RUSSIAN FEDERATION / NORTHERN CAUCASUS: ICRC STEPS UP MEDICAL AID IN INGUSHETIA: With more and more people fleeing the fighting in Chechnya, hospitals in Ingushetia are having some difficulty in coping with the increasing number of patients, most of whom are referred to the maternity and paediatric wards.
SRI LANKA: ASSISTANCE FOR 30,000 DISPLACED: During the month of November the ICRC assisted 30,000 Sri Lankan civilians displaced within the northern part of the island as a result of the offensive launched on 1 November by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
SRI LANKA: LAND ROUTE TO VANNI REOPENS: On 9 December a convoy under ICRC protection entered the Vanni through a newly opened checkpoint. The convoy was carrying 42 discharged patients injured in the Madhu church bombing, one Education Department officer, ICRC staff, four truckloads of medicine, question papers for students, UNHCR plastic sheeting and 300 bags of mail.
AFGHANISTAN: ICRC OPENS ORTHOPAEDIC CENTRE IN GULBAHAR: The ICRC has opened an orthopaedic centre in Gulbahar, 80 kilometres north of Kabul, for the treatment of landmine victims and war-wounded in the north-eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
SYRIA: ART IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY: 1An art exhibition was held from 17 October to 4 November at the ICRC delegation in Damascus as one of various events organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.
GAMBIA: IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW: On 30 November and 1 December, in cooperation with the Gambia Red Cross Society and the Gambian Department of State for Justice, the ICRC held a seminar - the first of its kind in Gambia - on the implementation of humanitarian law.
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RUSSIAN FEDERATION / NORTHERN CAUCASUS ICRC STEPS UP MEDICAL AID IN INGUSHETIA
With more and more people fleeing the fighting in Chechnya, hospitals in Ingushetia are having some difficulty in coping with the increasing number of patients, most of whom are referred to the maternity and paediatric wards.
ICRC doctor Gerard Bise returned to Geneva last week from an assessment mission to the northern Caucasus, where he visited a hospital in Ingushetia that had more than twice as many patients as it could normally handle. "The hospital is still functioning despite the crowded conditions and the shortage of medicines", he said. "The wards are full and some of the patients are being placed in the hallways." The hospital had admitted some 40war-wounded since early October, he added.
The ICRC has been aiding five hospitals in Ingushetia according to needs. In view of the latest developments in Chechnya, these facilities will from now on receive assistance on a monthly basis so as to ensure that they can deal with the most urgent cases.
The ICRC has also begun to deliver drinking water to displaced people living in camps and in isolated areas. Starting this week six tanker trucks will be used for this purpose.
Meanwhile, distributions of food parcels, hygiene kits, candles and blankets have continued in Ingushetia, where the ICRC and the local branch of the Russian Red Cross have so far come to the aid of nearly 90,000 people.
Further information: Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 26 78; mobile phone: ++ 41 79 217 32 16
SRI LANKA ASSISTANCE FOR 30,000 DISPLACED
During the month of November the ICRC assisted 30,000 Sri Lankan civilians displaced within the northern part of the island as a result of the offensive launched on 1 November by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Altogether, 1,900 families from the region of Weli Oya east of Vavuniya and 5,600 families from Mannar district and Vavuniya and its surrounding area were provided with mats, plastic buckets, water containers and soap. Some of the displaced persons who had not found shelter in public buildings also received plastic sheeting.
Cases of bloody diarrhoea reported among the displaced also prompted ICRC water and sanitation engineers to set up 70 pit latrines, six rubbish pits and four kitchens in three schools around Vavuniya.
All these operations were carried out by the ICRC team based in Vavuniya with the support of delegates from Batticaloa and Colombo.
Further information: Harasha Gunawardene, ICRC Colombo, tel. ++ 941 503 346
SRI LANKA LAND ROUTE TO VANNI REOPENS
On 9 December a convoy under ICRC protection entered the Vanni through a newly opened checkpoint. The convoy was carrying 42 discharged patients injured in the Madhu church bombing, one Education Department officer, ICRC staff, four truckloads of medicine, question papers for students, UNHCR plastic sheeting and 300 bags of mail. Two Education Department officers, ICRC staff and 30 bags of mail were then carried out of the region.
As a result of the military operations in the north, the road to and from the Vanni had been closed since 1 November. Acting as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC had been facilitating the exchange of proposals between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with a view to finding a solution to this problem. The two parties agreed to reopen the road so that food, medical supplies and other essential items could be delivered to civilians living in the region.
Since the closure of the road, both parties had agreed to open it temporarily on two previous occasions for humanitarian purposes: on 4 December for the evacuation of eight patients from the Vanni and the return of 13 patients discharged from the Vavuniya hospital, and on 6December for the release of two soldiers detained by the LTTE.
After the road was closed the ICRC used boats to fulfil its humanitarian mandate. During the month of November three operations were carried out in order to transfer mortal remains, return soldiers released by the LTTE, bring in and take out question papers for students living in the Vanni and transport NGO personnel.
Further information: Harasha Gunawardene, ICRC Colombo, tel. ++ 941 503 346
AFGHANISTAN ICRC OPENS ORTHOPAEDIC CENTRE IN GULBAHAR
The ICRC has opened an orthopaedic centre in Gulbahar, 80 kilometres north of Kabul, for the treatment of landmine victims and war-wounded in the north-eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Shifting front lines have prevented residents of these provinces from reaching other orthopaedic centres.
The ICRC is currently running five othopaedic centres in Afghanistan. The main one, in Kabul, produces all the prostheses and orthoses for the other centres, which are situated in Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat and Jalalabad. All five centres provide financial assistance and accommodation for people from remote areas who cannot afford to travel and have no place to stay.
The orthopaedic programme constitutes a main part of the ICRC's activities in Afghanistan, which are aimed at addressing the lasting consequences of the conflict, compensating for weaknesses in the social safety net and reinforcing local community structures. Among other things, the ICRC provides support for medical facilities, assists the most vulnerable, collects and distributes Red Cross messages, visits prisoners, promotes humanitarian law and values and cooperates with the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
Further information: Jon-Hans Coetzer, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++ 873 761 242 260
SYRIA ART IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY
An art exhibition was held from 17 October to 4 November at the ICRC delegation in Damascus as one of various events organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. The opening ceremony was held in the presence of the Syrian Minister of Culture, Dr Najah al Attar. Eighteen Syrian painters and sculptors displayed works especially produced for the occasion to express their views of war and peace, of pain and suffering and of the ICRC's work to help war victims. In a language common to all, the artists reached out to the world to say that even wars have limits.
The ICRC delegations in Syria and Jordan later arranged to have the works displayed at an art gallery in Amman under the patronage of Princess Wijdan Ali - herself an artist - from 30 November to 5 December. Hundreds of people visited the two exhibitions.
Further information, Tamara Rifai, ICRC Damascus, tel. +963 11 3310476 Muin Kassis, ICRC Amman, tel. ++962 6 5688645
GAMBIA IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
On 30 November and 1 December, in cooperation with the Gambia Red Cross Society and the Gambian Department of State for Justice, the ICRC held a seminar - the first of its kind in Gambia - on the implementation of humanitarian law. The seminar, which brought together around 40 people from the main Gambian Departments of State and from civil society, provided the ICRC with an opportunity to meet all the members of the Interministerial Committee on International Humanitarian Law set up on 12 August 1999, the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.
The purpose of the seminar was to take stock of the situation regarding implementation of humanitarian law, to assess the measures that had already been adopted and to determine what measures should be taken in the future. The following recommendations were approved by the participants: the adoption of a new Geneva Conventions Act aimed at incorporating these treaties into national legislation; the amendment of current criminal legislation so as to make it easier to bring suspected war criminals to justice (whether the crimes involved are committed during international or internal conflicts); the ratification of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (only six States, including Senegal and Ghana in Africa, have ratified the treaty so far) and adherence to the United Nations 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and its four annexed Protocols.
At the end of the seminar, Isabelle Daoust, coordinator for West Africa of the ICRC Advisory Service on International Humanitarian Law, reminded those present that the ICRC remained at the disposal of States to provide assistance and advice in all national implementation efforts. For many of the participants, the swiftest and most effective way of preventing, putting an end to and repressing violations of humanitarian law was to strengthen national legislation.
Since the ICRC Advisory Service was set up in 1966 the ICRC has organized more than 50 seminars of this kind in a great many countries, including 16 in Africa.
Further information: Gilbert Delechat, ICRC Dakar, tel. ++ 221 824 12 93
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update No. 99/02 on ICRC activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dated 8.12.99 - Update 99/04 on ICRC activities in Sierra Leone, dated 2.12.99
During the weekend of 11 - 12 December 1999, for all information please call the press officer on duty Chris Bowers, on ++ 41 22 779 33 22 or ++ 41 79 217 32 31