ICRC News 24 / 25.06.97** SHORT MENU....
SIERRA LEONE: ON ALL FRONTS: Amid renewed hostilities, the ICRC has again intensified its activities in several parts of the country. On 23 June an ICRC team from Freetown managed for the first time to join up in Kambia and Makeni, in western Sierra Leone, with another team from Conakry to assess the needs of several thousand people displaced by the latest clashes in the capital.
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS: After a temporary lull, the situation in the Congolese capital has again deteriorated over the past 48 hours, limiting the scope for action of the four ICRC delegates on the spot and their local colleagues, the first aid workers of the Congolese Red Cross.
NEPAL: ARMY TRAINING TO INCLUDE HUMANITARIAN LAW: The Royal Nepalese Army has agreed to introduce international humanitarian law (IHL) as an integral part of its training programme, with effect from June 1997.
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SIERRA LEONE ON ALL FRONTS
Amid renewed hostilities, the ICRC has again intensified its activities in several parts of the country. On 23 June an ICRC team from Freetown managed for the first time to join up in Kambia and Makeni, in western Sierra Leone, with another team from Conakry to assess the needs of several thousand people displaced by the latest clashes in the capital. The ICRC delegates also visited the Pademba Road prison, where they had access to all detainees. They were able to register the people arrested in connection with the recent events in Freetown and to speak in private with them.
In the east, the ICRC and the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society stand alone in trying to cope with the growing needs. Three casualties have been transferred by road from Zimmi to Kenema, where a first-aid post was set up at the delegation when fighting threatened to engulf the hospital. Delegates have distributed food and medical supplies to the most vulnerable groups of civilians (orphanages and hospitals). In Segbwema the distributions of seed and implements that began last week have continued, despite the clashes in the rest of the country. This assistance is intended to help some 100,000 people to resettle.
In all. there are 23 expatriate delegates deployed in Zimmi, Kenema, Segbwema, Freetown and Kambia. They are working in very difficult conditions, particularly in the east. Most activities are being carried out in close cooperation with the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society and its teams in the field.
Further information: Rolin Wavre, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2876
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
After a temporary lull, the situation in the Congolese capital has again deteriorated over the past 48 hours, limiting the scope for action of the four ICRC delegates on the spot and their local colleagues, the first aid workers of the Congolese Red Cross.
Together, they nonetheless managed on 20 June to evacuate 60 young orphans stranded in a home near the airport, in a particularly exposed area. Cared for by Catholic nuns, the children - the youngest only two weeks old - had been without food or contact with the outside world since the fighting began. After first obtaining the consent of all parties, the ICRC delegates organized a convoy of ten vehicles to transfer them to the less dangerous Bakongo district.
Teams of Congolese Red Cross first aiders and ICRC delegates have already buried about a hundred bodies strewn around the city. They will continue to provide the hospitals there with emergency medical aid insofar as security conditions allow them to do so.
Further information: Paolo Dell'Oca, ICRC Brazzaville, tel. ++243 88 46 900
NEPAL ARMY TRAINING TO INCLUDE HUMANITARIAN LAW
The Royal Nepalese Army has agreed to introduce international humanitarian law (IHL) as an integral part of its training programme, with effect from June 1997. The decision to include a training syllabus in IHL for all its five echelons from senior officers to junior ranks, and also for its UN operations, came as a result of the efforts made by the ICRC's Regional Delegation for South Asia, which has been interacting with the Royal Nepalese Army for over two years in conjunction with the Nepal Red Cross.
The first course in IHL, designed by the ICRC's Regional Delegate (South Asia) for Relations with Armed and Security Forces for Battalion Commanders, starts on 25 June 1997 at the Army Staff College in Tokha, Kathmandu. The course includes field and classroom exercises dealing mainly with the behaviour of soldiers in action. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, its relevance and the role of the ICRC and the Nepal Red Cross Society will also be discussed. The course is being conducted by Brig. Gen. Digamber S.J.B. Rana (Retd), Brig. Gen. Dipta P. Shah (Retd) and Lt. Col. Lal Bahadur Chand (Retd), who attended an extensive ICRC training programme last year and have been acting as ICRC regional consultants to the Royal Nepalese Army.
A Nepali version of the booklet Code of conduct for combatants has been prepared for the course, with a foreword by the Chief of Staff of the Royal Nepalese Army.
Further information: Savita Varde-Naqvi, ICRC New Delhi, tel. ++ 9111 462 23 38 Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 4122 730 2906
Available from the ICRC: 1996 Annual Report An account of the ICRC's operational activities and its efforts to promote international humanitarian law throughout the world. Copies (in English or French) may be obtained from the Press Division, tel. ++4122 730 2309
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update 97/02 on ICRC activities in Afghanistan, dated 19.6.97 - Update 97/03 on ICRC activities in the Russian Federation/northern Caucasus, dated 19.6.97 - Update 97/03 on ICRC activities in Sierra Leone, dated 19.6.97 - Fact sheet on ICRC activities in Albania, dated 25.6.97.
During the week-end of 28 - 29 June 1997, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Kim Gordon-Bates, on (mobile) 41 79 357 50 03