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RUSSIAN FEDERATION / NORTHERN CAUCASUS: RED CROSS MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN CHECHNYA Continuing hostilities in Chechnya have caused a growing number of people to seek shelter outside the republic and Grozny has now been deserted by about one third of its population.
EAST TIMOR: Water running again for returnees IN Dili The water network, which was badly damaged when Dili was destroyed, is slowly being repaired thanks to the materials and support which the ICRC is providing as part of a multi-agency effort to ensure that the population has access to water.
EAST TIMOR: RADIOLINK SERVICE FOR THE DISPLACED Radiolink, a service to help people who were separated from their families during the crisis in East Timor, was launched on 19 October by BBC World Service, the ICRC and the British Red Cross.
ZIMBABWE: ICRC REPATRIATES THREE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES On 21 October, for medical reasons, the ICRC repatriated from Kigali to Harare three members of the Zimbabwean armed forces detained in Rwanda in connection with the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
SRI LANKA: MORTAL REMAINS RETURNED On Saturday 16 October, the ICRC acted as a neutral intermediary in the transfer of the mortal remains of 32 combatants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed in the latest round of fighting between the rebels and Sri Lankan government forces.
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RUSSIAN FEDERATION / NORTHERN CAUCASUS RED CROSS MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN CHECHNYA
Continuing hostilities in Chechnya have caused a growing number of people to seek shelter outside the republic and Grozny has now been deserted by about one third of its population. Among those who remain behind, many are simply too old, sick or disabled to flee.
The local Red Cross home-visiting nurses programme, which has been assisting more than 700 vulnerable people in Chechnya for nearly three years, has thus become more crucial than ever. Working jointly with local Red Cross volunteers, local ICRC staff are continuing to run this programme and a programme that has been regularly providing bread for about 8,000 people in the capital.
Red Cross staff in Chechnya are also monitoring the needs of medical facilities, which are treating a growing number of war-wounded. Well over a hundred patients have recently been registered in the main hospitals, which rely on ICRC emergency medical equipment and medicines. Last week, the ICRC sent enough supplies to Grozny to care for about 1,000 war-wounded.
Since Grozny has been without electricity for the past 10 days, ICRC-supported pumping station No 1, which had been providing 20,000 inhabitants with clean water until the latest violence, has become the sole source of drinking water in many parts of the city and even in nearby villages, where it is carried in by trucks.
Further information: Victoria Catliff, ICRC Moscow, tel.: ++ 70 95 926 54 26
EAST TIMOR Water running again for returnees IN Dili
The water network, which was badly damaged when Dili was destroyed, is slowly being repaired thanks to the materials and support which the ICRC is providing as part of a multi-agency effort to ensure that the population has access to water.
Yesterday the water began flowing again at the rate of around 40 litres per second for the returnees living in Becora, a district of Dili. As a result, people can once again use the communal fountains, which ran dry when the electricity needed to generate the pumps was cut.
These repairs are part of a major water and sanitation programme jointly launched by the ICRC and other agencies such as Oxfam. The aim is to rehabilitate bore-holes, pumps and water treatment plants in Dili, many of which have been poorly maintained, and to provide the local water authority with the tools and spare parts needed to repair leaks. Strong emphasis has been placed on enabling the water authority to take over from the agencies in the future.
According to Patrick Kilchenmann, ICRC water and sanitation engineer: "Most of the senior staff have left and only a small number of technicians remain. They are a highly motivated team, but they need supervision and don't have the means to do the job. It was impressive to see how they managed with what little they had to stop up the countless leaks that occurred when the city was destroyed. We are very careful to include them in all our decisions since they will eventually be in charge." Further information: Amanda Williamson, ICRC Dili, tel. ++ 872 761 843 955
EAST TIMOR RADIOLINK SERVICE FOR THE DISPLACED
Radiolink, a service to help people who were separated from their families during the crisis in East Timor, was launched on 19 October by BBC World Service, the ICRC and the British Red Cross.
According to recent estimates, up to 300,000 East Timorese are currently displaced in West Timor and other parts of Indonesia. Many of them have lost contact with their families and friends. Giving people news of their loved ones and reuniting families is a vital part of Red Cross work in such situations.
Several thousand Red Cross message forms have been filled in by displaced persons both in East Timor and in West Timor. These messages are being delivered jointly by the ICRC and the Indonesian Red Cross Society. In addition, the ICRC in East Timor has registered hundreds of names for radio broadcast. The partnership with BBC World Service should help reassure all those who are desperately waiting for news.
Chris Greene, World Service's Managing Editor for South-East Asia, said: "In societies that have been ripped apart by violence, radio can play an important role in helping people get back in touch with their families."
As part of the Radiolink service, a 15-minute programme in Indonesian will be broadcast on BBC World Service every weekday at 10.40 GMT on two frequencies, 7160 KHz and 9680KHz. The programme, which will be heard throughout the archipelago, will give details about displaced East Timorese who have asked the Red Cross to help them trace their relatives. There will also be a special web page.
The Radiolink service for displaced East Timorese is initially planned to run for three months. A similar service was set up earlier this year for refugees from Kosovo.
Further information: Chris Bowers, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 20 61
ZIMBABWE ICRC REPATRIATES THREE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES
On 21 October, for medical reasons, the ICRC repatriated from Kigali to Harare three members of the Zimbabwean armed forces detained in Rwanda in connection with the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The decision to release these prisoners of war was taken by the Rwandan authorities in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions. During their captivity in Rwanda, the prisoners had been registered and regularly visited by the ICRC.
The ICRC has carried out two other repatriations this year, both for medical reasons. On 22April it repatriated a member of the Rwandan armed forces from Zimbabwe to Rwanda and on 14 July a member of the Zimbabwean armed forces from Rwanda to Zimbabwe.
The ICRC will continue to offer its services to all the parties to the conflict so as to promote the application of international humanitarian law, in particular the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1997 Additional Protocols.
Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 22 81; mobile phone ++ 41 79 217 32 17
SRI LANKA MORTAL REMAINS RETURNED
On Saturday 16 October, the ICRC acted as a neutral intermediary in the transfer of the mortal remains of 32 combatants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed in the latest round of fighting between the rebels and Sri Lankan government forces. The bodies were handed over to the ICRC by the Sri Lankan Army at Mankulam, from where they were taken north across the lines dividing the warring parties and handed over to the LTTE. Three more such transfers took place on Sunday.
As it does in other countries, the ICRC in Sri Lanka uses its neutral status to return the mortal remains of combatants and civilians when asked to do so by the parties concerned. In Sri Lanka this year it has so far transferred the remains of 38 Army personnel and 83 members of the LTTE . The ICRC has been present since 1989 in Sri Lanka, where it currently has 50 expatriates and 300 local staff based at its delegation in Colombo and in its 11 offices in the north and east of the country.
Further information: Harasha Gunawardene, ICRC Colombo, tel. ++ 941 503 346 During the weekend of 23 - 24 October 1999, for all information please call the press officer on duty Corinne Adam, on (mobile) 41 79 202 36 80