ICRC News 46 / 22-Nov-01


** SHORT MENU....

Afghanistan
ICRC visits detainees in Mazar-i-Sharif
In the past week, ICRC staff have been visiting people detained in
Mazar-i-Sharif by the United Front.

Democratic Republic of the Congo
ICRC continues aid effort in northern Katanga
Between 6 October and 12 November, the ICRC distributed non-food aid to
7,150 resident and displaced families (almost 40,000 persons) living in and
around Malemba Nkulu, northern Katanga

Republic of Guinea
Aid for the displaced
In October the ICRC furnished basic necessities in the form of blankets,
sleeping mats, canvas sheets, cooking utensils and soap to over 13,000
people (some 1,800 families) around the town of Guéckédou, in south-eastern
Guinea near the border with Sierra Leone.

Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnian children write about mines
The latest edition of Lastavica, a 16-page quarterly magazine focusing on
mine awareness, will soon be rolling off the press.

Chile
LAUNCH OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROJECT
"EXPLORING HUMANITARIAN LAW"
The first national training workshop for senior staff and teachers of the
Ministry of Education involved in carrying out an educational project
entitled "Exploring Humanitarian Law" in Chile's secondary schools was
held from 13 to 16 November in Santiago.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Afghanistan
ICRC visits detainees in Mazar-i-Sharif

In the past week, ICRC staff have been visiting people detained in
Mazar-i-Sharif by the United Front. A total of 240 persons have been
registered in the sites to which the ICRC has had access. Staff are in
contact with the local authorities with a view to visiting other places of
detention.

"For the time being we have limited personnel," said Olivier Martin, head
of the ICRC's sub- delegation in Mazar-i-Sharif.  "But we hope that with
the arrival of new delegates in the coming days we will be able to step up
our detainee-welfare work."

In observance of Ramadan, the detainees receive hot meals and water after
5.00 p.m. The ICRC has been distributing clothes, blankets and hygiene
kits during its visits. The Afghan Red Crescent Society, meanwhile, goes
daily to the places of detention to provide basic medical care. To date,
six detainees in need of more sophisticated treatment have been
transferred by the ICRC to hospital.

The detainees have also had the opportunity to write Red Cross messages
(brief personal messages) to their families. These will be distributed as
soon as possible through the international network of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies.

Meanwhile, the ICRC team in Mazar-i-Sharif is continuing the work of
assessing the needs of the population in and around the city. Medical
supplies have been distributed to health-care facilities. Sites where
displaced people have taken refuge have been identified with a view to
providing basic relief. "We are expecting a total of 59 truckloads of
supplies," said Martin. "Forty-eight trucks have already left
Turkmenistan, where they were loaded, and should be arriving later today
with food to start much-needed distributions to 70,000 displaced persons."

The ICRC was called upon to act as a neutral intermediary between various
groups in Afghanistan. And recently it forwarded messages between a local
commander and various embassies in Islamabad, which led to the successful
evacuation by United States forces of the eight aid workers who had been
held by the Taliban authorities. The ICRC also evacuated the mortal
remains of the four foreign journalists who were killed on the road
between Jalalabad and Kabul. Their bodies were taken by road to Islamabad
where they were handed over to family members or their representatives.

Further information: Bernard Barrett, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++873 761 24 22 60
Macarena Aguilar, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 21 01
Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 25 50


Democratic Republic of the Congo
ICRC continues aid effort in northern Katanga

Between 6 October and 12 November, the ICRC distributed non-food aid to
7,150 resident and displaced families (almost 40,000 persons) living in
and around Malemba Nkulu, northern Katanga. Each family received four
blankets, a tarpaulin, a bucket, a cooking pot, 5 kg of soap, clothes and
a hoe.

The ICRC provided this assistance to help both residents of the region and
those who had fled the 35 villages burned down in fighting during the
first few months of the year. Large numbers had been forced to take refuge
in the bush, and residents of Malemba Nkulu and the surrounding area did
not return until July. Currently, the authorities in northern Katanga are
making a major effort to calm the population and restore peace to the
area.

There is cause for concern regarding northern Katanga, as the security
situation is preventing the resumption of agricultural and commercial
activity. Since August, the ICRC has been providing assistance in Kabalo,
Nyunzu, Manono and Malemba Nkulu. Further information: Antoine Tawamba,
ICRC Kinshasa, Tel.: ++ 243 341 91 92

Republic of Guinea
Aid for the displaced

In October the ICRC furnished basic necessities in the form of blankets,
sleeping mats, canvas sheets, cooking utensils and soap to over 13,000
people (some 1,800 families) around the town of Guéckédou, in
south-eastern Guinea near the border with Sierra Leone.

The area - north-west of the "Parrot's Beak" portion of Guinean territory
that protrudes into Sierra Leone - was the object of heavy attack in
December 2000 and March 2001, as a result of which much of the population
fled into northern Guinea. After a month of displacement, most of those
people have now gradually returned to their homes. They are nevertheless
destitute, having lost almost all their property.

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

Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnian children write about mines

The latest edition of Lastavica, a 16-page quarterly magazine focusing on
mine awareness, will soon be rolling off the press. First published at the
end of 1998, Lastavica, which is named after a bird (the swallow), is the
brainchild of 24 teachers working as Red Cross mine-awareness instructors
in the mixed Croat/Bosniac cantons of Central Bosnia and Zenica/Doboj.

The readership of the magazine, which is aimed at children of
primary-school age, has almost doubled since its initial print run of
6,000 copies three years ago. Sixty per cent of the input comes from
children, and the teachers and their pupils compile and edit all the
material themselves.

In addition to articles on Red Cross mine-awareness programmes, assistance
to victims and the work of other organizations involved in mine action in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lastavica covers other traditional Red Cross
activities and subjects such as international humanitarian law. There are
also cartoons, comic-strips and photographs. The magazine is printed at a
local Red Cross press in Kotor Varos, in Republika Srpska.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is among the most heavily mined countries in the world.
Today, six years after the end of the war, there is still an average of
nine mine accidents a month, the majority of them involving children. The
ICRC, through its network of 96 Red Cross mine-awareness instructors and
supervisors, organizes community-based presentations, gathers mine data,
conducts media campaigns and gives assistance to mine victims. Lastavica
is part of the effort to involve children themselves in getting
mine-awareness messages across to their peers.

"Every child can find something of interest in the magazine", explained
Valter Gros, head of the ICRC's field office in Zenica. "It's a very
effective communication tool."

At present, publication costs are met by the ICRC, but a major local
fundraising campaign is planned to enable the project to become
financially self-sufficient when the ICRC starts to scale down its support
next year.

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


Chile
LAUNCH OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROJECT
"EXPLORING HUMANITARIAN LAW"

The first national training workshop for senior staff and teachers of the
Ministry of Education involved in carrying out an educational project
entitled "Exploring Humanitarian Law" in Chile's secondary schools was
held from 13 to 16 November in Santiago. At the workshop, organized by the
ICRC regional delegation for the southern part of Latin America, 25
professionals learned how to use teaching modules and other educational
materials. The project, which was initiated by the ICRC to raise awareness
of humanitarian issues among teenagers, centres on a course for that age
group. This was the first step towards implementing the course at national
level in any country.

The subject matter and teaching methods for the course, which comprises
some 20 hours of activities relating to humanitarian principles and
humanitarian action in situations of armed conflict and internal violence,
were greeted with enthusiasm by the participants. Chilean Red Cross
experts in communication, dissemination and training also attended the
workshop with a view to cooperating with the educational authorities and
learning to use the modules as part of their own programmes for young
people.

Further information: María Inés Peytrignet, ICRC, Buenos Aires, tel.
++5411 43 28 77 71

During the weekend of 24 - 25 November 2001, for all information please
call the press officer on duty Macarena Aguilar, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32
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