IRRC No. 211
The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross (II)
Reading time 4 min read
Share this article
Abstract
Francis Bacon once wrote that a man who does not treat his neighbour humanely is not truly human. The ideal of the Red Cross is much greater than its own action. It does not therefore limit itself to assistance and protection, but demands that everyone must respect the human person, his life, liberty and happiness—in other words, everything that constitutes his existence. This must naturally correspond to the requirements of public order and, in wartime, of military necessity.