ICRC News 02 / 16.01.97

ICRC News 02 / 16.01.97


CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
ICRC VISITS DETAINED CIVILIANS AND REBEL SOLDIERS

On 8 January an ICRC delegate visited 46 people held in Bangui by the 
Central African gendarmerie in connection with the mutiny that started in 
mid-November last year. Among those being held are nine rebel soldiers 
captured by French troops during their operation on 5 January and then 
handed over to the gendarmerie nationale. Some of the detained civilians 
have since been released, but the soldiers remain in custody.

The delegate took note of the identity of each of the captives and 
checked their state of health. First-aid workers from the Central African 
Red Cross Society go to the gendarmerie every day in order to deliver 
food and basic hygiene items.

The visits are conducted with the approval of the Ministry of Defence, 
under a 1992 agreement between the Central African Republic and the ICRC 
authorizing the organization to carry out regular visits to persons held 
in the country for security reasons.

Further information: Ulrich Bidert, ICRC Yaoundi, tel. ++237 225 859



COLOMBIA
EMERGENCY AID IN YONDO-ANTIOQUIA AREA

ICRC delegates based in Bucaramanga, in the department of Santander in 
central Colombia, went to the municipality of Yonds (department of 
Antioquia) on 10 January to take emergency aid to victims of the internal 
violence in Puerto Nuevo, a village on the banks of the River Iti. They 
were accompanied by representatives of the Colombian Red Cross.

Fifteen of the village's 20 houses had been burnt down by armed men. One 
person died in the incident and another is reported missing.

It was nightfall before the ICRC and Colombian Red Cross team reached 
Puerto Nuevo, known to its inhabitants as Cooperativa, after a ten-hour 
drive along almost impassable tracks. The 70 or so villagers - two-thirds 
of them children - fled into the woods when they saw the approaching 
vehicles, and emerged only when they recognized the red cross emblem. The 
team gave them food, kitchen utensils, hygiene items, blankets and 
mattresses. For the time being they are sheltering in the few houses left 
standing. The ICRC is closely monitoring developments in the situation so 
as to afford them protection.

There are reported to be 300 displaced persons in the Yonds-Antioquia 
area. "The Puerto Nuevo incident is serious", said Christophe Kleber, 
head of the ICRC's subdelegation in Bucaramanga. "It could well signal an 
escalation in the conflict."

According to human rights organizations in Colombia, the consequences of 
the internal conflict are disastrous for the civilian population. They 
estimate that every year 73,000 people are driven from their homes, 2,600 
are killed and more than 500 others are taken captive. 

The ICRC delegation in Bogota is concerned about the increasingly severe 
effects of the internal violence in humanitarian terms.

The ICRC has been working in Colombia since 1980. It currently has a 
delegation in Bogota, subdelegations in Cali, Medellmn, Apartads, 
Bucaramanga, Barranquilla and Villavicencio, and offices in Saravena, 
Florencia and Pasto, with a fourth due to open shortly in Czcuta. The 
organization operates with a staff of 42 delegates and 90 local personnel 
in the country.

Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Bogota, tel. ++571 310 3985
Rubin Ortega, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2454


New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org :
- Update 97/1 on ICRC activities  in the Russian Federation/northern 
Caucasus, dated  10.1.97


During the week-end of 18 - 19 December 1997, for all information
please call the press officer on duty:
   Rolin Wavre, on (mobile) 41 79 357 15 24