Page 199 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

As early as the sixteenth century, Geneva established itself as one of the
largest religious and political centers of Europe, having become, thanks to
Calvin, a "Protestant Rome", a city of refuge, and having accepted countless
refugees persecuted because of their political convictions and religious beliefs.
This spiritual dimension, thanks to Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire, was
soon supplemented by a dimension of intellectual creativity and humanism.
Rousseau liked to say that he was a citizen of Geneva, and Voltaire in his
declining years settled in the town of Ferney, near Geneva. Those champions
of freedom and tolerance, those forerunners of the French Revolution – a
revolution inspired by the ideals of human rights – were first and foremost sons
of Geneva. Their ideas were destined to spread around the world and turn
Geneva into a center of culture, a place where ways to improve society are
discussed.

In Geneva, people of goodwill spared no effort to make life more humane
for people around the world. Here, it is appropriate to cite the example of
Count Jean-Jacques de Sellon, the founder and president of the Peace Society.
It is often forgotten that he was an ardent supporter of the abolition of the
death penalty. He also wished for mutual understanding and mutual respect
among people and for a system of international arbitration in relations between
States. Thus, he proposed the creation of an arbitral tribunal with more exten-
sive powers than those of Governments, which would be responsible for
resolving conflicts. Finally, and in this he really anticipated the future, he advo-
cated "the establishment of a permanent body composed of representatives of
various powers." This dream, and it was 1830 then, was destined to come true
after almost 50 years with the founding of the Red Cross and the creation, less
than 100 years later, of the League of Nations as the predecessor of the UN.

I will not dwell on the establishment of the Red Cross after the signing in
the "Alabama Hall" of the first Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded. Today, its authority is undeniable, but credit must
be paid to the tenacity of Henri Dunant and his friends whose proposals were
then coolly received by Governments and the military. Only by the power of
persuasion, diplomacy and appealing to public opinion were they able to give a
decisive impetus to the development of the concept of solidarity across
borders, solidarity, which, both then and now, is needed by those who are least
able to take care of themselves, namely the wounded, prisoners of war and
civilians. This was, to use a comparison, one of the first examples of the "duty to
intervene", which is now much talked about and which is now beginning to be
put into practice in many crisis situations.

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