ICRC News 39 / 02.10.96LIBERIA WORK CONTINUES WITH LIBERIAN RED CROSS STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS
Thanks to its locally hired employees the ICRC is continuing to work in Monrovia, while the head of delegation, based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, conducts frequent missions to the Liberian capital. As most basic health care facilities in the country are now closed, the ICRC is distributing medical supplies to four Liberia National Red Cross clinics in Buchanan, Dolo's Town, Gbarnga and Gbatala, and is providing support for a mobile clinic treating over 2,000 patients a week in Greater Monrovia.
Because of the breakdown in the water trucking system, the ICRC has had to increase its distributions of the raw materials needed to maintain and chlorinate more than 1,000 wells, on which Monrovia's inhabitants are once again dependent for their water supply. The ICRC has also extended its programme for the exchange of Red Cross messages, set up with the National Society. This offers the capital's population a chance to make contact with relatives who have fled to refugee camps in neighbouring countries or elsewhere outside Liberia.
After being forced to withdraw from Liberia on 12 April this year, the ICRC issued a statement condemning "the serious and systematic violations of the elementary rules of international humanitarian law and of the minimum principles of humanity" committed during the conflict. The major difficulties encountered by humanitarian organizations have only confirmed the ICRC's position that the conditions necessary for it to resume a full-scale humanitarian operation have not yet been fulfilled. Indeed, the ICRC considers that the situation has not markedly improved in terms of access to the population and respect for humanitarian law.
Further information: Reni-Luc Thivoz, ICRC Abidjan, Tel. ++225 22 24 59
TAJIKISTAN A FURTHER 1,500 PEOPLE DISPLACED IN A SINGLE WEEK
Since 23 September over 1,500 people have fled the Mionadu valley and the Tavildara region, where the situation is becoming unbearable for civilians. The valley, which is under opposition control, has been cut off from the outside world since the beginning of the year. The town of Tavildara, recently retaken by government forces, is the only location in the area to have received relief. On 13 September the ICRC managed to reach the town, isolated by the fighting for five months, and delegates found the town largely destroyed.
The region's population was poor even before the conflict, and in the present circumstances they may not make it through the winter. Many inhabitants, for the most part women, children and elderly people, have therefore decided to abandon their villages and flee. About a thousand have gone to the Garm valley, while 500 others have taken refuge in Khovaling following an exhausting 150-km march over Pamir mountain passes, some of which are more than 3,000 metres high.
The ICRC is currently assisting 20,000 displaced people in Tajikistan.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, Tel. +41 22 730 2307
RUSSIAN FEDERATION - NORTHERN CAUCASUS NEW ICRC HOSPITAL MUCH IN DEMAND
Many patients have been admitted to the ICRC field hospital in Novy Atagi (25 kilometres south of Grozny) since it opened on 2 September. War-surgery needs grew dramatically in the southern part of the Chechen republic after Russian federal troops and Chechen fighters clashed there in August 1996.
The cease-fire that was subsequently concluded has made it possible for patients to come to the hospital from far-away villages and from Grozny (where all medical facilities were damaged in the fighting). In all, 105 wounded people have been hospitalized, 136 operations carried out and over 500 outpatients treated.
Most of those treated by ICRC medical teams are suffering from complications because they failed to receive adequate treatment while the fighting was going on. Mine victims and people hit by stray bullets are also among the patients.
In an effort to provide war-wounded patients with the best possible treatment and post-operative care, the ICRC has begun an expansion of the hospital. There are currently 23 expatriates, including two surgical teams, working at the facility, along with over 100 local staff, 40 of whom are engaged in purely medical work.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++ 41 22 730 2307
SEVEN DAYS IN A MINEFIELD, ON HTTP://WWW.ICRC.ORG
The aim of the International Strategy Conference to be held in Ottawa at the end of this week (3-5 October 1996) is to make further progress towards the total elimination of anti-personnel landmines. To highlight the suffering of mine victims and make their voices heard, the ICRC has launched a special project. Famous war photographer Tim Page and ICRC News editor Kim Gordon-Bates are currently in Cambodia to observe at first hand the human tragedy caused by landmines; every day for a week they are sending four photos and an up-to-the-minute text which can be accessed by all Internet users (http://www.icrc.org). The project, entitled "Seven Days in a Minefield", is designed to heighten awareness among the public and those attending the Ottawa Conference, where the pictures and text are shown on a large screen.
The photos taken on 1 October focused on the ICRC's prosthetic workshop in Battambang. One picture shows an amputee trying out his new artificial legs on an exercise bike. The caption reads: "The machines, in motion and yet static, create an impression of unreality. Meanwhile, human flesh appears to be relegated to a secondary role by the artificial". The accompanying text describes how Tim Page, himself a former mine victim, sometimes has to turn away from such scenes, exclaiming "It's tearing me up!".
Further information: Tony Burgener, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++ 4122 730 2317 Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Cambodia, Tel. ++ 885 23 362 096
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org (English only) : - Anti-personnel mines : An overview 1996, dated 26.09.96
During the week-end of 5-6 October 1996, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 357 5003
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