ICRC News 40 / 19-Oct-00
ICRC News 40 / 19-Oct-00
** SHORT MENU....
Nigeria: RED CROSS AIDS CLASH VICTIMS
The Nigerian Red Cross Society and the ICRC have been aiding victims of
fighting in the Ajegunle district of Lagos that started on 15 October.
Initial estimates put the number of dead at over 100, with several hundred
more injured in clashes between Hausa residents of the area and members of
the Yoruba "Odua People's Congress".
Algeria: Third series of ICRC visits to detainees
The ICRC carried out a third series of visits between 24 September and 15
October under an agreement reached in 1999 between the Algerian government
and the organization for visits to detainees in places of detention
administered by the Ministry of Justice.
Ethiopia / Eritrea: Ethiopians repatriated under ICRC auspices
Some 880 Ethiopian nationals and persons of Ethiopian origin travelled from
Eritrea to Ethiopia under ICRC auspices on Saturday 14 October.
Geneva: Protecting cultural property
A meeting on ways to protect cultural property when war breaks out took
place near Geneva on 5 and 6 October. It was attended by some 40
international experts, ICRC lawyers and an ICRC representative to the armed
forces.
** STORIES IN FULL...
Nigeria
RED CROSS AIDS CLASH VICTIMS
The Nigerian Red Cross Society and the ICRC have been aiding victims of
fighting in the Ajegunle district of Lagos that started on 15 October.
Initial estimates put the number of dead at over 100, with several hundred
more injured in clashes between Hausa residents of the area and members of
the Yoruba "Odua People's Congress". Some 2,500 Hausa families had to flee
their homes, seeking refuge in army barracks.
As public services were unable to evacuate the wounded, Nigerian Red Cross
volunteers and ICRC staff ferried 63 victims to four different Lagos
hospitals. The ICRC provided medical supplies to Zolinga Hospital and the
military hospital. The organization also supplied four 4,000-litre water
tanks and 5,000 plastic cups to ensure that people who have fled their
homes have sufficient drinking water. The Nigerian Red Cross contributed
4,000 buckets.
The ICRC, the Nigerian Red Cross and the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies are closely monitoring the situation,
ready to adjust the aid as required to treat the injured and meet the basic
needs of the evacuees.
Further information: Jean-Jacques Gacond, ICRC Lagos, tel. ++ 23 41 269 18
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Roland Sidler, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 20 45
Algeria
Third series of ICRC visits to detainees
The ICRC carried out a third series of visits between 24 September and 15
October under an agreement reached in 1999 between the Algerian government
and the organization for visits to detainees in places of detention
administered by the Ministry of Justice. Delegates went to 11 prisons run
by the courts of Algiers, Batna, and Chlef, where a total of 7,689 persons
were held. In the five places previously visited, delegates verified what
action had been taken in response to their recommendations, while in the
six visited for the first time they assessed the conditions of detention.
The four delegates had access to the entire premises of the prisons visited
and were able to see the detainees of their choice. They talked
individually and in private with 420 detainees - 159 of whom had been
arrested since the beginning of the year - to assess their conditions of
detention and the treatment they had received since their arrest. The
delegates also spoke with over 200 other detainees in groups. The places
visited comprised six remand centres, two rehabilitation centres (for
detainees with sentences of under one year) and three adaptation centres
(for detainees with sentences of a year or more).
The ICRC's observations regarding conditions of detention and treatment
were discussed with the detaining authorities both locally and at the
Ministry of Justice in Algiers. A report will shortly be sent to the
Algerian authorities summarizing the ICRC's findings and recommendations
arising from the three series of visits carried out so far.
Since the autumn of 1999, when the organization's detention-related work in
Algeria began, delegates have visited 23 places of detention and talked
privately with 1,183 detainees.
Further information: Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 26 78
Ethiopia / Eritrea
Ethiopians repatriated under ICRC auspices
Some 880 Ethiopian nationals and persons of Ethiopian origin travelled from
Eritrea to Ethiopia under ICRC auspices on Saturday 14 October.
Their transfer, which was facilitated by full cooperation from the
Ethiopian and Eritrean governments, was carried out between the Eritrean
town of Adi Quala and Rama, in Ethiopia. Prior discussions between the ICRC
and both governments made it possible to agree on conditions to ensure that
the process provided adequate guarantees of safety and dignity, as required
by international humanitarian law.
ICRC delegates based in Asmara registered the persons involved, who had
been living in Eritrea before the outbreak of the war between the two
countries, and conducted individual interviews to confirm that they indeed
wished to go to Ethiopia. Afterwards, with assistance from the Red Cross
Society of Eritrea, the ICRC accompanied them to the border, where they
were taken charge of by another ICRC team, this time based in Ethiopia, who
helped them cross the river dividing the two countries. Finally, the
returnees were taken by the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, with ICRC support,
to Adwa, where they were placed in the care of the Ethiopian authorities.
The ICRC will continue offering its services to the parties to the conflict
with a view to facilitating the transfer of those wishing to go from
Ethiopia to Eritrea or vice versa, and to promote compliance with the rules
and principles of international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva
Conventions and their Additional Protocols.
Further information: Bruce Mokaya, ICRC Asmara, tel. ++ 29 11 20 24 60 or
20 24 62
Alain Aeschlimann, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel. ++ 2511 518 366
Geneva
Protecting cultural property
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A meeting on ways to protect cultural property when war breaks out took
place near Geneva on 5 and 6 October. It was attended by some 40
international experts, ICRC lawyers and an ICRC representative to the armed
forces. Organized by the ICRC, the meeting's purpose was to discuss the
measures that should be taken to implement rules laid down by international
humanitarian law to protect cultural property. The main purpose was to
study practical implementation guidelines for individual governments. The
participants also assessed techniques already in use in different countries
to protect cultural property, pointed out a number of problems and
encouraged the development in individual countries of legislative and other
mechanisms to ensure more effective protection.
The meeting was a complete success. The ICRC's advisory service on
implementing humanitarian law will now work to follow up the participants'
recommendations. Existing guidelines will be amended to bring them into
line with the meeting's recommendations. In addition, a report on the
proceedings will be published and a table will be drawn up showing the
extent to which the world's States have become bound by the 1954 Hague
Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed
conflict, and by the protocols additional to that treaty.
Further information: Press Division, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 20 88
During the weekend of 21 -22 October 2000, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 16
Some 880 Ethiopian nationals and persons of Ethiopian origin travelled from
Eritrea to Ethiopia under ICRC auspices on Saturday 14 October.
Their transfer, which was facilitated by full cooperation from the
Ethiopian and Eritrean governments, was carried out between the Eritrean
town of Adi Quala and Rama, in Ethiopia. Prior discussions between the ICRC
and both governments made it possible to agree on conditions to ensure that
the process provided adequate guarantees of safety and dignity, as required
by international humanitarian law.
ICRC delegates based in Asmara registered the persons involved, who had
been living in Eritrea before the outbreak of the war between the two
countries, and conducted individual interviews to confirm that they indeed
wished to go to Ethiopia. Afterwards, with assistance from the Red Cross
Society of Eritrea, the ICRC accompanied them to the border, where they
were taken charge of by another ICRC team, this time based in Ethiopia, who
helped them cross the river dividing the two countries. Finally, the
returnees were taken by the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, with ICRC support,
to Adwa, where they were placed in the care of the Ethiopian authorities.
The ICRC will continue offering its services to the parties to the conflict
with a view to facilitating the transfer of those wishing to go from
Ethiopia to Eritrea or vice versa, and to promote compliance with the rules
and principles of international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva
Conventions and their Additional Protocols.
Further information: Bruce Mokaya, ICRC Asmara, tel. ++ 29 11 20 24 60 or
20 24 62
Alain Aeschlimann, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel. ++ 2511 518 366
Geneva
Protecting cultural property
1
A meeting on ways to protect cultural property when war breaks out took
place near Geneva on 5 and 6 October. It was attended by some 40
international experts, ICRC lawyers and an ICRC representative to the armed
forces. Organized by the ICRC, the meeting's purpose was to discuss the
measures that should be taken to implement rules laid down by international
humanitarian law to protect cultural property. The main purpose was to
study practical implementation guidelines for individual governments. The
participants also assessed techniques already in use in different countries
to protect cultural property, pointed out a number of problems and
encouraged the development in individual countries of legislative and other
mechanisms to ensure more effective protection.
The meeting was a complete success. The ICRC's advisory service on
implementing humanitarian law will now work to follow up the participants'
recommendations. Existing guidelines will be amended to bring them into
line with the meeting's recommendations. In addition, a report on the
proceedings will be published and a table will be drawn up showing the
extent to which the world's States have become bound by the 1954 Hague
Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed
conflict, and by the protocols additional to that treaty.
Further information: Press Division, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 20 88
During the weekend of 21 -22 October 2000, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 16
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