Just half of Britons think civilians should be protected from attack during wartime, reveals a survey commissioned by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The 'People on War' survey, conducted by polling group ICM on behalf of the ICRC, asked 1,000 people in Great Britain if military engagement should be limited to targeting combatants only, with civilians left completely alone. Only 51 percent of respondents agreed.

The findings were presented at a conference in London today (12 December) called Dispatches from Disasters, which debated issues affecting journalists and aid agencies working in war or disaster zones.

People on War results

In 1999, before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 72 per cent of those quizzed in a similar poll said civilians should be afforded protection. However, 57 per cent think that Britain should not get involved in wars abroad at all – up from 47 per cent in 1999.Reporting the results, Martin Boon from ICM said: "The views on civilians are clearly a very worrying development, but it is reassuring that the survey found the British public feel that there is no need for wars in the modern age."

An increased number of people found the taking of civilian hostages abhorrent, with 85 per cent opposed to this in 2007 compared to 75 per cent in 1999.

Four-fifths of those polled said prisoners of war should not be subjected to torture, even if it was to obtain important military information, and that the authorities should allow prisoners to be visited by an independent organisation.

Geneva Conventions

An overwhelming majority of people (92 per cent) said they had heard of the Geneva Conventions but an increasing number were sceptical about their effectiveness.

Panel members Yves Daccord, ICRC communications director, and Hugo Slim, Corporates for Crisis director, debated the survey with discussion from a floor of journalists and aid agency staff.

"I think the survey shows Britons are much more engaged in the debate about warfare than eight years ago and there is a lot more ambiguity about issues raised by war," Yves Daccord said.

Hugo Slim welcomed the survey as a way of "holding a mirror" to society and asking it to debate seriously a very important issue – the question of human violence.

Other debates at the conference included the challenges facing journalists to tell the 'human story' of people affected by war and climate change as a factor in conflict.