Attacks on Humanitarian Personnel

An attack directed against personnel, installations, materiel, a unit, or a vehicle involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the United Nations Charter, so long as such personnel and objects are entitled to the protection given to a civilian or civilian object under international humanitarian law, codified as a distinct war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Documented attacks on humanitarian personnel include the killing and kidnapping of aid workers, peacekeepers, and staff of organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and United Nations agencies in a number of conflict zones, and the Aid Worker Security Database, maintained by the organization Humanitarian Outcomes, tracks such attacks worldwide, recording a substantial and, in a number of recent years, rising number of aid workers killed, wounded, or kidnapped in the course of their humanitarian work.