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MOROCCO / WESTERN SAHARA ICRC VISITS PRISONERS HELD BY POLISARIO FRONT Between 18 May and 1 June an ICRC team consisting of a doctor and a dental prosthetist carried out a visit in the southern part of the Western Sahara to 310 of the 1,877 Moroccan prisoners being held by the Polisario Front.
COLOMBIA / VENEZUELA RETURN OF 2,200 COLOMBIANS FROM VENEZUELA Following violent clashes between Colombian autodefensa groups and opposition forces, which claimed some 10 lives last week in the village of La Gabarra (department of Norte de Santander), close to 2,200 Colombians crossed the border into Venezuela. They were repatriated on 5 and 6 June to Cucuta, the capital of the department.
RWANDA 1FIVE YEARS OF SEPARATION COME TO AN END The grandmother could do nothing but throw her arms in the air, as if her emotions had left her speechless. After five years of separation, she had just been reunited with her two grandchildren: Vincent, 12, and Furaha, 13.
KENYA RED CROSS HELPS KENYA MEDICAL TRAINING COLLEGE PRODUCE ARTIFICIAL LIMBS LOCALLY On 4 June the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) began producing low-cost prosthetic limbs locally with the help of equipment worth KSh 700,000 (US$ 10,000) donated by the ICRC.
CAMBODIA LAW OF WAR SEMINAR FOR MILITARY COMMANDERS Fifty-one senior officers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) attended a presentation on the law of war delivered on 4 June by an ICRC delegate specialized in dissemination to the armed and security forces.
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MOROCCO / WESTERN SAHARA ICRC VISITS PRISONERS HELD BY POLISARIO FRONT
Between 18 May and 1 June an ICRC team consisting of a doctor and a dental prosthetist carried out a visit in the southern part of the Western Sahara to 310 of the 1,877 Moroccan prisoners being held by the Polisario Front. Their aim was to visit these prisoners again so as to evaluate detention conditions and complete the medical assessment begun during the March 1999 visit to the camps in the Tindouf region, which was undertaken to ascertain the needs of the prisoners and the local possibilities for their treatment. Medical resources are even more limited in the southern camps than in the camps of the Tindouf region. The doctor drew up a list of prisoners to be transferred to the Tindouf camps for eye surgery during the next ICRC visit. Meanwhile, the dental prosthetist evaluated prisoners' requirements and went to the Tindouf region to begin setting up a prosthetics laboratory in one of the camps there.
The doctor paid particular attention to the cases of 83 of the 85 prisoners freed in April 1997 who are still waiting to be repatriated to Morocco (two have died since being freed).
During the visit, the delegates noted that the prisoners were pinning their hopes on the new timetable for the UN settlement plan, which provides for their repatriation at the beginning of the year 2000. To date, these hopes have been regularly dashed by delays in the plan, which was drawn up at the time of the ceasefire in 1991. Any further postponement of the UN timetable would have a disastrous effect on the already weakened morale and health of the prisoners. The majority of these prisoners have been interned for more than 20 years and many of them would find it difficult to bear the prospect of their captivity being prolonged for a further, indefinite period. All the prisoners visited and those freed were able to send Red Cross messages and photos to their families. The ICRC provided aid in the form of insulin, medicines and medical equipment. Dental equipment was also dispatched for both Western Saharan refugees and the Moroccan prisoners.
The ICRC remains ready to repatriate the prisoners as quickly as possible and wishes to see a solution to all the humanitarian problems associated with the Western Saharan conflict.
Further information: Pierre Ryter, ICRC Tunis, tel. : ++ 216 1 78 91 34
COLOMBIA / VENEZUELA RETURN OF 2,200 COLOMBIANS FROM VENEZUELA
Following violent clashes between Colombian autodefensa groups and opposition forces, which claimed some 10 lives last week in the village of La Gabarra (department of Norte de Santander), close to 2,200 Colombians crossed the border into Venezuela. They were repatriated on 5 and 6 June to Cucuta, the capital of the department. The operation was carried out in coordination with the Venezuelan and Colombian authorities and all the repatriations were voluntary.
On 3 June, an ICRC delegate based in Cucuta travelled to La Gabarra to assess the humanitarian situation. At the request of the authorities (who also asked for assistance from UNHCR), the head of the ICRC mission in Venezuela visited the first civilians who had arrived from across the border. These people were taken charge of by the Venezuelan armed forces and transported by road and helicopter to accommodation at the military base in the village of Casigua and in other public buildings.
As there was a possibility that other Colombian civilians would try to cross the border, Venezuelan Red Cross volunteers remained in the area to provide any necessary humanitarian aid.
Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel.: ++ 4122 730 22 24
RWANDA FIVE YEARS OF SEPARATION COME TO AN END
The grandmother could do nothing but throw her arms in the air, as if her emotions had left her speechless. After five years of separation, she had just been reunited with her two grandchildren: Vincent, 12, and Furaha, 13. The children had fled their village in the town of Kanombe, near Kigali, in 1994. By escaping with other adult members of the family to what was, at that time, still Zaire they were able to save their lives, unlike their parents.
The arrival of the two ICRC vehicles caused a crowd to gather. It was quite an event in this remote corner of Kigali Rural and cries of laughter rang out all around. Furaha almost danced for joy as, with a huge smile on her face, she embraced the members of her family. As for Vincent, he was more reserved. He simply shook hands, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor.
For months, the two children had been staying at a centre in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Like many other youngsters, they had been waiting for the day to come which would bring an end to five years of separation from their family and would allow them to return to their place of birth. Five years of turmoil which had swept the region and seen them lose all contact with their family in exile. Finally, on 3 June, they were transferred from Goma to Kigali by ICRC aircraft.
"The grandmother is overcome with emotion, she doesn't know how to thank us", whispered Ibrahim, a Rwandan working for the ICRC Tracing Agency at the Kigali East sub-delegation. After obtaining signatures on a few official documents, the ICRC delegates departed, leaving Vincent, Furaha and the group to their emotional reunion. Other children were waiting in the cars to be taken back to their families. These families, more often than not, consisted of uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, the parents having been the victims of genocide.
Reuniting unaccompanied children with their families is one of the ICRC's main activities in Rwanda. More than 110 Rwandan employees are working full time on the project. There are currently some 6,300 children in Rwanda and close to 1,000 more outside the country hoping to rejoin their relatives. Since 1994, around 63,000 children have already been reunited with their next of kin, more than 15,000 of these by the ICRC.
Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. : ++4122 730 22 24
KENYA RED CROSS HELPS KENYA MEDICAL TRAINING COLLEGE PRODUCE ARTIFICIAL LIMBS LOCALLY
On 4 June the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) began producing low-cost prosthetic limbs locally with the help of equipment worth KSh 700,000 (US$ 10,000) donated by the ICRC. Manufacturing prostheses in Kenya will reduce the need to import expensive ready-made components and lower the cost of production from KSh 45,000 to KSh 10,000 per limb.
An initial 100 prosthetic limbs are being produced under the supervision of two Kenyan lecturers who have recently returned from an ICRC-sponsored one-month training course in Addis Ababa. A total of 36 students are currently in training.
Speaking after watching the first artificial limbs come off the production line, Donbosco K'Ochumba, head of the Faculty of Orthopaedic Technology at the Training College, said: "We are now better equipped to help a marginalized sector of Kenyan society gain a new lease of life." Although the project is based in Nairobi, Mr K'Ochumba stressed that it will benefit Kenyans nationwide.
Deputy Principal Paul Tuukuo said that the amputees benefiting from the new technology are gaining in confidence and will be able to move more independently and do things for themselves.
The ICRC's Special Fund for the Disabled was created in Addis Ababa in 1983. Its purpose is to provide sustainable projects to assist amputees and other physically disabled people. This mainly entails setting up or providing support for prosthetic workshops and training programmes.
As an alternative to wood and polyester resin, since 1988 the ICRC has been using thermoformable plastics: polypropylene and polyethylene. These materials are used for the manufacture of sockets and various other components such as knee joints, feet and alignment devices. 0 The advantage of this recyclable technology is that light and modern prostheses can be produced at very low cost, making expensive imports unnecessary and providing employment for local workers.
Further information: Nina Galbe, ICRC Nairobi, tel.: ++225 728 387 Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel.: ++4122 730 2224
CAMBODIA LAW OF WAR SEMINAR FOR MILITARY COMMANDERS
Fifty-one senior officers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) attended a presentation on the law of war delivered on 4 June by an ICRC delegate specialized in dissemination to the armed and security forces. The presentation was part of a five-day seminar on human rights and the law of war organized by the RCAF in cooperation with the ICRC and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which brought together high-ranking officers from the six military regions of Cambodia.
Although the responsibility for training armed forces in the law of war remains that of the States signatory to the treaties containing its rules, the ICRC supports the RCAF in this area by providing it with expertise and educational material. Currently a pool of army officers trained as instructors in the law of war conducts seminars for both soldiers and officers throughout Cambodia. To facilitate their task, the ICRC and the RCAF training directorate will soon release a jointly produced videotape which shows the rules of this law applied in practical situations.
Further information: Aleksandra Matijevic, ICRC Phnom Penh, tel.: ++ 855 23 360 071
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Fact sheet on ICRC activities in the Russian Federation/northern Caucasus, dated 08.06.99
During the weekend of 12 - 13 June 1999, for all information please call the press officer on duty Corinne Adam, on (mobile) 41 79 202 36 80