ICRC News 07 / 22-Feb-01


** SHORT MENU....

Sierra Leone: Red Cross assists 12,000 internally displaced people from
Kambia district
The ICRC and the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) have distributed
relief supplies to  about 12,000 internally displaced people who recently
fled the fighting in Kambia district. More than 2,000 families staying in
different villages on the Lungi peninsula received shelter material,
blankets, sleeping mats, buckets, kitchen sets and soap.

West Africa: ICRC begins operating aircraft in Sierra Leone, Guinea and
Liberia
The ICRC will shortly begin operating an aircraft to facilitate its
humanitarian operations in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Angola: ICRC visits security detainees
On 15 February the ICRC visited a group of 19 people detained at Catumbela
military base, near Lobito, in connection with the conflict between the
Angolan armed forces and UNITA.

Nigeria: ICRC signs agreement with ECOWAS
On 15 February the ICRC concluded a cooperation agreement with the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Former adversaries attend training course
A five-day joint training-of-trainers workshop is currently being held in
Jahorina for officers of the Republika Srpska army (VRS) and the army of
the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) with help from the ICRC.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Sierra Leone
Red Cross assists 12,000 internally displaced people from Kambia district

The ICRC and the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) have distributed
relief supplies to  about 12,000 internally displaced people who recently
fled the fighting in Kambia district. More than 2,000 families staying in
different villages on the Lungi peninsula received shelter material,
blankets, sleeping mats, buckets, kitchen sets and soap. The distribution
followed a careful assessment of needs and consultations with the local
authorities, representatives of the internally displaced and other
humanitarian organizations working in the area. 

The ICRC and the SLRCS also registered 128 displaced families who will
receive fishing equipment meant to generate income. In addition, the two
organizations carried out an assessment to determine whether to provide
some of the displaced with seed and tools. The ICRC will now discuss the
matter with the Ministry of Agriculture, the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization and Community Action for Progress.

In December 2000, the ICRC and the SLRCS carried out a first distribution
of relief supplies for more than 12,000 displaced persons who had arrived
in Lungi following clashes in Kambia district.

Further information, Florian Westphal, ICRC Freetown, tel. ++232 22 230 954


West Africa
ICRC begins operating aircraft in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia

The ICRC will shortly begin operating an aircraft to facilitate its
humanitarian operations in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The main
purpose of the aircraft is to speed up the reunification of unaccompanied
Sierra Leonean children in Guinea and Liberia with their families. The
plane will also be used to support various other humanitarian activities in
the three countries. 

In Sierra Leone, the ICRC has been granted authorization to operate the
aircraft by all the relevant authorities, including the Civil Aviation
Authority, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the
armed forces. The required authorizations have also been obtained in Guinea
and Liberia. The plane is clearly marked with the ICRC emblem. 

In accordance with the ICRC's strict mandate, the aircraft will only be
used for the organization's humanitarian activities and not for commercial
purposes.
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Further information: Florian Westphal, ICRC Freetown, tel. ++232 22 230 954


Angola 
ICRC visits security detainees

On 15 February the ICRC visited a group of 19 people detained at Catumbela
military base, near Lobito, in connection with the conflict between the
Angolan armed forces and UNITA. The group comprised civilians and fighters
captured during clashes and a number of people who had voluntarily
surrendered to the authorities.

The delegates were able to hold private interviews with the detainees so as
to assess their treatment and conditions of detention. The ICRC's standard
visiting procedures were respected by the detaining authorities, who were
very cooperative. Some hygiene articles will be distributed in the near
future.

ICRC visits to people detained in connection with the conflict have already
been carried out for some time now in various places of detention in the
country. 

Detainees are not the only people to benefit from ICRC protection
activities in Angola. Both on the central Planalto, where the ICRC is very
active, and in the most remote provinces of the country, delegates
systematically gather information needed to protect the civilian
population. Confidential approaches are then made to the civilian and
military authorities concerning the abuses to which civilians living near
conflict areas are exposed.

Angolans fleeing the fighting continue to stream across the border to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Namibia. The exchange of Red
Cross messages - which are often the only means of communication available
to dispersed families - has thus considerably increased in recent months.
More messages have also been exchanged between Congolese refugees in Angola
and their families back home.

Several training sessions in international humanitarian law have been held
in military and and civil defence bases and police stations. A special
emphasis was placed on the respect due to civilians and their property and
on the protection to which wounded and captured enemy combatants are
entitled.

Further information: Gianni Volpin, ICRC Luanda, tel. ++2442 364 454


Nigeria 
ICRC signs agreement with ECOWAS

On 15 February the ICRC concluded a cooperation agreement with the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria. The agreement,
signed by Lansana Kouyate, Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, and Pierre
Wettach, ICRC Delegate-General for Africa, provides for the exchange of
information and consultation on matters of common interest.

Under the agreement, ECOWAS, a regional body that plays a major role in
settling conflicts in West Africa, and the ICRC, whose status as a
humanitarian player is now officially recognized, may undertake joint
activities with a view to achieving common objectives. "This is an
important agreement," said Pierre Wettach. "It recognizes the independent,
impartial and neutral nature of the ICRC and will thus facilitate
acceptance of our working principles in conflict areas."

ICRC delegates have already begun to raise awareness of international
humanitarian law among the troops of the Economic Community Monitoring
Group, the military branch of ECOWAS, in preparation for the deployment of
this buffer force in the border area between Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone. 

Moreover, each organization may now be invited to take part as an observer
in the meetings of the other. 

ECOWAS was set up in 1975 to promote economic integration in West Africa.
It has 15 member States: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Further information: Jean-Jacques Gacond, ICRC Lagos, tel.  ++2341 269 18
81


Bosnia-Herzegovina
Former adversaries attend training course

A five-day joint training-of-trainers workshop is currently being held in
Jahorina for officers of the Republika Srpska army (VRS) and the army of
the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) with help from the ICRC.
Seven officers from the VRS and eight from the AFBiH are taking part in the
course, which is being hosted by the VRS. The aim of the workshop is to
provide military instructors with the skills they need to incorporate the
principles of international humanitarian law into the training of military
personnel.

The initiative for the workshop grew out of an ICRC-sponsored joint seminar
held in Sarajevo for high-ranking officers from the VRS and AFBiH. This
week's course includes sessions on the history and principles of
international humanitarian law and on its application with regard to the
conduct of operations and command responsibility. It also focuses on the
role of humanitarian law in international peace support operations.

"The real value of such a course," said Ian McLeod, ICRC delegate to the
armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, "is the chance it gives for
instructors and officers from both armies to exchange views and discuss
different approaches to the incorporation of international humanitarian law
into training at all levels of command. This is a fundamental part of the
ICRC`s dissemination work with armies all over the world."

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


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