the international committee of the red cross (icrc) is a humanitarian institution based in geneva, switzerland, and a three-time nobel prize laureate. state parties (signatories) to the geneva convention of 1949 and its additional protocols of 1977 (protocol i, protocol ii) and 2005 have given the icrc a mandate to protect victims of international and internal armed conflicts. such victims include war wounded, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants.