ICRC News 50 / 18.12.96
CHECHNYA A TRAGEDY THAT INVOLVES US ALL
At a meeting with the heads of the Permanent Missions to the UN in Geneva, originally scheduled to launch the ICRC's financial appeals for 1997, ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga gave the ambassadors details of the previous day's tragic events in Chechnya and condemned "this barbaric act" in the strongest terms. "If we accept that such intolerable behaviour will continue in a climate of indifference, then the intolerable will become the rule. Yesterday's tragedy must be seen from this perspective if it is to have any meaning. It is a challenge to us all: governments, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies , the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations alike. (...) There are clear choices to be made, and clear messages to be given." Mr Sommaruga concluded: "While it is too early for any definitive decision about the future of our humanitarian action, and in particular about our presence in Chechnya, the reactions of your governments and their support will certainly make a vital contribution to our common effort to preserve an oasis of humanity in the very midst of conflict."
Mr Sommaruga's statement can be obtained from the ICRC Press Division, tel. ++4122 730 2309.
A press release will be issued on Monday 23 December with details of the ICRC's financial appeals for 1997, which are in the order of 142 million Swiss francs for the headquarters budget and 618 million for the field budget. The press file will be available at the Press Division on Monday.
ZAIRE ICRC STILL ONLY ORGANIZATION WORKING IN SHABUNDA
The ICRC is providing assistance for almost 50,000 Rwandan and Burundian refugees who have gathered near the town of Shabunda, 200 km west of Bukavu. This temporary site deep in the forest is seeing several thousand new arrivals every day. The aid operation is being conducted in extremely arduous conditions because of the nature of the terrain and heavy rainfall. Supplies are first airlifted by heavy transport plane from Nairobi to Kundu in eastern Zaire, then transferred to lighter aircraft which can land at Shabunda. There they are loaded onto dugout canoes, and for the last part of the journey bicycles have to be used.
On 17 December an ICRC team went to Lubutu to assess the situation of 120,000 other refugees who are living in very difficult conditions.
Further information: Rolin Wavre, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2826
CAMPAIGN TO TRACE THE MISSING IN BOSNIA HUNDREDS OF NEW TRACING REQUESTS
The second phase of the campaign launched to trace people still unaccounted for following the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina has proved a great success: hundreds of new tracing requests were collected and a considerable amount of fresh information was gathered during the three-week period.
The number of incoming requests jumped from less than 100 a week nationwide to more than 450. In the capital Sarajevo, for example, an average of 17 requests a week were filed prior to the second phase; this figure rose to 200-300. In Tuzla, 293 families approached the ICRC with information on missing family members, as compared with 83 in the previous three weeks.
"We are overwhelmed by these results, which once again point up the vital importance of our work here. The massive influx of requests shows that thousands of families are still searching for their loved ones", said Bardia Bodaghi, ICRC tracing coordinator in Sarajevo. He added that the ICRC will do its utmost to provide families with answers in 1997. To date, the ICRC has gathered nearly 18,000 tracing requests, but only 1,000 cases have been resolved.
Last March the Working Group on Missing Persons decided that the ICRC would collect tracing requests only up to 14 December 1996, and would then concentrate all its efforts on finding answers.
The current phase of the campaign was launched on 21 November as a reminder to the families of missing persons of the deadline. A third phase aimed at gathering as much information as possible on what happened to those still unaccounted for will begin in February 1997.
The campaign is being conducted in cooperation with national and local Bosnian press, radio and TV, throughout the Federation and the Serb Republic. As a result of the massive increase in demand, the ICRC has now agreed with the former warring parties that the deadline for handing in tracing requests will be extended for a further three months.
Further information: Nina Galbe, ICRC Sarajevo, tel. ++ 38 771 652 407 Michael Kleiner, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 4122 730 2281
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update 96/15 on ICRC activities in Zaire, dated 17.12.96
Should you require any information during the weekend of 21-22 December or over the holiday (24-25 December), please contact duty press officer Tony Burgener on ++4179 202 3670 (mobile phone)