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GENEVA: FRANCE ISSUES MAJOR DECLARATION OF INTENT: In the course of an official visit on 17 March to ICRC headquarters in Geneva, where he was received by ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga, Mr Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of the French Republic, announced France's intention to ratify Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions.
Southern Caucasus: TUBERCULOSIS GROWING THREAT IN PRISONS: Confronted with the emergence of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis among the prisoners they visit in a number of countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, ICRC doctors have warned that unless effective treatment programmes are provided for infectious detainees, prisons in the region will become breeding grounds for the disease and eventually exacerbate its spread by continually reinjecting it into the community.
THE AMERICAS: IMPLEMENTING HUMANITARIAN LAW: The Organization of American States (OAS) celebrated its 50th anniversary on 5 and 6 March with a "Conference of the Americas", attended by some of the region's most prominent political leaders, academics, artists and scientists.
BRAZIL: HUMANITARIAN LAW PROGRAMME FOR MILITARY POLICE: An ICRC delegate specializing in the teaching of humanitarian law to armed and security forces was in Brasilia from 2 to 9 March to initiate an extensive programme for Brazil's military police.
BOLIVIA: VISITS TO DETAINEES: Two delegates travelled to Bolivia from 1 to 6 March to visit 21 detainees in three prisons in La Paz and the surrounding area.
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GENEVA FRANCE ISSUES MAJOR DECLARATION OF INTENT
In the course of an official visit on 17 March to ICRC headquarters in Geneva, where he was received by ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga, Mr Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of the French Republic, announced France's intention to ratify Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions. He went on to confirm that his country would by mid-year ratify the Ottawa treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. France has already taken measures to destroy its entire stock of such devices.
The ICRC welcomes this declaration of intent by the French government. To date, Protocol I applicable to international armed conflicts has been adhered to by 150 States. In 1984 France ratified Additional Protocol II (applicable to non-international armed conflicts), to which 142 States are today party. If France ratifies Protocol I, all NATO member States, with the exception of the United States and Turkey, will be bound by this key instrument of international humanitarian law.
Protocol I confirms and extends the scope of the protection that the parties to an international conflict are required to afford the victims, in particular civilians. It also contains provisions relating to "methods and means of warfare" deemed unacceptable. Article 35 states that "... the right of the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited. (...) It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering. (...) 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."
To date, 188 countries are bound by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.
Further information: Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 23 02
Southern Caucasus TUBERCULOSIS GROWING THREAT IN PRISONS
Confronted with the emergence of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis among the prisoners they visit in a number of countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, ICRC doctors have warned that unless effective treatment programmes are provided for infectious detainees, prisons in the region will become breeding grounds for the disease and eventually exacerbate its spread by continually reinjecting it into the community.
In Baku's central penitentiary hospital, a TB programme run since 1995 by the ICRC in conjunction with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice has found an extremely high level of resistance to treatment. The "directly observed treatment, short course strategy" (DOTS) devised by the World Health Organization requires medical staff to ensure the daily intake of medicines by each patient for the full course of treatment (minimum six months).
Over the past three years, a total of 514 infectious detainees have been treated under the ICRC programme in Azerbaijan. Improvements observed in those hospital wards in which it has been applied have demonstrated that DOTS can be implemented with the active involvement of local staff. Of the 198 patients taking part in the programme in 1997, 160 completed their course of treatment. There was a mortality rate of 7.5% and an abandon rate of 11.6%, including those released from detention. The ICRC is hopeful that in 1998 all TB patients in the hospital concerned will benefit from DOTS.
Given the encouraging results achieved by DOTS in Baku and the fact that TB has become the primary cause of death among detainees in Georgia, the ICRC's Tbilisi delegation began a survey in 1997 to assess the disease's prevalence and resistance to drug treatment in places of detention in that country. The Georgian authorities have been closely involved in the study and preparations are under way for a treatment programme in the central penitentiary hospital.
The strict requirements of the DOTS strategy are extremely difficult to comply with in a prison environment, but the authorities must understand that to apply treatment randomly and without completing the full course is worse than providing no treatment at all, as it will cause the disease to become incurable and thus increase the number of deaths among prisoners, prison staff, their families and the community at large.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 23 07 Gillian Biddulph, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 29 86
THE AMERICAS IMPLEMENTING HUMANITARIAN LAW
The Organization of American States (OAS) celebrated its 50th anniversary on 5 and 6 March with a "Conference of the Americas", attended by some of the region's most prominent political leaders, academics, artists and scientists. Round table discussions dealt with the main challenges facing the southern hemisphere: globalized trade, education, sustainable development, strengthening democratic institutions, fighting poverty and inequality, and promoting human rights. The conference's highlight was a multidisciplinary meeting of Nobel prize-winners from the Americas. The ICRC, which concluded a cooperation agreement with the OAS in 1996, was represented by its new permanent Vice-President, Ms Anne Petitpierre, who together with several leading figures from the region led a debate on the future of international humanitarian law and human rights.
On 12 March the ICRC presented a report to the OAS Permanent Council's committee on political and juridical affairs regarding the measures undertaken by member States at the national level to implement international humanitarian law. The report prepared by the ICRC's advisory service on humanitarian law with the aim of facilitating a broad exchange of information among the organization's member States was compiled following a resolution adopted by the OAS General Assembly in June of last year, asking members to take into consideration the information on national implementation regularly provided by the ICRC.
Further information: Rubin Ortega, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 24 54 Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 23 02
BRAZIL HUMANITARIAN LAW PROGRAMME FOR MILITARY POLICE
An ICRC delegate specializing in the teaching of humanitarian law to armed and security forces was in Brasilia from 2 to 9 March to initiate an extensive programme for Brazil's military police. Over the next two years, training will be given to some 300 instructors who, in turn, will teach the basic principles of humanitarian and human rights law to an estimated 600,000 members of the military police. While in the Brazilian capital, the ICRC delegate set up the training programme for the coming months, provided teaching materials and selected 20 military police officers who will be in charge of the future instructors. The ICRC will also take part in a national conference of generals commanding units of the military police in April.
At the invitation of the military police in the state of Sco Paulo, the delegate also gave a one-day seminar for all military police unit commanders in the state. With 82,000 men, the Sao Paulo force is the largest in the country.
Finally, the ICRC agreed to launch a pilot project in Sco Paulo that will include instruction in the basic provisions of human rights law. The course will be attended by some 250 police instructors.
Further information: Rubin Ortega, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 24 54
BOLIVIA VISITS TO DETAINEES
Two delegates travelled to Bolivia from 1 to 6 March to visit 21 detainees in three prisons in La Paz and the surrounding area. The visits had originally been scheduled for February but had to be postponed owing to tensions in the country's prisons which have since eased. The delegates also held discussions with the prison authorities. The visits were carried out in accordance with the agreement signed in 1997 between the Bolivian government and the ICRC.
The delegates took the opportunity presented by their mission to meet the Secretary General of the Bolivian Red Cross in order to discuss details of joint projects to be carried out in 1998 by the National Society and the ICRC.
Further information: Rubin Ortega, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 24 54
During the weekend of 21 - 22 March1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Michael Kleiner, on (mobile) 41 79 202 42 00