ICRC News 33 / 22.08.96
RUSSIAN FEDERATION/CHECHNYA TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS STILL IN GROZNY
On the morning of 22 August, with some 50,000 civilians reportedly left in Grozny, the major offensive expected following the expiry of the ultimatum had not begun. Extremely concerned about the situation, the ICRC had called on the parties the previous day to respect the civilian population, which - under the terms of international humanitarian law - must be protected from the dangers arising from military operations.
Several ICRC teams are coming to the aid of tens of thousands of displaced people who have fled the city in recent days. On 14 August an ICRC aid station was set up in Pobedinskoye, 15 km north of Grozny, to distribute food, water and blankets. Another post was opened in Znamenskoye on 20 August to assist people making their way towards northern Chechnya and Ingushetia, where some 4,000 displaced have received help from the ICRC.
In the past week, ICRC teams have provided medical and surgical supplies to medical facilities in Grozny and other places in Chechnya currently treating some 1,500 war wounded. In view of the number of wounded and the urgent need for assistance, a surgical team has been sent to the spot and a field hospital arrived on 22 August in Mineralnye Vody, in the south of the Russian Federation.
Since the resumption of hostilities on 6 August, over 1,000 people have been evacuated from the ICRC's premises in Grozny to the northern outskirts of the city, and dozens of wounded have been treated in a makeshift hospital set up in a wing of the ICRC building. In recent days four ICRC convoys have reached Grozny with about a hundred tonnes of relief supplies for the city's inhabitants, who are in cruel need of food and water.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2307
NEW YORK UN SECURITY COUNCIL INVITES ICRC TO SPEAK ON ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES
For the first time in its history, the ICRC recently agreed to take part in a UN Security Council debate in New York. The topic under discussion was indeed a crucial one: on 15 August the President of the Council, the German ambassador, officially submitted the problem of anti-personnel mines to the Member States. In spite of the disappointing results achieved during the latest session of the Review Conference of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, held in Geneva in May, the international community has clearly refused to give up the struggle.
Apart from the members of the Security Council, the representatives of some 20 other countries and the ICRC expressed their views on the medical, social and economic impact of the use of mines, and on the dangers involved in mine-clearing operations. The ICRC stressed the unspeakable human suffering and the extent of the damage caused by these sinister weapons. The institution has invested considerable efforts in promoting the development of legal instruments providing for the protection of civilians in the face of this growing scourge. In his address to the Council, Peter Kng, the ICRC head of delegation to the United Nations in New York, said that the institution was convinced of the inherently indiscriminate nature of anti-personnel mines, which rendered them particularly inhumane; these weapons should therefore be outlawed, as poison gas was in 1925.
While continuing to work towards a ban on the production, storage, transfer and use of landmines, and pursuing its efforts to stigmatize the use of these weapons in the public conscience, the ICRC warmly welcomes the regional and national initiatives being taken by a growing number of States towards this end. Particular mention should be made of the Canadian government's invitation to countries which unilaterally support a ban - and have announced moratoria on the use of mines - to participate in an international conference to be held in Ottawa on 3 October. The next session of the UN General Assembly is due to consider a draft resolution calling on States to negotiate an international agreement providing for a worldwide and total ban on these weapons.
Further information: Daniel Augstburger, ICRC New York, tel. ++1212 599 60 21 Johanne Dorais-Slakmon, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2319
SRI LANKA ROLLING NORTH AGAIN
The latest military offensive in northern Sri Lanka has compelled some 150,000 civilians to flee the Kilinochchi area and seek refuge elsewhere in the Wanni region, which is controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The region's infrastructure is very poor, so thousands of displaced people have been accommodated in makeshift shelters or have settled under trees along the roadside. Since the ICRC is the only humanitarian organization with operational capacity currently present in Wanni, the main aim is to make certain that the basic needs of civilians are addressed. The ICRC's first priority was to establish contact with all the parties, namely the army, the LTTE and local government officials, to ensure resumption of the government food supply which had ceased on 17 July. On 14 August the first food convoy made its way north under ICRC protection through the front line near Vavuniya. This operation was a temporary measure designed to break the deadlock and make sure that the food reached the displaced.
The ICRC has launched an emergency relief programme for the 7,000 most affected families, using its emergency stock (plastic sheeting, mats, bedsheets, soap and cooking utensils) in Wanni; more supplies should be sent in shortly. The six ICRC mobile health teams assisted by the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society have also provided basic medical aid to the affected population. As there is a shortage of water and sanitation facilities in Wanni, the ICRC is planning to repair and improve water pumps in the region, to deepen open wells and to build latrines; it also intends to produce leaflets on the safe use of water, for distribution among the displaced.
Further information: Krishanti Weerakoon, ICRC Colombo, tel. ++941 508 404 Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2906
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org (English only) : - Update on ICRC activities in Chechnya / Northern Caucasus, dated 14.08.96
During the week-end of 24-25 August 1996, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Suzanne Berger, on (mobile) 41 79 202 42 00
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