ICRC News 01 / 11-Jan-01


** SHORT MENU....

Yugoslavia: ICRC reunites captured civilians with their families in Kosovo
Six Serbs captured by an armed group in the Bujanovac area of the so-called
Ground Safety Zone (GSZ) on 31 December 2000 were handed over the following
day to ICRC staff based in Gjilan-Gnilane, who took them to their homes in
Kosovo..

Yugoslavia: ICRC organizes family visits to detainees in Serbia
"I have only two sons. Both are detained in Belgrade and this was the first
time I had seen them in two years. I feel so relieved!" A few days after
seeing her sons, this woman from Kosovo still had joy in her eyes, which
the whole family could feel.

Israel and the occupied/autonomous territories: ICRC distributes food
parcels in Hebron
Families who have been worst hit by the strict curfew imposed on
Palestinian residents of Hebron for the last three months have been
receiving food parcels as part of an ongoing distribution programme
organized by the ICRC and the Palestine Red Crescent Society.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Yugoslavia
ICRC reunites captured civilians with their families in Kosovo

Six Serbs captured by an armed group in the Bujanovac area of the so-called
Ground Safety Zone (GSZ) on 31 December 2000 were handed over the following
day to ICRC staff based in Gjilan-Gnilane, who took them to their homes in
Kosovo. There they were able to join families and friends in celebrating
the new year.

In all, 15 people travelling from Kosovo to Serbia proper were detained in
this incident by ethnic Albanians from southern Serbia. Nine were quickly
released and made contact with the Red Cross in Bujanovac. ICRC delegates
in Nis then arranged for the transfer back to Kosovo of those of them who
wished to return.

This was the second time civilians detained in the GSZ had been handed over
to the ICRC. A week earlier, four other people had been reunited with their
families in the Gjilan-Gnilane area.

The ICRC maintains a constant presence in the 5-km-wide GSZ. From field
offices in Kosovo and Serbia proper, its teams work together to build up
confidence among the local population, authorities, and others, to carry
out protection work, and to provide relief assistance to the villages most
affected by the prevailing lack of security.

Further information: Gordana Milenkovic, ICRC Belgrade, tel. ++381 11 450
590

ICRC organizes family visits to detainees in Serbia

"I have only two sons. Both are detained in Belgrade and this was the first
time I had seen them in two years. I feel so relieved!" A few days after
seeing her sons, this woman from Kosovo still had joy in her eyes, which
the whole family could feel. Naturally, her greatest hope was to have them
both back in the house, but having seen their faces, heard their voices,
and held them in her arms gave her strength to wait.

On 29 December 2000, the ICRC organized the thirteenth family visit to a
place of detention in Serbia proper. Sixteen people, mostly mothers and
wives from different areas in Kosovo, were accompanied to Belgrade central
prison under the protection of the red cross emblem. There they were
allowed to spend one hour with their loved ones and to bring them a 20-kg
parcel packed with food and cigarettes.

The first such family visit took place in July 2000, and since then 126
people have had the opportunity to make contact with their loved ones.
Priority has been given to families who had been unable to visit their
relatives for a long time for financial reasons. The mother of a detainee
explained that although she could not go to Serbia because she did not have
proper identity papers, her sister went. "She talked with my son for one
hour. He has changed a lot in two years. He has grown up and put on weight,
and is in good health. It is as if I had seen him myself." 

The ICRC is currently visiting nearly 700 detainees in detention places in
Serbia. It has transported 1,277 released detainees back to Kosovo and has
handled more than 30,000 Red Cross messages between detainees and their
relatives since July 1999.

Further information: Caroline Douilliez, ICRC Pristina, tel. ++381 38 501
517/518/519/520


Israel and the occupied/autonomous territories
ICRC distributes food parcels in Hebron

Families who have been worst hit by the strict curfew imposed on
Palestinian residents of Hebron for the last three months have been
receiving food parcels as part of an ongoing distribution programme
organized by the ICRC and the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

In all, around 2,500 families will receive a one-off food parcel donated by
the Kuwait Red Crescent Society and containing basic provisions such as
rice, sugar, and oil. The distribution began last week and is expected to
take about 10 days.

Assessments of needs have been made recently by the ICRC and other
organizations working in territories where the Palestinian population has
been living under tight curfews imposed by the Israeli authorities. They
have revealed that for the time being there is no serious shortage of food
or other items in markets and shops. However, it does appear that many
families are facing increasing hardship due to loss of income resulting
from losing access to their places of work.

In view of the ongoing violence in the occupied and autonomous territories
and the deterioration of the situation in humanitarian terms, the ICRC,
with support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies, intends to intensify its monitoring of needs in order
to adapt and respond to the evolving situation.

Pictures of this operation will soon be available on the ICRC Web site
(www.icrc.org).

Further information: Uriel Masad, ICRC Tel Aviv, tel. ++972 35 24 52 86


During the weekend of 13 -14 January 2001, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 16