As announced, the second session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts was held from 3 February to 18 April 1975 at the International Conference Centre, Geneva. The Conference, which was convened by Switzerland as Depositary State of the Geneva Conventions, was presided over with distinction by Mr. Pierre Graber, President of the Confederation. It was attended by representatives of 121 countries. The time has now come to report on its proceedings which are so important to the Red Cross and to mankind as a whole.

In November 1974, the International Committee of the Red Cross sent governments a provisional mimeographed edition of the report on the work of the Conference of Government Experts on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (Lucerne, 24 September-18 October 1974). This report was also sent to the United Nations Secretary-General, who transmitted it to the First Committee of the General Assembly, whose agenda contained the item: “Napalm and other incendiary weapons”. The printed edition was issued in January 1975, in English, French and Spanish, and was consulted by the Ad Hoc Committee on Weapons at the second session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts (Geneva, 3 February-18 April 1975).