To: THOMAS RICKERT <rickert@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:rickert@xxxxxxxxxxx>>, 
"gnso-igo-ingo@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:gnso-igo-ingo@xxxxxxxxx>" 
<gnso-igo-ingo@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:gnso-igo-ingo@xxxxxxxxx>>, 
"gnso-secs@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:gnso-secs@xxxxxxxxx>" 
<gnso-secs@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:gnso-secs@xxxxxxxxx>>
Cc: "christopher.rassi@xxxxxxxx<mailto:christopher.rassi@xxxxxxxx>" 
<christopher.rassi@xxxxxxxx<mailto:christopher.rassi@xxxxxxxx>>
Subject: [gnso-igo-ingo] RCRC Comments on the WG IGO/INGO template

Dear Thomas, dear Berry, dear all,

(1) Further to yesterday's call, please find attached, the "Red Cross and Red 
Crescent" comments on the WG IGO/INGO Template distributed yesterday in track 
changes. As indicated during the call, we recommend that the wording 
"international organisations" be maintained throughout the document, as it will 
better allow to encompassall concerned organisations, thus including the 
international components of the the International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Movement which are considered to enjoy a distinct status under international 
law. The latter stems in particular from the ICRC's enjoyment of international 
mandates conferred upon it by the treaties of International Humanitarian Law, 
the observer status recognized to the International Committee of the Red Cross 
and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the 
UN GA, the participation of the components of the Movement in the International 
Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, in which States participate, the 
Headquarters Agreements concluded by the ICRC and the International Federation 
with many States and acknowledging inter alia the Organisations' diplomatic 
priviliges and immunities.

It should also to our mind be made clear in the template that the WG will 
require to examine and to take into due account also all distinctive grounds 
substantiating the requirements for the protection and reservation of the 
designations of the IO's under consideration and which would complement the 
affiliation of the said names to any given organisation. This should allow to 
fully and comprehensively reflect the global public interest in their 
protection. As recalled during yesterday's call, the words "Red Cross" and "Red 
Crescent" designations require to be protected, as stipulated under 
international law treaties, in their own right as the designations of the 
protective emblems of armed forces medical personnel in times of armed conflict 
(and not only, or exclusively, as part of the names of the respective 
components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, whether 
those of the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation 
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Afghan Red Crescent or American Red 
Cross).



(2) As a second point, we also wish to take this opportunity to emphasize, and 
thus following certain argumentspresented during the yesterday's call, that the 
protection of the Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Crystal and related 
designations is not being grounded or called for out of "sympathy" for the Red 
Cross and Red Crescent or for its humanitarian roles, but because the 
protection of these names stems and is a requirement under universally agreed 
international norms of international humanitarian law (194, soon to be 195 
States partiesto the 1949 Geneva Conventions).

(3) We take this opportunity to attach the Position Paper which we submitted to 
the Board on 13 June 2012. There are also, as participants in the former 
Drafting Group on IOC/RC will recall, a series of other past submissions of the 
RCRC shared since the beginning of this year.



With best regards,

Stéphane J. Hankins
Legal adviser
Cooperation and coordination within the Movement
International Committee of the Red Cross
Tel (direct line): ++0041 22 730 24 19

Christopher M. Rassi
Senior Legal Officer
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Chemin des Crêts, 17|1209 Petit Saconnex |Geneva|Switzerland
Tel. +41 (0)22 730 4536 | Fax +41 (0)22 733 0395
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