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LIBERIA: REHABILITATION PROJECT UNDER WAY IN EIGHT PRISONS: In early March the ICRC began restoring kitchen and sanitary facilities in eight Liberian prisons, three of them in Monrovia and five in rural areas. Sacks of cement, bricks, tools and water storage tanks had to be trucked from the capital to remote parts of the country, as no materials or equipment were available on the spot.
MOROCCO/WESTERN SAHARA: ICRC MEDICAL TEAM VISITS MOROCCAN PRISONERS HELD BY POLISARIO FRONT: Between 6 and 20 March an ICRC team made up of a doctor, an ophthalmologist and a dentist visited a large number of the 1,877 Moroccan prisoners held by the Polisario Front in the Tindouf area of Algeria.
The People on War project Half way there... Officially launched last November, fine-tuned in Colombia the previous month, the ICRC's People on War project has reached its halfway mark.
WAR AND WATER War and water have always been inextricably linked. The logic is clear: destroy your opponents' access to water and you reduce their ability to fight. In the arid Middle East, many analysts believe that one of the region's more intractable, underlying disputes is over the control of water courses.
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LIBERIA REHABILITATION PROJECT UNDER WAY IN EIGHT PRISONS
In early March the ICRC began restoring kitchen and sanitary facilities in eight Liberian prisons, three of them in Monrovia and five in rural areas. Sacks of cement, bricks, tools and water storage tanks had to be trucked from the capital to remote parts of the country, as no materials or equipment were available on the spot.
The project was launched following the ICRC's decision to extend its traditional programmes in aid of prisoners to cover common law detainees as well, since seven years of war have left the Liberian prison administration with hardly any technical and financial resources. The work is being done in close cooperation with volunteers of local branches of the Liberia National Red Cross Society and should take four to six weeks to complete.
At the same time, the ICRC is distributing food and other basic necessities to some 250prisoners. Among these are 35 civilian and military security detainees falling within the organization's mandate and held in two prisons in the capital.
Further information: Roland Sidler, ICRC Monrovia, tel. ++231 226 306
MOROCCO/WESTERN SAHARA ICRC MEDICAL TEAM VISITS MOROCCAN PRISONERS HELD BY POLISARIO FRONT
Between 6 and 20 March an ICRC team made up of a doctor, an ophthalmologist and a dentist visited a large number of the 1,877 Moroccan prisoners held by the Polisario Front in the Tindouf area of Algeria. The main purpose of the visit was to assess the men's state of health and the availability of medical care for them in the region. As delays regarding the UN settlement plan and uncertainty surrounding its implementation have held up the prisoners' repatriation, the ICRC is trying to find ways of providing these men, most of whom have been held for close to 20 years, with more specialized care on the spot.
During the visit the ICRC eye specialist examined 135 prisoners and performed 44operations. The dentist discussed needs with the two dental nurses, who are prisoners themselves, and the doctor gave 170 consultations. She found that many of the prisoners needed special tests and treatment that could only be given in a properly equipped hospital.
In addition to the equipment needed to perform eye surgery, the medical team brought a supply of insulin. They noted that the aid sent from Geneva in February this year had arrived safely. It consisted of soap and other hygiene items, blankets and basic medicines for the Moroccan prisoners and Sahrawi refugees.
The ICRC delegates paid particular attention to the 83 men freed in April 1997 and still awaiting repatriation to Morocco. Two of the men released at the time have since died.
All the individuals visited were given the opportunity to send Red Cross messages and photos to their families.
The ICRC remains deeply concerned about the situation of these men, most of whom were captured between 1978 and 1982. It trusts that some solution can be found to all the problems of a humanitarian nature still outstanding in connection with the Western Sahara conflict, and stands ready to supervise the repatriation of all prisoners.
Further information: Pierre Ryter, ICRC Tunis, tel. ++216 1 78 91 34
The People on War project
Half way there...
Officially launched last November, fine-tuned in Colombia the previous month, the ICRC's People on War project has reached its halfway mark. The consultation aimed at assessing the opinions of hundreds of people on war has now been completed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Philippines, South Africa, Lebanon and Somalia. In all, six country situations out of the dozen or so planned. Still to come: Georgia-Abkhazia, Nigeria, El Salvador and Afghanistan, plus one or two other locations for which official authorization to begin the consultation is still pending.
The consultation has been proceeding satisfactorily despite logistical and unforeseen obstacles. In Somalia, for example, the extremely volatile situation and general lawlessness in the country made it very difficult for people to gather in a serene environment and talk about the question of ethics in war. In South Africa, the consultation team rediscovered townships that had been bitterly divided in the past and a KwaZulu-Natal where the wounds of earlier violence were slowly healing.
The net result so far has been a commitment from people from extremely diverse communities to discuss their problems and the values they uphold. The final step will be to draw up country reports analysing the ethical standards that were applied to each context. The aim of the project, which is closely linked to the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions on 12August this year, is to promote an international debate on the concept of limits in war - in other words the fact that being in conflict with another group of people, for whatever reasons, does not justify inhumane behaviour. An overall report covering all countries will be drafted for the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent next November.
Further information: Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 23 02 Bea Vanhove, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 25 92
WAR AND WATER
War and water have always been inextricably linked. The logic is clear: destroy your opponents' access to water and you reduce their ability to fight. In the arid Middle East, many analysts believe that one of the region's more intractable, underlying disputes is over the control of water courses. Yitzhak Rabin, the former Israeli Prime Minister, once said that "if we solve every other problem in the Middle East, but do not satisfactorily resolve the water problem, our region will explode". The poor state of Afghan agriculture - and hence the poverty of the bulk of the population - is in no small measure due to the destruction of the centuries old irrigation canals following the Soviet invasion in 1979.
"For the last thousand years, every Thursday at noon seven men in solemn black have taken their places on high thrones before one of the side doors of the Cathedral of Valencia, Spain", writes Liesl Graz in the ICRC's latest publication, War and Water. These men, the judges of the "Water Tribunal", are elected to preside over the water channels that bring life to the city and richness to the surrounding countryside, which would otherwise be a barren plain. It is said to be the oldest judicial institution still functioning in Europe, if not in the world.
In parched areas, control over water means power.
Disagreements between States on how to share water from the rivers Jordan, Tigris and Euphrates have compounded broader political differences. Questions of access to water from the Ganges, Mekong and Nile have the potential to increase tension between upstream and downstream States.
However, predictions that future wars will be fought over water, rather than, for instance, oil, have fallen short of the mark. This despite, as the World Bank points out, the fact that about 40% of the world's population lives in the 250 river basins shared by more than one country.
The truth appears, as ever, more complex. While possession of water represents power, its scarcity can foreshadow deeper, societal problems. "Shortages reduce food production, aggravate poverty and disease, spur large migrations and undermine a State's moral authority and capacity to govern. Over time, these stresses can tear apart a poor society's social fabric, causing chronic popular unrest and violence", writes Thomas Homer-Dixon, of the University of Toronto.
"Scarcity of water will not so much be the source of conflict as will be the inability of governments to reconcile contending interests", writes Randolph Kent, a policy adviser on humanitarian matters. "There is a growing concern that more and more States no longer have the capacity to resolve the contending interests that have emerged in modern, complex societies", he adds.
Water is synonymous with life. Even during war and its aftermath water and access to water must be treated with at least a modicum of respect.
War and Water is the first issue of an annual ICRC publication called Forum. The articles, commissioned from journalists and experts in the field, are designed to stimulate debate on a vital humanitarian issue.
This publication can be ordered from the ICRC's Public Information Centre.
Further information: Chris Bowers, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 20 61
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update 99/02 on ICRC activities in Iran/Iraq, dated 19.03.99
During the weekend of 27 - 28 March 1999, for all information please call the press officer on duty Suzanne Berger, on (mobile) 41 79 202 36 80