ICRC News 26 / 05-Jul-01

Director of Operations Jean-Daniel Tauxe will launch the ICRC's 2000
Annual Report from Nairobi on Friday 6 July.
You will be able to follow the press conference live on our website
http://www.icrc.org at 7.30 GMT (10.30 a.m. Nairobi time, 9.30 a.m. Swiss
time). The 2000 Annual Report will also be available online for
consultation.


** SHORT MENU....

Nigeria: Nigerian Red Cross and ICRC assist thousands of displaced
Over the past two weeks ethnic violence has broken out in various parts of
Nigeria, forcing more than 72,000 people to flee their homes.

Colombia: ICRC assists in release of persons deprived of their freedom 
Following an agreement reached by the Colombian government and the
Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), 359 army personnel and
policemen and 14 FARC members were released between 5 and 30 June.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Missing relatives sought through 'Book of Belongings' 
In the six weeks since the ICRC published its second 'Book of Belongings',
containing photographs of possessions found with mortal remains around
Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, the book has been consulted by
more than 1,600 persons looking for their missing loved ones.

Albania: Dealing with the legacy of mines
On Albania's north-eastern border, the local population is suffering in the
aftermath of the war in neighbouring Kosovo. During the conflict, land on
either side of the border was littered with thousands of anti-personnel
mines and unexploded ordnance.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Director of Operations Jean-Daniel Tauxe will launch the ICRC's 2000Annual
Report from Nairobi on Friday 6 July. 

You will be able to follow the press conference live on our website
http://www.icrc.org at 7.30 GMT (10.30 a.m. Nairobi time, 9.30 a.m. Swiss
time). The 2000 Annual Report will also be available online for
consultation.


Nigeria
Nigerian Red Cross and ICRC assist thousands of displaced

Over the past two weeks ethnic violence has broken out in various parts of
Nigeria, forcing more than 72,000 people to flee their homes. 

As a result of these incidents, some 50,000 people have sought refuge in
Benue and Nassarawa states in central Nigeria. Most of them are staying
with relatives or friends, and about 9,000 have gathered in three camps.
The Nigerian Red Cross Society and the ICRC have provided the displaced
with emergency assistance consisting of blankets, mats, buckets and soap.

In June, more than 22,000 people fled their homes following clashes in
Bauchi state, in the north of the country. The most vulnerable among them
will also receive aid after completion of a needs survey now under way.

On Saturday, in Kaduna (central Nigeria), yet more families were displaced
by ethnic strife. The Nigerian Red Cross and the ICRC have since carried
out non-food distributions for around 1,000 people with no means of
subsistence.

Last year the country was rocked by numerous outbreaks of ethnic violence.
Each time, the local Red Cross and the ICRC took swift action to assist
thousands of displaced.

Further information: Vibeke Skauerud, ICRC Lagos, tel. ++234 1 269 18 81


Colombia
ICRC assists in release of persons deprived of their freedom 

Following an agreement reached by the Colombian government and the
Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), 359 army personnel and
policemen and 14 FARC members were released between 5 and 30 June. This
complex operation was successfully carried out with humanitarian,
logistical and technical support from the ICRC. 

At the request of both parties, and in its capacity as a neutral
intermediary, the ICRC gave medical check-ups to those being released,
spoke with them in private and made sure they were provided with
transportation to reception areas where their relatives were waiting.
Twenty delegates were involved in the operation, which was conducted in
four separate stages in various parts of the country. 

"The sight of hundreds of family members anxiously awaiting their sons,
husbands, brothers and fathers, some of whom they hadn't seen in two years,
was a source of great satisfaction to our colleagues in the field", said
Thomas Ess, deputy head of operations for Latin America.

To address Colombia's complex humanitarian crisis, the ICRC has adopted a
comprehensive strategy focusing on both protection and assistance
activities, including health-care programmes, designed to preserve the
physical integrity and the dignity of conflict victims. An average of 53
expatriates and 190 Colombian staff strive to meet the most urgent
humanitarian needs of approximately 150,000 people each year. In recent
months, as the fighting has intensified and spread to larger areas, the
toll has continued to mount.

Further information: Macarena Aguilar, ICRC Geneva, tel.: ++4122 730 2101


Bosnia-Herzegovina
Missing relatives sought through 'Book of Belongings' 

In the six weeks since the ICRC published its second 'Book of Belongings',
containing photographs of possessions found with mortal remains around
Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, the book has been consulted by
more than 1,600 persons looking for their missing loved ones.

The publication contains 2,702 photos of clothes, jewellery and other
personal effects found on the exhumed bodies of persons who disappeared
when the town was overrun in July 1995. The photos relate to 473 cases of
unidentified remains, and are in addition to the 1,756 photos published by
the ICRC last June in a book that also related to the Srebrenica missing.

To date, 139 objects, concerning 64 cases, have been recognized in the new
book. On this basis, forensic experts from the Podrinje Identification
Project in Tuzla, which is part of the Missing Persons Institute, will
start the procedure of identifying the remains.

The fact that the new Book of Belongings has been so widely consulted is
due partly to a high-profile media campaign which was launched to coincide
with its publication on 14 May. It can also be explained by the fact that
the families themselves have been closely involved in determining the
book's presentation. Specially trained teams, comprising personnel from the
Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina and individuals who themselves
have been through the ordeal of searching for missing loved ones, guide and
support people during their search.

The media campaign will last for another month in the areas around
Sarajevo, Tuzla and Zenica, where many families from Srebrenica are now
living. The different locations where the book can be viewed are announced
daily on local radio and TV.

Of some 17,400 people still listed as missing by the ICRC as a result of
the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, around 7,400 are individuals who remain
unaccounted for since the fall of Srebrenica.

Further information: Jessica Barry, ICRC Sarajevo, tel. ++ 387 71 656 835


Albania
Dealing with the legacy of mines

On Albania's north-eastern border, the local population is suffering in the
aftermath of the war in neighbouring Kosovo. During the conflict, land on
either side of the border was littered with thousands of anti-personnel
mines and unexploded ordnance. Today, two years after the end of the war,
the chief victims of these lethal devices are children who pick them up and
play with them out of curiosity. To warn children of the dangers of
straying into mine-infested areas, a new prevention programme using live
theatre and games has been launched jointly by the ICRC and the Albanian
Red Cross. A professional theatre group travels from village to village
presenting the fable of innocent Mr Bear who is tempted into a minefield by
wily Mr Fox on the promise of finding a good spot to go fishing.

A new mine-clearance programme is also under way in the region. The removal
of mines requires both a high degree of expertise and sophisticated
technical equipment, and is therefore extremely costly. Millions of dollars
have been poured into Kosovo, where mine clearance has already been nearly
completed. In neighbouring Albania, however, there has been little or no
funding available for this purpose. Thanks to a new fundraising initiative
taken by the ICRC in conjunction with the Albanian Red Cross, clearance
work on the Albanian side of the border is finally getting under way. A
team of 10 mine-clearance experts from Australia, France, New Zealand and
Switzerland has been assembled by the Swiss Federation for Mine Clearance.
With locally recruited trainees, this team has begun the massive task of
clearing the border area. The work is painstakingly slow since there are no
maps showing where mines were laid.

Since May 1999, there have been at least 140 reported injuries and over 20
deaths caused by mines in north-eastern Albania. The true figures could be
much higher as many incidents in isolated villages go unreported. To help
mine victims, a training centre has been established in Kukes by the
Albanian Red Cross with support from the ICRC. The centre teaches skills
such as shoemaking and tailoring, which give those who have lost limbs a
new chance to earn a living and rejoin the community.

Video material broadcast via the EBU on 6 July at 12 hrs GMT.
Photos available from AFP (photo.france@afp.com) and Reuters
(zurpix@bluewin.ch).

For more information about ICRC Mine action programmes consult our web page
 http://www.icrc.org/eng/issues

Further information: Roland Sidler, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 20 45


During the weekend of 7 - 8 July 2001, for all information please call the
press officer on duty Darcy Christen, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 31