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GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 12 (UPI) The findings of a unique, large- scale study showing that the majority of the world's people firmly believe in principles governing international humanitarian laws were released in Geneva Tuesday.
Sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the aim of the year-long project was to encourage the discussion of the humanitarian law in wartime, and to increase the worldwide awareness of the rules that already exist for people's protection in times of conflict.
The People on War project, launched by the Geneva-based ICRC last October, surveyed 20,000 people in 17 countries, including war-ravaged regions, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lebanon, Somalia and Colombia.
In what it calls "the most important and innovative piece of social research ever done on war," the ICRC aimed to cover all continents and different types of conflicts that have marked the past 50 years. Civilians, soldiers, prisoners of war, guerrillas, rebel groups and paramilitaries were among those interviewed by the organization.
"When launching this project, we decided to adopt a grassroots approach of listening to people, giving them a voice with the intention of reducing the suffering of future victims," project coordinator Christophe Girod told United Press International.
The study showed that despite differences in cultures as well as current and past conflicts experienced, an overwhelming majority of those surveyed believe that civilians should not be attacked in times of war.
"What we have learned from this project is that there is a universal belief in principles of international humanitarian law," Girod said. "We would now like to find a new, pro-active way of disseminating these principles so that they are respected in the heat of the battle."
ICRC runs international relief operations and acts as a neutral intermediary between parties at war.