ICRC News 37 / 28-Sep-00

** SHORT MENU....

Liberia: ICRC and Liberian Red Cross aid the displaced
On 21 September the ICRC and the Liberia National Red Cross Society began
distributing relief supplies to displaced people, most of them women and
children, in the north-west of the country.


China: Cooperating to promote the law
The ICRC's regional delegation in Bangkok held the fourth regional seminar
for promoters of international humanitarian law from 17 to 22 September.


East Timor: Dili hospital: over 50,000 patients treated IN PAST year
On 6 September 1999 ICRC delegates were forcibly expelled from East Timor
by militiamen opposed to the territory's independence. The ICRC office was
looted and then burnt to the ground.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Liberia
ICRC and Liberian Red Cross aid the displaced

On 21 September the ICRC and the Liberia National Red Cross Society began
distributing relief supplies to displaced people, most of them women and
children, in the north-west of the country. There have been frequent
clashes in this region and in the neighbouring Republic of Guinea in recent
weeks. The displaced, who number some 7,700 (1,375 families), will receive
food for one month thanks to a donation from the World Food Programme.

Last week the ICRC and the National Society distributed cooking pots,
blankets and soap to an initial group of 600 individuals (102 families).

Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2281


China
Cooperating to promote the law

The ICRC's regional delegation in Bangkok held the fourth regional seminar
for promoters of international humanitarian law from 17 to 22 September.
Organized in conjunction with the Red Cross Society of China, the seminar
took place in Louyang, in Henan province. It was part of the "Dissemination
China 2001" project launched in 1999. The project aims to train those who
will spread knowledge of the law and people who will, in turn, teach others
to do so. Over a period of three years, courses will be held at Chinese Red
Cross headquarters and in each of the 31 provincial branches to ensure that
the message is spread to civil society, academic circles and the civilian
and military authorities.

All the subjects covered - the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, its
fundamental principles and humanitarian law itself - were presented by
Chinese Red Cross staff. The ICRC nevertheless has an important role to
play in providing additional information, replying to questions,
illustrating the subjects covered with examples from its delegates'
experience and providing continuous assessment of the project.

Further information: Hao Ren, ICRC Bangkok, tel. ++662 251 04 24
Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2224


East Timor
Dili hospital: over 50,000 patients treated IN PAST year

On 6 September 1999 ICRC delegates were forcibly expelled from East Timor
by militiamen opposed to the territory's independence. The ICRC office was
looted and then burnt to the ground.

An advance party of ICRC delegates and doctors who returned to Dili from
Jakarta on 14September 1999, six days before the arrival of the Interfet
multinational force, found the town's General Hospital virtually empty. Its
only occupants were 35 bedridden patients being cared for by sixvery
courageous Timorese nurses. All the other staff had left, and looters had
stripped  the hospital of its equipment. The same day the ICRC decided to
take over the hospital and restore vital medical services. Guarantees of
protection were secured from Indonesian military officers to prevent the
burning of the hospital buildings at a time when most other public
facilities in the territory were being destroyed. A medical team was
brought in from Geneva, and a fully-equipped field hospital donated by the
Norwegian Red Cross was set up in the main hospital compound.

ICRC expatriates and Timorese staff returning from hiding or from exile
were beginning to work together by the end of September 1999. This was the
first public service in East Timor to return to normal after the
destruction and violence of that tragic month.

During the past year, Dili hospital has admitted nearly 5,000 patients and
treated more than 46,000 outpatients. Today the 210-bed facility, which is
fully financed by the ICRC, is run by 26 ICRC medical expatriates and 311
Timorese staff. According to the medical strategy of the UN Transitional
Administration, it will soon become the national referral hospital for the
future State of Timor Lorosa'e, receiving special cases from four
provincial hospitals.

This is the first time for many years that the ICRC has managed and funded
all the services - surgery, intensive care, paediatrics,
gynaecology/obstetrics, tuberculosis treatment and general medicine - of a
central national hospital. More than 15 National Societies have seconded
medical personnel to Dili during the past year to support the ICRC in this
crucial and rather unusual operation.

Further information: Dominique Dufour, ICRC Dili, tel. ++670 390 321 228
Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2224


During the weekend of
30 September - 1 October 2000, for all information please call the press
officer on duty
Corinne Adam, on (mobile)
41 79 202 36 80