Weapons Speak, Humanity Suffers

International humanitarian law is a niche area, it is that branch of international law that is underdeveloped and is still under construction. This essay tries to focus the attention of its audience towards the meaning and importance of this emerging branch of law. International humanitarian law is contradictory in its subject matter; it is an oxymoron because a situation of war can never be humanitarian. The essay also explains the objectives and principles of International humanitarian law. The essay opens up with the origin and development of IHL, how it has opened doors for humanization of warfare followed by the history and birth of international committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. Further the role of ICRC as the protector and guardian of international humanitarian law is also presented. The legal aspects of the Hague conventions and the Geneva conventions are discussed focusing on the rules framed and agreed upon by the states during warfare. The main aim of this piece of writing is to sensitize the readers towards the need of such law that governs the acts and conduct of sovereign states and the parties to the conflict in the worst situations like a battlefield. In the end it is left open to the audience to ponder upon how to make IHL a more effective branch of law