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EAST TIMOR: ICRC RETURNS TO DILI: Two ICRC delegates returned to Dili on 14 September to assess the situation there in humanitarian terms and meet military authorities to discuss security guarantees that would enable the organization to resume its work in East Timor.
BALKAN CRISIS: KOSOVO: DISTRIBUTION OF BLOOD TRANSFUSION SUPPLIES: The ICRC has begun to provide blood bags, antiserum for determining blood groups and various tests for blood-borne diseases under a project worth DM 444,000 that is part of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's general medical programme in Kosovo.
BALKAN CRISIS: SERBIA: ICRC HELPS REPAIR DAMAGED BUILDINGS: With the harsh Balkan winter approaching, the ICRC is working quickly to ensure that health facilities and community centres have glass to repair windows shattered during the NATO air strikes.
INDIA: POSTGRADUATE COURSE IN HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMANITARIAN LAW AND REFUGEE LAW: The Indian Society of International Law (ISIL), a research-oriented national institution for the promotion of public international law, is offering a one-year postgraduate diploma course in human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee law.
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EAST TIMOR ICRC RETURNS TO DILI
Two ICRC delegates returned to Dili on 14 September to assess the situation there in humanitarian terms and meet military authorities to discuss security guarantees that would enable the organization to resume its work in East Timor.
Though the delegates received assurances from the military, security problems in Dili and the surrounding area remain. Indeed, the two were struck by the scenes of destruction and of despair among people still present in the capital, who are in urgent need of help. Like the ICRC office itself, most of the city's houses have been looted and burned down.
While it has not yet been possible to organize a large-scale relief operation, the two delegates were able to carry out a small distribution. They are now looking for suitable storage areas as well as medical facilities capable of providing care. Aircraft will be chartered to deliver both the supplies and the logistical means needed for a more comprehensive return to East Timor. Teams of medical, relief, logistical, water-and-sanitation and administrative staff are preparing to leave for the territory.
Meanwhile, non-food items such as blankets, tarpaulins, cooking sets, jerrycans and sleeping mats are being distributed to displaced people, who have come to the Belu and Atambua districts of West Timor near the border with East Timor, by a 20-member team (including medical staff) from the ICRC and the Indonesian Red Cross Society. The security situation in the border zone has been very poor - two ICRC employees from East Timor have been abducted - and threats have prevented the organization from having more than limited access to the camps in the area. According to official figures, some 200,000 people have so far crossed from East into West Timor. Over 70,000 East Timorese have sought refuge in several camps in Belu district and another 24,000 in Kupang district. More displaced people are continuing to arrive and the ICRC will step up its activities to cope with the increasing needs.
Further information: Sri R. Wahyu Endah , ICRC Jakarta, tel.: ++6221 720 72 52 Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel.: ++4122 730 2224
BALKAN CRISIS KOSOVO: DISTRIBUTION OF BLOOD TRANSFUSION SUPPLIES
The ICRC has begun to provide blood bags, antiserum for determining blood groups and various tests for blood-borne diseases under a project worth DM 444,000 that is part of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's general medical programme in Kosovo. Six hospitals in the province are to receive the supplies from the main blood centre in Pristina. "Nearly all operations require blood transfusions, especially those involving wounded patients", said DrFolke Lampen, ICRC medical coordinator in the provincial capital. "It is absolutely essential that the blood be collected and stored safely and that it be properly screened."
However, Dr Lampen warned, the major need is for donors: "The supplies will be of great help, but first of all we must build up our blood bank. At present, patients' relatives are the only donors."
"Together with our colleagues from the local Red Cross and the rest of the Movement, we are looking at ways of setting up a system to ensure that all patients who need blood transfusions receive them."
Further information: Daloni Carlisle, ICRC Pristina, tel.: ++381 63 344 164
Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel.: ++4122 730 2678
SERBIA: ICRC HELPS REPAIR DAMAGED BUILDINGS
With the harsh Balkan winter approaching, the ICRC is working quickly to ensure that health facilities and community centres have glass to repair windows shattered during the NATO air strikes.
In northern Serbia, the ICRC has begun distributing window panes to two major hospitals and six centres housing refugees and displaced people. In addition, one hospital in Sremska Kamenica has been provided with an independent source of water as its own supply was cut off when the Novi Sad water main was destroyed.
Distributions have also begun in the south, where a survey showed that nine major and several smaller public buildings were in need of repair. Around half of these are medical facilities and the rest are centres where people who fled Kosovo and refugees from the conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia have found shelter. All the work is being carried out by local contractors.
"It's not just a matter of replacing standard window panes", explained Zoran Popovic, who is in charge of the programme. "Some facilities, such as the Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Vrsac, no longer have any heating, so we had to install special insulating glass. This is an essential part of preparing for winter."
Further information: Gordana Milenkovic, ICRC Belgrade, tel.: ++381 11 450 990 Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel.: ++4122 730 2678
INDIA POSTGRADUATE COURSE IN HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMANITARIAN LAW AND REFUGEE LAW
The Indian Society of International Law (ISIL), a research-oriented national institution for the promotion of public international law, is offering a one-year postgraduate diploma course in human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee law. The course was launched on 6September with financial and technical backing from the National Human Rights Commission, the ICRC and UNHCR.
"This is the first course of its kind in all of South Asia which combines in a single package the three distinct legal regimes intended to protect the individual and promote respect for human dignity", said Dr D. S. Mohil, ISIL Director.
The classes on humanitarian law will be taught jointly by ICRC staff based in New Delhi and by eminent professors and practitioners. The course is designed to explore in detail topical issues such as the changing status of combatants in modern conflicts, the legal and humanitarian implications of anti-personnel mines, the impact of the International Criminal Court, the situation of vulnerable groups in armed conflicts and the development of minimum humanitarian standards.
This issue-based approach is supplemented by an introduction to humanitarian law and an overview of the protection afforded conflict victims under the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. The course will also emphasize developments in humanitarian law in South Asia.
Further information, Savita Varde-Naqvi, ICRC New Delhi, tel.: ++9111 469 83 85 Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel.: ++4122 730 22 24
The Geneva Conventions, 50 Years On, a 10-minute television programme co-produced by the ICRC and broadcast worldwide by APTN Roving Report, will be available on video at the end of September in English, French and Spanish. The video features the 50th anniversary events held in Geneva on 12 August 1999 and illustrates some of the basic rules of the Geneva Conventions. The ICRC holds the copyright. Delegations, National Societies and broadcasters should contact the Public Information Centre (DC/COM/CIP) to order either VHS or BetaSP copies.
During the weekend of 18 - 19 September 1999, for all information please call the press officer on duty Francoise Derron, on (mobile) 41 79 202 36 80