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United Kingdom: Britain BOOSTS HUMANITARIAN LAW AND ICRC: The ICRC welcomes the announcement made by the British government, during an official visit by ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga to London on 28 January, that it has ratified the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions.
AFGHANISTAN: HUNDREDS OF PRISONERS RELEASED AS RAMADAN ENDS: On 27 January, following an order from their leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban authorities released 112 prisoners held in Kabul and 75 others detained in Kandahar.
AFGHANISTAN: RETURN TO TAGAB: The vast majority of the 100,000 inhabitants of the Tagab valley, 90 km north-east of Kabul, are now returning to their land.
ABKHAZIA: COMMUNITY KITCHENS FOR THE NEEDY: The ICRC community kitchens programme is rapidly becoming the only source of sustenance for over 7,000 people in Abkhazia.
SOMALIA: ICRC COMBATS CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN MOGADISHU: Although the deyr, the shorter of Somalia's two rainy seasons, should have long been over by now, rain continues to fall in areas hit by torrential downpours since last October.
ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES: MINES STRATEGY MEETING IN CAMBODIA: Representatives of the ICRC, the Federation and 25 National Societies will meet in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 2 to 6 February 1998 to discuss the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's future strategy on anti-personnel landmines.
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United Kingdom Britain BOOSTS HUMANITARIAN LAW AND ICRC
The ICRC welcomes the announcement made by the British government, during an official visit by ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga to London on 28 January, that it has ratified the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions. The United Kingdom is the 150th State to ratify Protocol I and the 142nd to ratify Protocol II. These two treaties, adopted in 1977, confirm and expand the protection owed by belligerents to the victims of international conflict (Protocol I) and of non-international conflict (Protocol II), with particular emphasis on the protection of civilians.
Protocol I stresses in particular the concept of "methods and means of warfare" which are deemed to be acceptable. Article 35 states that "the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited", and adds that "it is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering". The same article also stipulates that "it is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment".
The United Kingdom went a step further by making the declaration provided for in Article 90 of Protocol I recognizing the competence of the International Fact-Finding Commission, whose function is to enquire into any facts alleged to be a grave breach or serious violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols.
The ratification by the United Kingdom of these crucial humanitarian treaties is particularly significant, since among NATO members only the USA and Turkey have not yet adhered to them, while France has ratified only Protocol II.
Furthermore, ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga warmly welcomed the substantial increase in funding also announced on 28 January by the British government. Britain's "non-earmarked" contribution to the ICRC's operational budget will rise from 9 million pounds sterling in 1997 to 315 million in 1998, in addition to some 800,000 Pounds for the institution's headquarters budget.
This increased donation is particularly appreciated since the ICRC finished last year with a deficit. According to Jean-Marc Bornet, ICRC head of External Resources, "many donor countries have made exceptional efforts recently to give the ICRC financial support in these difficult times, and we are therefore especially pleased that the United Kingdom, which currently holds the European Union presidency, could increase its contribution in this way".
Further information: Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 23 02
AFGHANISTAN HUNDREDS OF PRISONERS RELEASED AS RAMADAN ENDS
On 27 January, following an order from their leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban authorities released 112 prisoners held in Kabul and 75 others detained in Kandahar. The members of the anti-Taliban coalition, for their part, also expressed their intention to free a number of prisoners held in Mazar-i-Sharif and the Panjshir valley, where the ICRC has been conducting a fresh series of visits since 24 January to places of detention under the control of Commander Massoud. The latter released 85 Taliban prisoners on 29 January.
The releases coincide with Aid-ul-Fitri, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the Ramadan fast. Since last November the Afghan belligerents have undertaken large-scale prisoner exchanges, with which the ICRC has been associated. In addition to acting as a neutral intermediary between the parties to the conflict, it lends material and logistic support to such operations.
In 1997 over 7,800 prisoners in 81 detention centres were registered for the whole of Afghanistan. According to the figures available to the ICRC, there are now 4,000 detained by the Taliban, and a further 1,500 held by the anti-Taliban coalition. With the harsh Afghan winter causing further problems for a population already hit by widespread shortages, the ICRC is now systematically monitoring the nutritional status of people in captivity.
RETURN TO TAGAB
The vast majority of the 100,000 inhabitants of the Tagab valley, 90 km north-east of Kabul, are now returning to their land. In a country where flight from conflict is an all too regular occurrence, this welcome development signals the success of an ICRC pilot project combining emergency relief with resettlement work. The results are all the more remarkable as, even today, the region has a battle line running through it.
After being displaced from their homes by the fighting which ravaged Tagab in 1992, the valley's inhabitants received assistance from the ICRC and the Swedish Red Cross in the Samarkhel camp near Jalalabad. For the last year, a project to revive the region's agriculture has been under way to enable the displaced to return to their fields. The valley's irrigation systems had to be reconstructed, new wells sunk and the old ones cleaned out. The latter had turned into rubbish pits, the result being epidemics and a continuing health hazard for children in particular. Now, 25 square kilometres of arable land have been restored to the local population, and 168 km of irrigation channels -- including the typical Afghan karezis, which run underground -- have been repaired.
With renewed pride clearly visible on the faces of the valley people, the ICRC was able to close its Tagab office officially on 19 January.
Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++ 873 382 280 131 Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 29 06
ABKHAZIA COMMUNITY KITCHENS FOR THE NEEDY
The ICRC community kitchens programme is rapidly becoming the only source of sustenance for over 7,000 people in Abkhazia. There are now 24 canteens in the region, and the number of beneficiaries is still growing. The objective is simple: to provide people with a hot, balanced meal each day, consisting of soup, a main course, a pound of bread, plus tea and sugar. Once a month the beneficiaries receive a ration of fish. Soap is also distributed monthly, and this winter the ICRC has also handed out anoraks.
It is nearly four years since the end of the fighting between Georgia and Abkhazia, but the Abkhaz people are still feeling the effects of the blockade. Relief supplies are still sorely needed in all areas of daily life, with food and medical care especially lacking. The ICRC, which has been working in Abkhazia since 1992, has constantly adapted its aid programmes to reach the most deprived. Once again, it is the elderly, the disabled, members of minorities and those without any form of social welfare who are suffering the most in this volatile, insecure situation exacerbated by the presence of armed groups under nobody's control.
Since last September the community kitchen programme, launched in 1994, has been funded by the Finnish Red Cross, which has seconded a delegate to run the project. A large proportion of the vegetables used for the meals are produced locally under the ICRC's food and agriculture programme, which aims to restore a measure of self-sufficiency to the people.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 23 07
SOMALIA ICRC COMBATS CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN MOGADISHU
Although the deyr, the shorter of Somalia's two rainy seasons, should have long been over by now, rain continues to fall in areas hit by torrential downpours since last October. The prevailing floods, which have paradoxically left so many places without drinking water and sanitation, have caused a rapid spread in the cholera epidemic. The ICRC, however, has responded quickly, and the initial results are starting to be seen.
At Mogadishu's Benadir hospital, for example, the number of cholera patients has dropped considerably, with daily admissions down from over 120 to around 50. Since the beginning of its emergency operation against the disease, the ICRC has provided 2,659 litres of intravenous fluids, 54,620 sachets of ORS (oral rehydration salts) and 12,000 antibiotic tablets in the rehydration centres it has set up.
On 17 January, following a survey carried out by an ICRC health delegate, another rehydration centre was opened in Balad, north-east of Mogadishu, where cases of severe diarrhoea and deaths had been reported since early December. The running of the centre, which so far has had 56 admissions and recorded two deaths, is now in the hands of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The Federation has also taken over responsibility for the Afgoi centre north of Mogadishu.
Meanwhile, the ICRC continues to focus on cholera awareness and prevention. Two mobile teams, each with a qualified nurse and sanitation staff, are working in other villages further afield in the Balad and Afgoi areas. They are training their local counterparts in preventive methods, with mobilization of the population, early oral rehydration and hygiene awareness forming part of the programme. The ICRC teams also provide the local health workers with basic items such as chlorine and ORS so that they can start the rehydration process on the spot, thereby reducing the number of people who die before they can be treated at the centres.
Although the situation is now more under control, fresh outbreaks of cholera continue to occur. Latest reports indicate several cases of severe diarrhoea in Baidoa, which at present is inaccessible by land as the road was washed away by the floods. Once the road is passable again, an ICRC/Somali Red Crescent Society health team will assess the situation and take action if necessary.
Further information: Josue Anselmo, ICRC Nairobi, tel. ++2542 716 339
ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES MINES STRATEGY MEETING IN CAMBODIA
Representatives of the ICRC, the Federation and 25 National Societies will meet in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 2 to 6 February 1998 to discuss the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's future strategy on anti-personnel landmines.
The meeting will focus on the National Societies' role in securing early ratification and universal acceptance of the Ottawa treaty banning anti-personnel mines, and on the part they can play in ensuring better care for mine victims and implementing prevention programmes.
Many National Societies have been at the forefront of the Movement's public campaign against landmines, which was officially launched by the ICRC in November 1995.
The ICRC has been providing artificial limbs and medical assistance for mine victims since 1979, and mine-awareness programmes are currently under way in a number of countries to help prevent further accidents.
Further information: Mary-Anne Andersen, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 23 29
During the weekend of 31 January - 1 February 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Kim Gordon-Bates, on (mobile) 41 79 357 50 03