ICRC News 02 / 26-Jan-00

Egypt
Implementing the law

A committee has been formed to advise the Egyptian government on ways of
implementing international humanitarian law and making its rules better
known. The committee was created under a decree issued by the Prime
Minister on 23 January 2000. It will comprise officials from the Ministries
of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Defence, the Interior, and Higher Education.
The Egyptian Red Crescent Society and the ICRC's Cairo delegation will also
be represented.

The Geneva Conventions, their two Additional Protocols and the other
international treaties that make up humanitarian law contain measures
intended to prevent unnecessary suffering and to safeguard human dignity in
wartime. The committee will look into ways of spreading knowledge of these
provisions and enhancing their implementation. It will also suggest means
of improving training for those whose task it is to promote the law and
facilitating the exchange of information among organizations involved in
that effort.

The Ministry of Justice will provide financial, technical and secretarial
support to the committee and follow up its recommendations. The ministry
will also set up a documentation and information unit to compile
legislation and regulations - both local and foreign - relating to this
body of law.

The committee's creation represents a major step toward anchoring
humanitarian law in Egyptian legislation and raising awareness of its
provisions among both government officials and the general public. It is
the fruit of close cooperation between the ICRC, the Egyptian Red Crescent
and the Ministry of Justice which led to the holding of an Arab regional
conference in November to mark the 50th anniversary of the Geneva
Conventions. The "Cairo Declaration" issued by that conference recommended
that national committees be set up in Arab countries to promote awareness
of and respect for international humanitarian law.

Further information: Roland Huguenin, ICRC Cairo, tel. ++202 337 92 82


New on the ICRC's public server (http://www.icrc.org):

-   Fact sheets - all dated January 2000 - on the organization's activities
in Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of
the Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

-   Fact sheets - all dated January 2000 - on the work of ICRC regional
delegations in Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe.


During the weekend of 29 - 30 January 2000, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 16