ICRC News 34 / 28.08.96
RUSSIAN FEDERATION / CHECHNYA FIGHTING HAS DIED DOWN, BUT THE NEEDS REMAIN ACUTE
On Tuesday, 27 August, the ICRC obtained permission from both warring parties to set up its field hospital in Novy Atagy. Assembly began the following day.
Peace and quiet have gradually been returning to Grozny in recent days but few displaced residents have ventured to return to the city, deserted by much of its population in reaction to the chaos of last week. ICRC delegates have resumed their activities, in particular the distribution of food and water. Since 14 August, 20,000 people have received such assistance in Grozny itself, and on 27 August a sixth convoy brought relief for 8,000 more. In all, some 60,000 people in Chechnya have recently benefited from ICRC assistance.
With the prospect of larger numbers of Grozny's population returning to their homes, the ICRC is assessing the state of the city's medical and water-supply facilities. The first step will be to determine what is needed to bring hospitals No. 9 and No. 4 back into working order. ICRC sanitary engineers are developing a network to distribute water by tanker truck pending the repair of pumping stations destroyed during the fighting and restoration of the electricity supply.
Over the past few days, delegates have collected some 2,000 Red Cross Messages, more than half of which have already been forwarded to the addressees.
Further information: Victoria Catliff, ICRC Moscow, Tel. ++70 95 926 54 26 // Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++41 22 730 23 07
TAJIKISTAN SUFFERING IGNORED
The ICRC is deeply concerned by the plight of civilians cut off in Tavildara, a town which the opposition regained control of on 16 August. The cease-fire agreement concluded between the Tajik government and the opposition on 21 July in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan has once again proved a dead letter. According to people who have managed to flee in the past few days, most of those remaining in the town are elderly, sick or disabled and have been left without food or medicines; it is impossible for them to undertake the three-day trek across the mountains necessary to escape.
The ICRC has been trying in vain for six months to gain access to this region of the Pamirs which separates the semi-autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan from the rest of the country, and a large part of which (the Mionadu and Tavildara valleys) has gradually come under the control of the opposition forces since the beginning of the year.
The release by both sides of captured combatants and other detainees was provided for in the July agreement, and a target date was fixed for 20 August. Not only have these releases not taken place, the ICRC has not yet even received any lists of the individuals to be set free.
It must therefore be recognized that the latest series of negotiations has had no tangible effect: the cease-fire is not being respected, access has not been granted to the people directly affected by the fighting and promises to release prisoners have not been kept.
Further information: Victoria Catliff, ICRC Moscow, Tel. ++70 95 926 54 26 // Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++4l 22 730 2307
NORTHERN IRAQ DETAINEES VISITED AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES DISTRIBUTED
Heavy fighting has been taking place since 17 August between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Iraqi governorates of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah. When the fighting broke out, ICRC delegates promptly assessed the needs in the region's eight main hospitals, to which over 400 casualties have so far been admitted, and distributed a large quantity of medical supplies.
The ICRC approached the commanders of both parties with a view to gaining rapid access to prisoners. On 26 August, several dozen prisoners held by the KDP in Akra were registered and interviewed in private. The following day, a visit was made to persons being held by the PUK in the Sulaimaniyah area. A memorandum was handed to both parties on 28 August recalling the basic rules of international humanitarian law, including those governing the conduct of hostilities. In particular, it reaffirmed the obligation to spare persons not taking part in the hostilities and the need to show due respect for the red cross and red crescent emblem and for medical units.
The ICRC has 12 delegates in northern Iraq, assisted by local staff members. They are based at its Dahuk and Sulaimaniyah offices and the Arbil sub-delegation.
Further information: Rolin Wavre, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++41 22 730 28 76
RWANDA AND GREAT LAKES REGION ID PHOTOS PROVE SALVATION OF LOST CHILDREN
Since July 1994, 26,673 children lost in Rwanda and surrounding countries have been reunited with their families. Over 8,000 others have at least been put in touch with their loved ones. This is the result of an operation combining the efforts of the ICRC and several other organizations.
In cases where these "unaccompanied minors" are either very young, sick or severely traumatized by what they have experienced, it is virtually impossible to obtain accurate information about their identity and that of their parents. In order to overcome this difficulty, UNICEF began taking ID photos of the children staying at its own centres and those run by its partners. The photos are then displayed in the camps around Goma, Zaire, an initiative that has so far enabled 2,000 children to be returned to their families.
Both the ICRC and UNICEF will be represented at a photo-journalism festival to be held from 30 August to 15 September in Perpignan, in southern France. An information session on unaccompanied minors, including an audiovisual presentation and discussion, will take place on the evening of 5 September.
Further information: as of 30 August, a representative with a portable telephone may be reached at ++41 79 202 22 36
INDONESIA AFTERMATH
Three ICRC delegates, including a doctor, started a series of visits on Friday 23 August to activists being held on subversion charges following last month's riots. The Friday visit took place in the Office of the Attorney General, in Jakarta.
The delegates were allowed to conduct private interviews with 10 activists from a youth organization called the "People's Democratic Party" and with Muchtar Pakpahan, chairman of the Indonesia Prosperity Trade Union.
The visit enabled the delegates to assess the material and psychological conditions of detention and to ascertain whether the detainees have access to adequate medical care.
Further information: Sri Wahyu Endah, ICRC Jakarta Tel. ++ 62 21 720 72 52 Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++ 41 22 730 2906
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During the week-end of 31 August - 1 September 1996, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Kim Gordon-Bates, on (mobile) 41 79 200 57 75