ICRC News 46 / 20.11.96
GREAT LAKES DISPLACED: A ZAIRIAN'S FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT "I HAD TO COVER 220 MILES ON FOOT"
"The fighting spread to the entire town, even the night before. We had no choice. We had to leave Bukavu for Walikale and then Kisangani". The ICRC employee left on that fateful day, 30 October. Fleeing the conflict, he became a Zairian displaced person like thousands of others. With a bundle on his head, he stepped up the pace, passing groups of civilians - mainly old people, women and children - all trudging north-west. "Every five minutes I passed yet another straggling band of displaced people". He walked six days without stopping, rested one day, and then rejoined the exodus, his only sustenance some sugar cane and a bit of cassava meal given by the elders of the villages along the way. To steer clear of the perils of the main road, he wandered for 18 days from country trails to forest tracks. Finally, on Saturday 16 November, exhausted, he knocked on the door of the ICRC office in Kisangani. He wanted just three things: news about his family which had left Bukavu before him, food, and water.
This ICRC employee's story is but one example of what is happening all over Kivu: thousands of Zairian men, women and children are fleeing, and no one knows for sure where they are or what help they need. Their plight is today the ICRC's main concern in Zaire. Since the beginning of the crisis and for the last three weeks the ICRC has attempted to gain access to these victims who have been displaced by the conflict and deprived of any assistance. The head of the Kisangani sub-delegation, Andreas Fuog, believes that in the next few days there will be an influx of displaced Zairian families fleeing Bukavu on foot, but it is difficult to estimate how many. They are expected to arrive soon after the ICRC employee, who was able to move faster because he was young and on his own.
Notwithstanding the multiple difficulties barring access to these thousands of displaced people, the ICRC and the Red Cross Society of the Republic of Zaire have sent a truck loaded with four tonnes of medicines, food and blankets to meet them on the way. It set out from the ICRC's logistic base in Kisangani on 20 November.
The ICRC is taking every possible step in the capital to ascertain the whereabouts of all the victims and set up an emergency assistance programme.
Further information: Josui Anselmo, ICRC Kinshasa, tel. ++ 243 12 880 0968 Roland Wavre, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 4122 730 2876
AFGHANISTAN KABUL: THREATENED BY HUNGER AND COLD
The ICRC delegation in Kabul reports that the cost of one month's supply of coal and staple foods for an average family reached the equivalent of two months' wages in November, while fighting continued just 20 km from the capital. The message is alarming: no matter what the coming winter may bring (there have already been sub-zero temperatures), access to food will be a major concern for the city's one million inhabitants.
In early November the ICRC began a series of distributions to help the capital's 16 districts through the winter. Coal, blankets, stoves and plastic sheeting were supplied to the most needy population groups (widows, orphans, the disabled and the elderly), in addition to the basic foodstuffs (flour, vegetable oil, beans and rice) that the ICRC has been providing for over a year to 200,000 people, or nearly a quarter of the city's population. The Afghan Red Crescent Society is also taking care of a number of impoverished families (over 2,000 people), with the financial support of the ICRC. A total of 1,800 tonnes of food is thus being distributed each month.
The ICRC's relief administrator in Kabul, Jean-Pascal Salvaj, says that this supplementary food aid provides half of the estimated daily requirement of 2,400 calories per person. It should be adapted to meet needs as they arise, taking the following two factors into particular account:
- a spiralling inflation rate (400% since the beginning of the year) which shows no signs of levelling off. Although Kabul's market is well stocked, staple foods such as flour andoil remain unaffordable for many of the city's inhabitants. The exchange rate of the afghani, the local currency, which had strengthened from approximately 20,000 to 12,000 afghanis per US dollar after the arrival of the Taliban, is now back at 18,000 afghanis per dollar;
- the population's monthly income. The new Taliban administration has paid the salaries of a number of civil servants for the month of October. But more and more people, both residents and displaced people, are now unemployed. They include most of the capital's gainfully employed women who, except for certain medical staff, have lost their jobs.
Further information: Peter Iseli, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2086
MOROCCO/WESTERN SAHARA ICRC VISITS MOROCCAN PRISONERS HELD BY THE POLISARIO FRONT
Between 28 October and 9 November 1996 a team of six delegates, including a doctor, visited 847 of the approximately 1,920 Moroccan prisoners still held by the Polisario Front. This was the last of a series of three visits carried out between December 1995 and November 1996, during which delegates met nearly all of these prisoners. Most have been in captivity for over 15 years.
All of those who wished to do so sent a photo and a Red Cross message to their families. A distribution system for parcels sent by families was set up two years ago by the ICRC; it has enabled over 1,000 such parcels to be delivered to the prisoners so far this year.
In the past twelve months, 185 Moroccan and 66 Sahrawi prisoners have been able to return to their families. They were released respectively on 19 November 1995 and 31 October 1996, under ICRC auspices and thanks to the efforts of the United States, Argentine and German governments.
The tragic situation of prisoners captured during the Western Sahara conflict remains a major concern of the ICRC. It will continue to make all the representations that it considers necessary and reiterates its availability to assist in finding a comprehensive solution to this humanitarian problem.
Further information: Werner Kaspar, ICRC Tunis, tel. ++ 21 61 789 134 Roland Wavre, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2876
THAILAND LAW OF WAR SEMINAR FOR THE ROYAL THAI ARMED FORCES
A four-day seminar to promote awareness of the law of war among senior Thai military officers was held from 12 to 15 November by the ICRC Regional Delegation for East Asia together with the Thai Supreme Command.
More than 50 high-ranking officers from the Royal Thai Armed Forces and the Supreme Command took active part in the seminar, which was the first to be organized in almost a decade. The Thai military officers were given class-room war exercises during which they learned, among other things, how to strike a balance between military necessity and humanitarian requirements when making military decisions. Other topics of the seminar included the law of neutrality, operational planning, behaviour in action and war crimes.
Further information: Niphat Taptagaporn, ICRC Bangkok, tel. ++ 662 251 04 24
ICRC Vice-President addresses World Food Summit
An ICRC delegation led by Vice-President Eric Roethlisberger attended the UN summit on food security which took place in Rome from 13 to 17 November. In his statement, Mr Roethlisberger stressed that respect for international humanitarian law is a crucial factor in ensuring food security in conflict situations. With reference to the current crisis in eastern Zaire, he particularly underscored the fact that the right to assistance - including food aid - essential for the survival of civilians in armed conflict is enshrined in that law. The ICRC also prepared a report for the summit on its approach and experience with regard to food security in situations of armed conflict.
Further information: Meinrad Studer, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 4122 730 2708
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update 96/6 on ICRC activities in Zaire, dated 18.11.96
During the week-end of 23 - 24 November 1996, for all information, please call the press officer on duty, Rolin Wavre, on(mobile) 41 79 357 15 24