ICRC News 22 / 07-Jun-01


** SHORT MENU....

Indonesia: Missing children reunited with families
A small team made up of staff from the Indonesian Red Cross Society and the
ICRC have returned to their families 13 children separated while fleeing
the violence that erupted in North Maluku province in 1999. The latest was
a girl reunited with her loved ones in mid-May.

Algeria: Fourth series of visits to detainees
Under a 1999 agreement with the Algerian government authorizing the ICRC to
visit detainees held in establishments run by the Ministry of Justice, a
team of five delegates, including a doctor, carried out a fourth series of
visits between 21 April and 2 June 2001.

Guinea: Over 600 members of the military receive instruction in
humanitarian law 
The international humanitarian law office of the Ministry of Defence of
Guinea, the Red Cross Society of Guinea and the ICRC jointly held four
seminars on the law of war for 170 officers of the country's armed forces
during the second half of May in Faranah, Kissidougou and Guékédou.

Eritrea/Ethiopia: ICRC repatriates civilians from Eritrea and Ethiopia On
Friday 1 June the ICRC, acting in its capacity as a neutral and
independent intermediary, facilitated the repatriation to Ethiopia and
Eritrea of a total of 1,418 civilians.


** STORIES IN FULL...


Indonesia
Missing children reunited with families

A small team made up of staff from the Indonesian Red Cross Society and
the ICRC have returned to their families 13 children separated while
fleeing the violence that erupted in North Maluku province in 1999. The
latest was a girl reunited with her loved ones in mid-May.

1Many separated children are living with foster families. Since June 2000,
the Red Cross tracing and mailing service in North Maluku has received 80
tracing requests from families who have lost children and a number of
messages from those caring for children they have found.

With an area of almost 44,000 square kilometres consisting of hundreds of
small islands, and a difficult and unpredictable security situation, the
service faces an enormous challenge. However, initial steps are now being
taken toward inter-communal reconciliation and the task in North Maluku is
growing easier. It is hoped that more children will be reunited with their
families in the near future.

Further information: Arista Idris, ICRC Jakarta, tel. ++ 9251 282 47 80
Macarena Aguilar, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 21 01


Algeria
Fourth series of visits to detainees

Under a 1999 agreement with the Algerian government authorizing the ICRC
to visit detainees held in establishments run by the Ministry of Justice,
a team of five delegates, including a doctor, carried out a fourth series
of visits between 21 April and 2 June 2001. The team visited 11 prisons
under the jurisdiction of the courts of Médéa, Mascara, Tamanrasset, Tizi
Ouzou, Jijel and Batna. In addition to seeing what action had been taken
on their recommendations in two facilities visited previously, the
delegates assessed detention conditions in nine establishments being
visited for the first time, primarily by means of interviews without
witnesses. These interviews also allowed them to check on treatment and
conditions in places run by the Ministries of the Interior and of Defence
where detainees were held following arrest.

The four remand centres, four rehabilitation centres and three
reintegration centres visited housed a total of 4,904 inmates, including
39 women and 38 minors. The delegates held interviews in private with 457
of them, including 186 arrested since summer 2000. The ICRC doctor
examined sick detainees and discussed detainee health and the quality of
medical care with medical and paramedical staff.

The delegates discussed their findings concerning conditions of detention,
together with problems reported by the detainees, with the local detaining
authorities and the Ministry of Justice. A report containing their
observations and recommendations will shortly be submitted to the Algerian
authorities. Since autumn 1999, ICRC delegates have visited a total of 32
places of detention administered by the Ministry of Justice and have
carried out 1,640 private interviews with detainees.

Further information: Mohamed Ben Ahmed, ICRC Tunis, tel. ++216 1 960 179


Guinea
Over 600 members of the military receive instruction in humanitarian law 

The international humanitarian law office of the Ministry of Defence of
Guinea, the Red Cross Society of Guinea and the ICRC jointly held four
seminars on the law of war for 170 officers of the country's armed forces
during the second half of May in Faranah, Kissidougou and Guékédou. The
ICRC also helped the office organize four one-day workshops on the basic
rules of humanitarian law for 450 soldiers and other bearers of weapons. A
total of nine seminars and nine workshops on the topic are to be held
throughout Guinea in 2001.

In accordance with the statutes of the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement, the ICRC has a mandate to "work for the understanding
and dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law
applicable in armed conflicts and to prepare any development thereof".

To promote humanitarian law, the ICRC not only puts its expertise at the
disposal of States but also actively spreads knowledge of the basic rules
of this law among all the parties to armed conflicts.

Further information: Dana Lissy, ICRC Conakry, tel. ++224 41 30 32


Eritrea/Ethiopia
ICRC repatriates civilians from Eritrea and Ethiopia

On Friday 1 June the ICRC, acting in its capacity as a neutral and
independent intermediary, facilitated the repatriation to Ethiopia and
Eritrea of a total of 1,418 civilians.

The civilians of Ethiopian origin, numbering 1,133 and coming from Asmara
and surrounding areas, were taken to the Mereb river, the usual crossing
point between the towns of Adi Quala and Rama. On arrival they were handed
over to the Ethiopian authorities and transported to Adwa in the 16th
operation of this type since the beginning of the year.

Coming from southern and central Tigray, 285 persons of Eritrean origin
were taken to the same crossing point and given into the care of the
Eritrean authorities in the third operation to repatriate civilians from
Ethiopia this year.

The ICRC had ascertained that all the individuals concerned wished to be
repatriated before they were transferred to the border under the
supervision and with the assistance of ICRC delegates based in Ethiopia
and Eritrea. Volunteers from the Ethiopian and Eritrean Red Cross
Societies also helped in the operations on their respective sides of the
border, in particular by carrying luggage and providing drinking water and
food.

The ICRC will continue to assist people affected by the recent armed
conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea and to promote compliance with the
rules and principles of international humanitarian law, in particular the
1949 Geneva Conventions.

Further information: Divider Revol, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel. ++2511 51 83 66


During the weekend of 9 - 10 June 2001, for all information please call the
press officer on duty Macarena Aguilar, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 64