Bosnia and Herzegovina - ICRC: 29 November 1996
Bosnia and Herzegovina - ICRC: 29 November 1996
International Committee of the Red Cross
29-Nov-96
Formaer Yugoslavia in 1996
DETAINEES
In regard of the implementation of the Dayton peace agreement, 1102
detainees were released in Bosnia and Herzegovina since December 1995.
Today, the ICRC still pays regular visits to 151 detainees in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. These detainees are either visited because they are held by
ethnic groups other than their own, irrespective of the charges against
them or because they are accused or convicted of war crimes (13).
In Croatia, the ICRC continues to assess the living conditions and
treatment of more than 100 detainees in 14 places of detention, held in
connection with the conflict or for security-related offences. They
included 18 Bosnian Serbs, arrested in either Bosnia or Croatia and
detained under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence. The ICRC
actively advocates the release of these people who are still being held
one year after the end of active hostilities in Croatia.
In Yugoslavia, since being given permission by the Federal Ministry of
Defence in mid-June, the ICRC visits several prisoners, mainly of Croat
origin, detained for reasons of state security. The ICRC also continues
to visit some 60 persons of Albanian origin arrested for reasons related
to state security and held in several places of detention, mainly in
Kosovo.
MISSING PERSONS
One year after hostilities ended in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thousands of
families remain without news from their missing relatives. The ICRC's
mandate to help these families in their quest for reliable answers was
affirmed by the Dayton Peace agreement (Annex 7, article 5).
1. Gathering requests from the families
Relying on a Red Cross network throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and
worldwide, the ICRC gathered so far close to 16'000 individual tracing
requests directly from the families of those who remain unaccounted for.
2. Calling for answers from the authorities
The ICRC has set up and chairs a Working Group in which the three former
warring parties of Bosnia and Herzegovina are participating. All
individual tracing requests and replies are officially processed by this
Working Group which met for the ninth time on November 26, 1996 in
Sarajevo (next meeting scheduled for December 13, 1996 in Sarajevo).
3. Additional information
The ICRC firmly believes that answers to these cases of missing persons
lie to a large extent with the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. To ease
the collection of this information, the ICRC has published the names of
persons for whom individual tracing requests have been collected. In
September a second edition of 14'000 names has been published at 3'300
copies distributed to all involved members of the Red Cross network. A
third publication is foreseen for the beginning of 1997. Furthermore, the
names of the missing persons can be found on the ICRC public server on
the Internet: http://www.icrc.org
HEALTH
Throughout the conflicts that have shattered former Yugoslavia since
1991, the ICRC has provided regular medical and surgical assistance to
existing medical structures. This assistance is still being provided: in
1996, 190 medical structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Eastern
Slavonia are regularly supplied with surgical material. Out of these 190
medical structures, 104 also receive supplies of essential drugs for
chronic diseases.
WATER AND SANITATION
In collaboration with 7 National Red Cross societies, the ICRC runs water
and sanitation maintenance programmes throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Eastern Slavonia. ICRC engineers made regular deliveries of a total
of approximately 30 tonnes of chlorine to water boards to ensure adequate
water quality.
The British, Danish, German and Swedish National Societies participated
in ICRC-delegated water and sanitation projects. A new programme for
cleaning sewage systems was started in the Federation and Republika
Srpska to avoid emergency situations that could threaten public health.
MINE AWARENESS PROGRAMME
In the climate of post-war uncertainty and with the former front line
areas still riddled with mines, the ICRC has launched a broad information
campaign. The campaign is conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as
in Croatia with the participation of 120 local Red Cross branches.
Posters, radio and TV spots as well as T-shirts for children have been
developed to help spread the message to the general public. Seven local
mine awareness officers were trained. They have since trained 70 local
mine-awareness instructors who will give presentations to the various
communities.
WINTER ASSISTANCE
After one year, the Dayton Peace agreement has shown limited concrete
results in the daily economy. While the main concern remains
rehabilitation and reintegration of displaced people and refugees, many
social needs are far from being covered. The ICRC has identified three
categories of particularly vulnerable groups of the population:
- The persons displaced from 1994 to 1995
- The newly returnees or resettled persons
- The most vulnerable among the social cases
The objective of the ICRC is to assist up to 120'000 persons considered
as the most vulnerable amongst the three a/m categories. This programme
is presently being carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Eastern
Slavonia.
The non-food items, such as blankets, stoves, candles, winter clothing
and shoes) are being bought locally, with the purpose to support the
local economy.
The ICRC winter programme is planned as a complement to joint programmes
of National Red Cross societies which are currently running and assisting
on the long term a total case load of 230'000 persons all over Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Eastern Slavonia, with food distributions, kitchen
programmes, hygiene parcels and baby kits.
Total number of beneficiaries: 350'000 persons
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