Related Rule
Côte d’Ivoire
Practice Relating to Rule 124. ICRC Access to Persons Deprived of Their Liberty
Côte d’Ivoire’s Teaching Manual (2007) provides in Book I (Basic instruction):
Lesson 3. Rules on behaviour in combat
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I. Rules on behaviour
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Enemy combatant prisoners
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- allow the ICRC to visit them.
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II. Rights and duties of prisoners of war
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The prisoner of war is an enemy combatant hors de combat due to the fact of his capture. As such, he enjoys a legal status which guarantees him rights.
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- the ICRC has the right to visit the places of detention,
- other national and international humanitarian organizations can equally be authorized to visit the places of detention which must remain protected,
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Lesson 5. The International Committee of the Red Cross
The aim of this lesson is to familiarize the soldier with the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] generally and in particular in times of armed conflict.
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… To protect and assist the victims of situations of armed conflict and disturbances, the ICRC undertakes several activities in their favour
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- it visits persons who are deprived of their liberty (prisoners of war, “political” detainees …) and who could be victims of arbitrary treatment; (for security reasons, this activity can only be carried out by the delegates of the ICRC and not by the members of the National Society):
Whatever the circumstances, the ICRC applies the following criteria within the framework of its activities for detainees and prisoners:
- its delegates must be allowed to visit all the prisoners (or detainees) and to talk freely with them, without witness;
- they must have access to all places of detention and must be allowed to repeat their visits;
- they must receive lists of all the persons to visit (or must themselves be able to establish such lists).
Côte d’Ivoire, Droit de la guerre, Manuel d’instruction, Livre I: Instruction de base, Ministère de la Défense, Forces Armées Nationales, November 2007, pp. 21, 24, 27 and 33–34; see also Droit de la guerre, Manuel d’instruction, Livre II: Instruction du gradé et du cadre, Manuel de l’instructeur, Ministère de la Défense, Forces Armées Nationales, November 2007, pp. 18, 32 and 24–35; Droit de la guerre, Manuel d’instruction, Livre III, Tome 1: Instruction de l’élève officier d’active de 1ère année, Manuel de l’élève, Ministère de la Défense, Forces Armées Nationales, November 2007, pp. 55–56.
