ICRC News 48 / 12.03.97

ICRC News 48 / 12.03.97


** SHORT MENU....

TAJIKISTAN: ICRC SHOCKED BY HOSTAGE'S DEATH: The ICRC was shocked and
saddened to learn that one of the two french aid workers held hostage in the
Tajik capital Dushanbe had been killed on 30 November as a rescue attempt was
under way. 

INDONESIA: ALARMING SITUATION IN IRIAN JAYA: Initial reports from the joint
ICRC/Indonesian Red Cross team currently on a fact-finding mission in Irian
Jaya are giving cause for serious concern. 

AFGHANISTAN: RECORD NUMBER OF DETAINEES VISITED: During the first nine months
of 1997, the ICRC visited 7,826 detainees in 74 detention centres in
Afghanistan. 

ETHIOPIA/SOMALIA: NO END IN SIGHT TO THE HUMAN TRAGEDY: Rain has continued to
fall unabated over eastern Ethiopia and southern Somalia in the past week.
What was supposed to be the light rainy season known as "deyr" is turning out
to be the heaviest rainfall since 1961. 

SENEGAL: AT WORK IN CASAMANCE: On 3 December an ICRC team began a series of
visits to persons arrested in connection with the events in the Casamance
region of Senegal and held in places of detention in Dakar, Ziguinchor in the
south, and Kolda in the south-east. 

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: WATER RUNNING AGAIN IN BRAZZAVILLE: "Thanks to you,
life can start again in Brazzaville!" This was the emphatic tribute paid to
the ICRC by an engineer from the national water supply company (SNDE) as the
precious liquid began to flow again from the Djiri water pumping station. 



** STORIES IN FULL...

TAJIKISTAN
ICRC SHOCKED BY HOSTAGE'S DEATH

The ICRC was shocked and saddened to learn that one of the two french aid
workers held hostage in the Tajik capital Dushanbe had been killed on 30
November as a rescue attempt was under way. The young woman who died and the
other hostage both worked for humanitarian organizations. The ICRC considers
that this tragic event, which came in the wake of several other security
incidents, cannot but jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian aid which the
population so sorely needs. The prevailing insecurity is hampering activities
to assist and protect victims in the country, and the ICRC evacuated a dozen
of its delegates to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, following the abduction of the two
aid workers on 18 November last. It plans to reassess its staff deployment in
Tajikistan at the end of this week, in the light of the measures taken by the
authorities to restore adequate security. 

The ICRC has maintained a presence in the country since late 1992, focusing
on the protection of persons deprived of their freedom and on medical
assistance to hospitals and other health facilities, which have been hard hit
by the economic crisis and the years of conflict between the government and
the Islamist opposition. In the Garm and Tavildara valleys, it is
distributing food and other essential items to the most vulnerable among the
displaced people who returned home after the signing of the cease-fire
agreements at the end of December 1996. Two delegates are currently based in
Garm, with another two remaining in Dushanbe. 

Between January and September 1997 the ICRC visited some 200 detainees, most
of them held by the opposition, and arranged for the exchange of 650 Red
Cross messages between them and their families. It also supplied food aid for
people held in government prisons and gave material assistance to more than
22,000 people affected by the conflict. 

Further information: Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2906


INDONESIA
ALARMING SITUATION IN IRIAN JAYA

Initial reports from the joint ICRC/Indonesian Red Cross team currently on a
fact-finding mission in Irian Jaya are giving cause for serious concern. The
team, based in Timika, has been flying daily helicopter shuttles since 19
November to the villages hardest hit by the drought affecting the whole
region. 

Last week, the six experts on the team visited three particularly remote
localities in the Mimika district, situated in a conflict area where the Free
Papua Movement (or OPM - Organisasi Papua Merdeka) has often made its
presence felt. They found the nutritional and health status of the population
of this high-plateau region in central Irian Jaya to be alarming. Preliminary
surveys showed that young children were the primary victims of malnutrition.
In Alama and Nggin, two of the villages visited, the team noted that more
than 55% of children aged between one and five were suffering from serious
malnutrition. The villagers reported that the yam crops, one of the main
sources of food, had been destroyed from the combined impact of drought and
night-time frost. The next harvest is not due for six or nine months. For the
time being, the inhabitants of the two villages have made a start on the
survival rations supplied to them by the Indonesian army, which has bases in
the vicinity. 

On the medical side, anaemia, malaria and respiratory diseases are
widespread, and the experts observed that mortality was on the rise. For the
time being, the team could do little more than distribute selective emergency
aid in the form of medicines and rice for logistic reasons. The Indonesian
Ministry of Health has announced its intention of sending specialists to the
scene to implement malaria control measures. This week the team is continuing
its survey in the Kora and Wusak valleys, east of Timika. 

On 24 November the ICRC launched a provisional appeal for funds, with a
target of two million Swiss francs, to help people at risk in Irian Jaya. 

Further information: Sri R. Wahyu Endah, ICRC Jakarta, tel. ++6221 720 72 52
Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2906


AFGHANISTAN
RECORD NUMBER OF DETAINEES VISITED

During the first nine months of 1997, the ICRC visited 7,826 detainees in 74
detention centres in Afghanistan. These figures show a sharp rise over those
recorded for the whole of the previous year (2,700 prisoners), pointing to
the continuation of a conflict which, this year too, has seen large-scale
military offensives in the northern part of the country. 

The ICRC currently has access to detainees in prisons under the control of
all parties to the conflict, whether they belong to the Taliban movement or
to the Northern Coalition (the Jamiat, Wahdat and Jumbesh forces). This
freedom of action enjoyed by the ICRC, in a context marked by a strong
resurgence of ethnic tension and violations of humanitarian law, was
restricted between June and September following the clashes around
Mazar-i-Sharif. During that period, the ICRC provided medical treatment for -
and ensured the survival of - hundreds of wounded Taliban combatants who had
been taken prisoner. But it was unable to gain access to all the persons
captured by the Jumbesh forces of General Malik Pahlawan. This state of
affairs was denounced in a press release issued on 11 August. From 25 October
onwards, however, ICRC delegates were authorized by the new Jumbesh
authorities of Mazar-i-Sharif to resume their visits to the detention centres
of the region. They were also able to supervise several release operations
(41 Taliban freed last week from Mazar-i-Sharif prison, 17 others transferred
by plane from Mazar-i-Sharif to Jalalabad on 1 December, and 51 prisoners
released = in the Panjshir region on 2 December by Commander Massoud). 

Detention conditions in Afghanistan have led the ICRC to increase its
assistance to prisoners. Work to put wells back into service and improve
hygiene in prisons has been undertaken on a broad scale. Clothing, shoes,
mattresses, blankets, soap and cooking utensils are distributed regularly to
people in prison. In addition, the ICRC is supplying wool to several hundred
of the country's 14,000 war widows whose essential needs it is meeting; this
enables them to produce knitwear for the detainees and thus earn a small
income. 

Further information: Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2906


ETHIOPIA/SOMALIA
NO END IN SIGHT TO THE HUMAN TRAGEDY

Rain has continued to fall unabated over eastern Ethiopia and southern
Somalia in the past week. What was supposed to be the light rainy season
known as "deyr" is turning out to be the heaviest rainfall since 1961.
According to meteorologists, there may be no letup until the end of the year. 

In the Somali region of Lower Shabelle the inhabitants' plight is worsening
by the hour, with the water levels rising steadily over the last five days.
Although the ICRC teams are working around the clock to distribute aid (high
protein biscuits, blankets and tarpaulins) to the victims of the overflowing
Juba and Shabelle rivers, the impact of their efforts appears small in
comparison with the magnitude of the disaster. 

At the same time, the ICRC delegates working together with the Ethiopian Red
Cross Society near the Ethiopian border region of Gedo are anticipating the
second phase of the relief effort and are receiving bulk food as part of the
ICRC's seed protection programme. Seed is procured through the local business
community and is to be distributed alongside the airlifted food from Nairobi.
This programme will be implemented as soon as farmers can begin sowing the
seed. 

In the Lower Shabelle region, the ICRC is still dealing with the first phase
of the emergency, as new villages are flooded and access routes cut off. In
the Jilib/Marere area, thousands of inhabitants are living off scraps carried
by the floodwaters, and their nutritional and health status is deteriorating
rapidly. 

Meanwhile, in Ethiopia three helicopters continue their daily shuttles out of
the small airport of the town of Gode to provide assistance for as many
displaced people and stranded villagers as possible in the flooded areas of
Gode and Afder in the south-east. Every day, new isolated or flooded villages
are being discovered. Their inhabitants are in desperate need of shelter,
food and basic medicines; malaria, dysentery and other infectious diseases
are spreading because of poor nutrition and the shortage of clean water. 

Owing to the limited logistic resources, aid has not been able to reach more
than 25% of the stricken areas. Conservative estimates already speak of more
than 16,000 displaced persons and 100,000 people directly affected by the
disaster. 

Further information: Josue Anselmo, ICRC Nairobi, tel. ++2542 717 443
Peter Iseli, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel. ++2511 518 366


SENEGAL
AT WORK IN CASAMANCE

On 3 December an ICRC team began a series of visits to persons arrested in
connection with the events in the Casamance region of Senegal and held in
places of detention in Dakar, Ziguinchor in the south, and Kolda in the
south-east. In the course of these visits, which will continue until 12
December, the team, made up of the ICRC regional delegate and a doctor, will
hold private talks with the detainees in order to assess their conditions of
detention and treatment. Since June 1996 the ICRC has been conducting regular
visits to detainees in Senegal who fall within its mandate. In addition, on
26 November the ICRC supplied the regional hospital in Ziguinchor with 715 kg
of medical and surgical equipment to help provide treatment for people
wounded in the conflict. 

In cooperation with the ICRC, the regional committee of the Senegalese Red
Cross Society last week distributed food aid to more than 740 families
(approximately 7,000 people) in Ziguinchor who had been forced to flee their
homes following clashes in Casamance between the Senegalese armed forces and
the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance. Each displaced family
received 25 kg of rice and 2.5 kg litres cooking oil. 

These humanitarian operations are conducted by the Senegalese Red Cross with
ICRC support in a context marked by a resurgence of hostilities in the region
since last summer. 

Further information: Rene-Luc Thevoz, ICRC Abidjan, tel. ++225 222 459



REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
WATER RUNNING AGAIN IN BRAZZAVILLE

"Thanks to you, life can start again in Brazzaville!" This was the emphatic
tribute paid to the ICRC by an engineer from the national water supply
company (SNDE) as the precious liquid began to flow again from the Djiri
water pumping station. 

Since late October the ICRC has been doing its utmost to restore the drinking
water supply in the capital. Brazzaville had been without running water and
electricity since the early days of the conflict, which broke out on 5 June
1997. Previously, the inhabitants - who are now returning to their homes in
increasing numbers - had been obliged to use the tanks installed by the ICRC,
which were regularly replenished from its water tankers, at various points in
the city. 

The ICRC took care of logistics and supplied the cables needed to repair the
power line feeding the Djiri water pumping station. After several weeks' work
and with the provision of over 100 tonnes of chemicals to purify the water,
the station was back in service on 27 November with an output of 45 million
litres per day. Another 30 million litres are being supplied by the second
station in Djoue, which is also receiving ICRC support. 

The people of Brazzaville expressed joy and relief at the return of the water
supply. The lines of women and children carrying buckets to the distribution
points have almost disappeared. "During the war, we had forgotten what normal
life was like, when we could wash, quench our thirst and cook without having
to count the number of glasses of water we used", said one woman, visibly
happy at seeing the water running again from the taps in her area. 

The work is not yet over, however: there are countless leaks in the supply
network because of the heavy shelling which devastated the city. With the
help of the ICRC engineers, around a hundred leaks have already been
repaired, and there are plans to install between 200 and 300 public
distribution points in places where the network is too badly damaged. 

The ICRC has made a commitment to the Congolese engineers to guarantee, at
least until spring 1998, the supply and transportation of chemical products,
maintenance equipment and tools needed to ensure that the two water supply
stations can continue to function. 

Further information: Paolo Dell'Oca, ICRC Kinshasa, tel. 00243 12 34 191


New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org :
- Update No 97/03 on ICRC activities to assist the flood victims in
  Somalia and Ethiopia, dated  1.12.97
- Update No. 97/01 on ICRC Special Appeal "Assistance for Mine Victims",
  dated  26.11.97


During the weekend of 6 - 7 December 1997, for all information please call
the press officer on duty, Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 357 15 24