In a sporadic way since 1919, then systematically from the late 1960s, the ICRC has endeavoured to carry out its humanitarian activities in situations of internal disturbances and tensions, in particular to give protection and assistance to persons imprisoned in such circumstances and commonly referred to as “political detainees”.The ICRC's rules of conduct in such situations were presented at the Twenty-third International Conference of the Red Cross (Bucharest, 1977) as part of the document entitled “The ICRC, the League and the Report on the Re-appraisal of the Role of the Red Cross”.