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AFGHANISTAN: first SUPPLIES REACH quake victims: Relief teams sent by the ICRC to the area rocked by the earthquake in Afghanistan's Takhar province have been hard at work since Sunday 8 February.
ZAMBIA: ICRC VISITS SECURITY DETAINEES: An ICRC team consisting of two delegates and a doctor was in Zambia from 19 January to 7 February, during which time they visited 94 security detainees and provided them with basic hygiene articles.
FRANCE: ICRC PRESIDENT HAS HIGH-LEVEL TALKS IN PARIS: During an official visit to France, ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga was received on 6 February by French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. Mr Sommaruga took this opportunity to urge that France reconsider its current position regarding ratification of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions, an important instrument of international humanitarian law which in particular strengthens the protection afforded to civilians during international conflicts.
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AFGHANISTAN first SUPPLIES REACH quake victims
Relief teams sent by the ICRC to the area rocked by the earthquake in Afghanistan's Takhar province have been hard at work since Sunday 8 February. They face a mammoth task, made even more difficult by landslides, the distances between the stricken villages, the rough terrain at an altitude of over 2,000 metres and harsh winter conditions. Logistics will be of the utmost importance in the relief operation.
Delegates of the ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who are on the scene report that the villages hit by the quake are a grim sight. The tremor razed thousands of homes and blocked roads with rivers of mud. Many inhabitants are in a state of shock, left without shelter in the freezing cold. On 9 February the local authorities reported that 3,281 people had been killed in 12 villages around Rostaq, the town closest to the epicentre. But estimates of the numbers of dead and wounded are still provisional. Access to other stricken villages farther afield is difficult. One medical survey team took three hours to cover just 15 km.
On 8 February the ICRC dispatched a first planeload of emergency medical supplies from the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif, with six specialists to assess needs and set up relief operations. The next day, another aircraft landed with 1,400 kg of medical material and sanitation equipment. Late Tuesday, a road convoy carrying 5,500 blankets and 100 plastic shelters arrived.
The hospital in Rostaq quickly became the focal point for medical assistance in the region. Three surgeons, two from Medecins sans frontieres (MSF) and one from the ICRC, have treated hundreds of cases with the help of two local medical teams. Many patients have fractures, and some cases of paraplegia have been reported. One of the most urgent problems facing this hospital, and indeed all reception centres in the region, is water supply. The other major concern for the humanitarian organizations is how to provide shelter and adequate hygiene conditions for those who have fled the region and have not been taken in by the inhabitants of villages spared the effects of the earthquake. Water pipes, which were largely destroyed by the quake, are in urgent need of repair, as there is a high risk of epidemics. Moreover, the various parties to the Afghan conflict will have to grant the humanitarian organizations unrestricted access to the area if the relief operation is to be fully effective.
The ICRC has taken responsibility for the coordination of humanitarian aid in this context of armed conflict. The organization has extensive logistics and other infrastructure in the country, and has sent seven specialists to the Rostaq region from its base in Mazar-i-Sharif. MSF doctors and relief workers of the Afghan Red Crescent Society were the first to provide dressings, blankets and kitchen utensils to the survivors. A logistics officer and a relief expert from the Federation are also on the scene.
The various aid organizations, including United Nations specialized agencies, are in regular contact, both in the stricken region and in Kabul and Peshawar.
Further information: Joerg Stoecklin, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2906
ZAMBIA ICRC VISITS SECURITY DETAINEES
An ICRC team consisting of two delegates and a doctor was in Zambia from 19 January to 7 February, during which time they visited 94 security detainees and provided them with basic hygiene articles. They also met former President Kenneth Kaunda, currently assigned to residence. All these people were visited in accordance with the ICRC's customary working procedures.
Following the attempted coup d'etat of 28 October 1997, the ICRC had submitted an offer of services to the Zambian authorities to visit persons detained in connection with the events; the offer was accepted in mid-January.
Further information: Jean-Pierre Givel, ICRC Harare, tel.++2634 790 268
FRANCE ICRC PRESIDENT HAS HIGH-LEVEL TALKS IN PARIS
During an official visit to France, ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga was received on 6 February by French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. Mr Sommaruga took this opportunity to urge that France reconsider its current position regarding ratification of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions, an important instrument of international humanitarian law which in particular strengthens the protection afforded to civilians during international conflicts. The French Republic ratified Additional Protocol II, dealing with non-international conflicts, on 24 February 1984, but has yet to ratify the first of these two treaties. According to the ICRC President, France's ratification of Protocol I would be a major step towards the crucial goal of achieving universal recognition of humanitarian law.
During his stay in Paris, Mr Sommaruga also had talks with Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, Defence Minister Alain Richard and Secretary of State for Cooperation Charles Josselin. The French authorities reiterated their support for the ICRC's work, and President Sommaruga commended France's contribution to the process aimed at securing a total ban on anti-personnel mines.
Further information: Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2302
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update 98/01 on ICRC activities in Afghanistan, dated 10.2.98
During the weekend of 14 - 15 February 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Suzanne Berger, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 03