ICRC News 12 / 02.04.97
ALBANIA FOOD DISTRIBUTED
The director of a day-care centre for mentally handicapped children heaves a sigh of relief when she sees the ICRC aid convoy. Like the staff of other social-welfare institutions and hospitals visited during the ICRC's first round of food distributions (completed in central and southern Albania over the Easter weekend) she is struggling to find the wherewithal to feed the people in her care. And like the other ten staff members at the centre - in Durres, west of Tirana - she has received no salary for over a month. Many of the children, ranging in age from two to nine years, are forced to sleep at the centre because their parents are too frightened to bring them home in a town where the nights are still shattered by the crackle of gunfire. The staff have shown impressive dedication in meeting their daily needs.
Recent surveys carried out by the ICRC across Albania show that homes for the mentally handicapped, hospitals, orphanages, old people's homes and other such institutions are hardest hit by the unrest plaguing the country, as they are utterly dependent on the government for food and medical supplies.
Around 10 tonnes of food was dispatched from the ICRC's logistical base in Ioannina/Konitsa, Greece to social welfare institutions in Gjirokaster, Permet, Tepelene, Elbasan, Librazdh and Durres. Further distributions will begin soon in northern Albania.
Although the ICRC has so far encountered no security problems in the course of its distributions, the situation remains extremely volatile. Precautions will thus continue to be taken to minimize the risk.
While welcoming efforts to make the general environment more secure for humanitarian work, the ICRC rejects the idea of armed escorts for its staff delivering humanitarian supplies.
Further information: Amanda Williamson, ICRC Tirana Tel.: ++ 355 42 33 151 Michael Kleiner, ICRC Geneva, Tel.: ++ 41 22 730 22 81
COLOMBIA ARMED GROUPS RELEASE CIVILIANS
Seven people held captive by armed groups involved in Colombia's internal conflict were handed over to ICRC delegates last week. Five of the captives had been held by the ACCU (Rural Self-Defence Groups of Cordoba and Uraba), some for eight months. On 26 March they were released in the Uraba region, in northern Antioquia department, and handed over to a joint commission, which included an ICRC delegate. Immediately following their release the ICRC provided them with transport home to their families throughout Colombia.
Three of the five had been visited by ICRC delegates several times during their captivity, and were thus able to maintain contact with their families by means of Red Cross Messages.
On 23 March, a German national held since December 1996 by the ELN (National Liberation Army) was handed over to an ICRC delegate based in Valledupar, capital of the department of Cesar. The ICRC arranged for him to return to his family in Quito, Ecuador.
In the same department, a Colombian who had been held captive for several weeks was released by the ELN on 28 March. He too was handed over to a Valledupar-based delegate.
The ICRC provides humanitarian services for persons who have been abducted in Colombia. It urges the armed groups holding these people to confirm that they are being held captive. It asks that the captives be allowed to contact their families by means of Red Cross Messages and that delegates be allowed to visit them. It also arranges transport home once they are released.
Since last August, 40 people have been released under ICRC auspices by armed groups in Colombia.
Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Bogota, Tel. ++571 636 7094 Rubin Ortega, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++4122 730 2454
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA CAMPAIGN TO TRACE THE MISSING - PHASE 3
The ICRC has launched the third phase of its programme to trace persons reported missing in Bosnia-Herzegovina. An advertising campaign is under way to tell all those who may know what has happened to a missing person that the families need their help, and urging them to contact the nearest ICRC office in the former Yugoslavia or national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in other countries. If they so wish, their identities will be kept confidential.
The process of collecting this information has thus far been slow and the results meagre. Efforts are therefore now being redoubled to put an end to the excruciating uncertainty still endured by the families affected.
The ICRC is also publishing the third edition of its book containing the names of the more than 17,300 individuals for whom the ICRC has received tracing requests. The new edition takes two forms: a list of names in alphabetical order and a list of names according to place and date of disappearance.
Further information: Nina Winquist-Galbe, ICRC Sarajevo Tel. ++387 71 656 894 Michael Kleiner, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++41 22 730 2281
SOMALIA ICRC ACTS TO CURB CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN THE SOUTH
An outbreak of cholera in the southern Somali town of Wanlaweyn resulted in more than 430 deaths between 15 February and 17 March, according to ICRC medical staff. To date, almost 2,000 cases of the disease have been reported in the area, about 90 km west of the capital Mogadishu. Samples tested in Nairobi have confirmed the presence of cholera.
ICRC health delegates, who carried out an initial survey in Wanlaweyn - home to between 10,000 and 13,000 families - said that only one of five wells in the town was working. Following the survey, the ICRC donated medical supplies, such as oral rehydration solutions and antibiotics, and arranged for eight local people to undergo immediate training in preventive and curative care with Somali Red Crescent personnel in Mogadishu.
Local people in Wanlaweyn have now set up an isolation camp for cholera patients. Joint ICRC/Somali Red Crescent teams have been working with the community to improve conditions in the camp, for which the ICRC provided tents and other items. ICRC water engineers have also installed a 15,000-litre water tank and overseen the construction of sanitary facilities
Several hundred cases of cholera, which commonly occurs in Somalia between the end of January and early April, have likewise been reported in Mogadishu. There, too, the ICRC and its partner on the ground, the Somali Red Crescent, are providing preventive and curative care, along with UN agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Further information: Claude Voillat, Laura O'Mahony, ICRC Nairobi, Somalia delegation, tel. ++2542 723 963
INDONESIA SPOTLIGHT ON HUMANITARIAN LAW
As part of its efforts to promote international humanitarian law in Indonesia, on 12 and 13 March the ICRC held a seminar in Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi on non-international conflicts. Over 300 people took part in the event, which was sponsored by the Hasanuddin University. They included civil servants and journalists as well as representatives of the armed forces, academic circles and the Human Rights Commission in Indonesia. The ICRC's role in conflict situations not covered by the Geneva Conventions was the subject of lively debates conducted by the head of the ICRC regional delegation in Jakarta, who made a point of explaining the ICRC's right to take any humanitarian initiative and its unique role as a neutral intermediary.
During the previous week the ICRC had discussed the same subjects with commanding officers of the armed and security forces in East Timor. It is starting another seminar on humanitarian law this week in Jakarta, this time for the special units (Kopassus) of the Indonesian armed forces.
The ICRC has been present in Indonesia since the 1970s and is engaged in programmes in Aceh, Sumatra and Irian Jaya to provide protection for the civilian population and for people in prison. It also has an office in Dili (East Timor), where it is continuing the same kind of activities. Last but not least, the task of the regional delegation in Jakarta, which besides Indonesia also covers Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, is to spread knowledge of humanitarian law and the activities of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in the region.
Further information: Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2906 Sri R. Wahyu Endah, ICRC Jakarta, tel. ++6221 720 7252
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update 97/4on ICRC activities in Albania, dated 27.3.97 - Update 97/3 on ICRC activities in the Russian Federation/northern Caucasus, dated 26.3.97 - Update 97/4 on ICRC activities in Zaire, dated 25.3.97
During the week-end of 5 - 6 April 1997, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Michael Kleiner, on (mobile) 41 79 202 42 00