The event was inaugurated by ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric and Air Chief Marshal Fayyadh Al Ruwaili, at the Saudi National Defence University (SANDU). This marks the first time Saudi Arabia hosts SWIRMO, highlighting its growing role in advancing dialogue on IHL and responsible military conduct.
The 18th edition of the Senior Workshop on International Rules Governing Military Operations (SWIRMO) was held in Riyadh from November 1 to 6, 2025. During the event, two delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Armed Forces and Security Department revealed to “Al Insani Blog” how this annual meeting, like the ICRC’s work throughout the year, contributes to transforming the abstract legal principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) into operational plans that can be used by the military, and why the “decision taken solely by human beings” remains the decisive factor in contemporary wars.
In a closed room, far from the roar of artillery, senior military leaders from dozens of countries sit around the same table. Before them are maps of a complex strategic operation, but they are not looking into it solely through a military lens; rather, through what ICRC experts call “the green lens… the lens of humanity.”
The SWIRMO is a practical exercise in integrating law into the highest levels of military planning. Ashraf Kandil, ICRC Armed Forces Coordinator and an expert in IHL, explains:
What the participants are interested in is the practical application of IHL; how it is translated from theory into practical procedures within armed forces operations, whether at the strategic or operational level.
This workshop, a major annual event for the ICRC since 2007 which brings together high-ranking officers from colonel to brigadier general from over 90 countries, is a key part of the ICRC’s mandate to promote and disseminate IHL. But, as Kandil points out, “What makes the difference” is the background of the trainers themselves; they are not academics, but rather “experienced retired officers.” The ICRC’s Armed Forces and Security Services (FAS) program relies heavily on former military and security officers, specialists like retired Major General Hani Nakhleh, who spent 30 years in the Lebanese Armed Forces and nine years as a UN military expert on security sector reform, ceasefires, and negotiations. Another is retired Brigadier General Ashraf Kandil, who brings experience from UN and African Union missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
Nakhleh, the ICRC’s regional delegate in Sudan, explains: “The ICRC’s delegates to the armed and security forces wear two hats: a humanitarian hat and a military one. We translate the humanitarian concern into a military concept, and in return, we translate the operational dimension and military concepts into humanitarian concepts for our colleagues [in the ICRC].”
This dual “translation” is at the heart of their work. A platform like SWIRMO has three clear objectives, as Nakhleh summarizes:
First, to update senior leaders on the application of IHL in contemporary warfare, particularly in the planning and decision-making processes; second, to improve their understanding and acceptance of the ICRC’s mission and principles; and third, which is very important, is to strengthen communication and outreach networks.
These networks are not merely public relations; they are the infrastructure for future humanitarian impact. Nakhleh recalls a participant from Ghana, a country with whose armed forces the ICRC had no contact: “After he returned, he opened all doors for us. I met with the Chief of Staff, and then we developed an annual work program with the Ghanian Armed Forces.”
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