ICRC News 13 / 05-Apr-01


** SHORT MENU....
Afghanistan
Home-care programme stepped up in Kabul

Eighty persons were recently accepted as new beneficiaries of the ICRC's
home-care programme in Kabul. Identified during recent relief
distributions, all are partially or totally paralysed by spinal cord
injuries.

Rwanda
Emergency aid in Rilima Prison

Over the last few days, the ICRC has stepped up its aid to Rilima prison,
situated in the region of Bugesera, south-east Rwanda. The majority of the
7,400 inmates are being held awaiting trial, but deteriorating hygiene has
killed dozens over the last few months.

Liberia
Displaced people return home

Between 27 February and 28 March, more than 1,500 displaced people were
brought back by boat from Monrovia, the Liberian capital, to the coastal
cities of Greenville and Harper. This marked the end of a four-stage
operation organized by the ICRC in cooperation with the Liberia National
Red Cross Society and the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement
Commission.

Eritrea
First workshop with Eritrean police force

>From 26 to 31 March the ICRC delegation in Asmara conducted a workshop
with the Eritrean police on international humanitarian law and human
rights law. The six-day workshop linked theory and practice by presenting
day-to-day issues of policing within the framework of international law.

Sudan
First law of war course for Sudanese Air Force officers

As part of a programme to incorporate international humanitarian law into
the training of the Sudanese armed forces, 40 Sudanese Air Force officers
- mainly fighter pilots - attended a law of war course in Khartoum at the
end of March.

Bosnia-Herzegovina
"LEMON" aid

On 30 March, in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, 26 nurses from all over
Bosnia-Herzegovina attended an ICRC-sponsored meeting on the "Learning
Materials On Nursing" (LEMON) project. LEMON is part of a general reform
of primary health-care services currently under way in Bosnia-Herzegovina.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Afghanistan
Home-care programme stepped up in Kabul

Eighty persons were recently accepted as new beneficiaries of the ICRC's
home-care programme in Kabul. Identified during recent relief
distributions, all are partially or totally paralysed by spinal cord
injuries. The organization's home-care staff will soon start providing
them with rehabilitation, economic aid and medical, psychological and
social care within their community.

Based at the ICRC's physical rehabilitation centre in Kabul, the programme
is already assisting 323 individuals. It focuses on people who in most
cases live in and around Kabul city and have very little, if any, social
contact beyond their families. Depending on the injury and the patient's
present condition, the home-care team visits him or her once a week, or
once or twice a month.

"Most of our patients have been injured by walls falling on them, by
shelling or by gunshot wounds during the time of the fighting in Kabul",
explained Lisa White, the ICRC physiotherapist in charge of the programme.
"Others may have had an accident or suffered a disease that has paralysed
them for life. All of them have, at some point, received treatment here at
the centre. But they desperately need follow-up and further care at home."

The programme has been running since 1996. Besides receiving specialized
physiotherapy and treatment for pressure sores in their homes, the
home-care team provides the victim's family with food rations for three
months at a time and gives the patient the opportunity to take out small
loans aimed at enabling him to start some type of small business.

The programme's objective is not simply to treat the patients at home
because they have no access to rehabilitation elsewhere, it is also to
help the victim's loved ones understand the disability. "We take the time
to teach the family how to assist them with basic daily tasks such as
getting into and out of a wheelchair and doing their exercises", Ms White
said. "And we encourage them to find ways to have as normal a life as
possible within their communities."

Owing to the high proportion of paralysis victims in Kabul's population,
that is the only place where the home-care programme is currently
operating. However, for amputees and others requiring orthopaedic care the
ICRC also has physical rehabilitation centres in Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat,
Jalalabad and Gulbahar. To date, over 42,000 patients have been treated at
the centres.

Further information: Mario Musa, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++ 873 761 242 260
Françoise Derron, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 21 01


Rwanda
Emergency aid in Rilima Prison

Over the last few days, the ICRC has stepped up its aid to Rilima prison,
situated in the region of Bugesera, south-east Rwanda. The majority of the
7,400 inmates are being held awaiting trial, but deteriorating hygiene has
killed dozens over the last few months. Poor detention conditions and lack
of food are accentuating the effects of malaria (endemic in the region),
typhus (diagnosis still to be confirmed) and diarrhoea.

A week ago, the ICRC initiated measures to increase the amount of water
available at the prison, repairing a pump and installing additional
storage tanks. The organization is currently arranging treatment for
dozens of the most severely ill detainees, having already supplied the
necessary medicines. The ICRC is also ready to assist the Rwandan
authorities in fully disinfecting the prison, for which the materials
required will be available in a few days. The health and interior
ministries have been briefed on the seriousness of the situation in this
prison.

The ICRC lacks the means to take over from the Rwandan authorities, and
nor does it wish to do so; it is the authorities who are responsible for
detainee health and prison hygiene in their country. The ICRC is
encouraging the bodies responsible to devote the attention and resources
to this problem that it requires, while fully aware that the Rwandan
population at large does not necessarily live under hygienic conditions or
have access to health care.

The ICRC delegation is maintaining contact with the Rwandan authorities,
both locally and at the highest level, in an effort to improve the
functioning of the bodies responsible for Rilima prison and all other
places of detention in Rwanda. The aim is that preventive measures taken
by the government should prevent any recurrence of a similar emergency in
the coming months.

The ICRC makes regular visits to places of detention in Rwanda, meeting
over half the food requirements of 92,000 detainees spread over 19 central
prisons.

Rwanda is currently trying to deal with the problem of holding 115,000
detainees, most of them accused of involvement in the genocide of April to
July 1994. Some 20,000 are being held in village lockups, of which
three-quarters are in the provinces of Gitarama and Butare.

Further information: Rolin Wavre, ICRC Kigali, Tel.: ++250 77 344


Liberia
Displaced people return home

Between 27 February and 28 March, more than 1,500 displaced people were
brought back by boat from Monrovia, the Liberian capital, to the coastal
cities of Greenville and Harper. This marked the end of a four-stage
operation organized by the ICRC in cooperation with the Liberia National
Red Cross Society and the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement
Commission. Those returning to their homes had fled the conflict area in
south-eastern Liberia during the 1990s to take refuge in Monrovia, where
they had lived a precarious existence ever since.

For their journey by boat, which lasted between 36 and 48 hours, the
passengers were given food, water and blankets. Upon arrival in Greenville
and Harper, they were cared for in a transit centre. Most were then
ferried by truck to their home regions. They were given tarpaulins and
soap by the ICRC and dry food rations (50 kg for four persons) by the
World Food Programme.

Of the 2,700 or so displaced people registered by the ICRC, nearly 1,200
decided in the end to remain in Monrovia. The other 1,500 chose to return
to their home villages with the help of the ICRC. The majority of these
were women (45% of the registered heads of households) and children.
Several international humanitarian organizations took part in this
operation.

Further information: Jean Nordmann, ICRC Monrovia, tel. ++231 227 992


Eritrea
First workshop with Eritrean police force

>From 26 to 31 March the ICRC delegation in Asmara conducted a workshop
with the Eritrean police on international humanitarian law and human
rights law. The six-day workshop linked theory and practice by presenting
day-to-day issues of policing within the framework of international law.
Twenty-one senior police officers took part, including several who are
themselves full-time training professionals at the Eritrean Police
Training Centre in Asmara.

The workshop focused on the following topics: law enforcement; ethical and
legal police conduct; prevention and detection of crime; arrest and
detention; asylum seekers, refugees and internally displaced people;
maintenance of public order; command and management; use of force and
firearms; and vulnerable groups, with particular emphasis on women and
children.

This is the first such collaboration between the Eritrean police force and
the ICRC. It was facilitated by Erling Melkjorsen, the ICRC Regional
Delegate for Armed and Security Forces, who is himself a senior police
officer currently on leave from the Danish police.

Further information: Paul Conneally, ICRC Asmara, tel. ++29 11 18 11 30
Sudan
First law of war course for Sudanese Air Force officers

As part of a programme to incorporate international humanitarian law into
the training of the Sudanese armed forces, 40 Sudanese Air Force officers
- mainly fighter pilots - attended a law of war course in Khartoum at the
end of March. The course was organized by the ICRC delegation in Sudan and
given by an Indian instructor specialized in this type of training.

The seminar - the first of its kind for the Sudanese Air Force - examined
humanitarian law issues, focusing on the rules of air warfare and the
responsibilities of commanders. Participants carried out practical
exercises related to air attack and defence, familiarizing themselves with
the law as it affects air operations and studying the importance of
correct military conduct.

At the closing ceremony, the new Commander of the Sudanese Air Force - in
his first public appearance since taking up this post - expressed his
support for the inclusion of international humanitarian law in air force
training and his commitment to ensuring that all Air Force personnel
applied the law.

Further information: Loukas Petridis, ICRC Khartoum, tel.: ++249 11 476465


Bosnia-Herzegovina
"LEMON" aid

On 30 March, in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, 26 nurses from all over
Bosnia-Herzegovina attended an ICRC-sponsored meeting on the "Learning
Materials On Nursing" (LEMON) project. LEMON is part of a general reform
of primary health-care services currently under way in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

One of the aims of LEMON training, which was developed by the World Health
Organization for countries in Central and Eastern Europe, is to promote a
more holistic approach to health care by introducing a modern concept of
nursing and supporting a more independent role for nurses. Indeed, LEMON's
core principle is that nurses have a key role to play in health care in
their own right. The training focuses on such topics as preventing
ill-health, and care during illness, rehabilitation and dying.

Zeljko Misanovic, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's
newly-appointed Minister of Health, attended the Ilidza meeting. He
congratulated the nurses and expressed his appreciation of the role they
play. His words were echoed in the opening address by Balthasar Staehelin,
the ICRC's head of delegation in Bosnia-Herzegovina: "The Federation
minister's presence here this morning shows the importance attached to
nursing and demonstrates support for the work that you do. I too would
like to congratulate all of you on your efforts, which help strengthen the
links between doctors and nurses, and local communities and policy makers
on health."

The ICRC became involved in the promotion of LEMON in Bosnia-Herzegovina at
the end of 1998, when the nursing profession was struggling to get back on
track there after years of war. At that time, 38 nurses representing every
canton and region in the country were chosen to attend a five-day
introductory course on the contents and methods of LEMON training in
Maribor, Slovenia. The ICRC also arranged for the translation and
distribution of some 1,500 copies of LEMON self-instruction texts to
libraries, health centres, hospitals and nursing schools around the country
in cooperation with nursing representatives from the Ministry of Health. In
addition, the ICRC promoted the LEMON approach to training through nurse
peer-group discussions at local and community levels.

During last week's meeting, which was also attended by nursing
representatives from the health ministries of both the Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, a working group was formed to
look into ways of harmonizing the different curricula currently in use in
the country's nursing schools.

Further information: Jessica Barry, ICRC Sarajevo, tel. ++387 33 652 407


During the weekend of 7 - 8  April 2001, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Juan Martinez, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 17