ICRC News 27 / 11.07.96

RUSSIAN FEDERATION / NORTHERN CAUCASUS CIVILIANS UNDER FIRE IN SOUTHERN CHECHNYA

Heavy fighting flared once again on 9 July in several villages in the southern part of the Republic of Chechnya, shattering a six-week-old cease-fire between the Russian federal authorities and the Chechen separatists.

ICRC delegates close to the conflict zones (four in the south-west and two in the south-east) are monitoring the situation and standing by to assist the wounded. As soon as the fighting broke out they began distributing emergency supplies to the medical facilities in both Urus Martan and Grozny that have been receiving casualties.

The ICRC yesterday appealed to the warring parties to comply with international humanitarian law, urging them in particular to spare the civilian population and those taken prisoner and to care for the wounded.

Further information: Tony Burgener, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++ 41 22 730 2317

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA ANSWERS SLOW TO EMERGE FOR ANXIOUS RELATIVES

The nearly 14,000 families from Bosnia-Herzegovina who have filed tracing requests with the ICRC in the hope of finding missing loved ones are still without news. The unbearable anxiety about the fate of fathers, husbands and brothers still persists. However, some families will soon be receiving answers. When the Working Group on Missing Persons, which was set up and is chaired by the ICRC, met on 9 July in Sarajevo, the former warring parties came forward with information on more than 200 cases which will now be cross-checked by the ICRC before the families are informed.

Under the Dayton Agreement, the parties committed themselves to providing information through the ICRC's tracing mechanisms on all persons unaccounted for. In addition, the ICRC is gathering information on the issue of missing persons from all other reliable sources and passing it on to the families.

Since January 1996, almost 300 cases have been resolved thanks to information gathered through the Working Group and the ICRC tracing system. Only about 20 of the people concerned were found to be alive. Nevertheless, when the ICRC is obliged to give a family the terrible news that someone dear to them is dead, this at least allows them to begin the grieving process and to make decisions about how to get on with their lives.

"The families have the right to know", says Beat Schweizer, head of the ICRC delegation covering central Bosnia. "Resolving this issue depends on the former warring parties as they are inevitably the major source of information. Although the process of gathering data is on track, it is unfortunately much too slow for families who have been waiting such a long time for answers"

Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++ 41 22 730 2608

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA LAW OF WAR FOR THE ARMED FORCES

The ICRC and the Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have just concluded a cooperation agreement for the training of Yugoslav army officers in the field of international humanitarian law, also known as the law of war. The document was signed by Pavle Bulatovic, Federal Minister of Defence, and Frangois Bellon, head of the ICRC delegation in the country, during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Defence on 3 July.

The framework agreement covers a renewable period of five years, during which the ICRC will assist the Federal Ministry of Defence in organizing training sessions for military and civilian personnel of the Yugoslav armed forces. It also provides for other activities aimed at disseminating the law, such as the joint publication of educational materials and participation of members of the Yugoslav armed forces in international seminars on the subject.

"Spreading knowledge of international humanitarian law is an integral part of the ICRC's mandate as initiator and guardian of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols", said Frangois Bellon. "In the post-war era, such activities must be expanded to enhance awareness of these vital rules".

Now that the agreement has been signed, an ICRC specialist will be going to Belgrade to set up, together with the Federal Ministry of Defence, an appropriate training programme, which is due to be introduced in the last quarter of 1996.

Further information: France Hurtubise, ICRC Belgrade, tel. ++38 111 761 063 Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2608

SENEGAL FIRST VISITS

The ICRC has for the first time visited prisoners in Senegal. In early June a team of delegates, including a doctor, saw persons arrested in connection with the events in Casamance. They visited and registered 138 individuals being held at Dakar-Rebeuss prison and a further 45 at Ziguinchor prison. In both cases the delegates were able to speak freely with all the detainees, who had an opportunity to write Red Cross Messages to their families.

Further information: Tony Burgener, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++41 22 730 2317

New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org (English only) :

- Update on ICRC activities in Sri Lanka, dated 5.07.96