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Doctors in prisons

Simon Schorno — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:34:12 +0000

Doctors in prisons - Detainee taking his TB treatment, Kirghizistan © ICRC/DANIELS, William

Last year, ICRC delegates visited over half-a-million persons detained in situations of armed conflict, armed violence and political tensions.

Health staff often take part in these visits, including those at Guantanamo, to monitor and assess the physical and psychological well being of detainees.

Our doctors and nurses provide individual and collective assistance to detainees. Whenever possible, they also tackle structural deficiencies by supporting the health system at prison or national levels.

In 2011, ICRC health staff participated in over 3,000 detention visits in over 500 facilities worldwide, addressing issues ranging from ill-treatement and hunger strikes to TB, nutrition and the provision of clean water.

Dr. Raed Abu Rabi heads the Health in Detention team at our Geneva headquarters. During a Washington visit last week, he explained the range of health issues faced by detainees and why health will remain a key component of our detention work for years to come.

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Decisive Moments - In the spirit of Robert Capa

Simon Schorno — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:56:27 +0000

Decisive Moments - In the spirit of Robert Capa

Photojournalist André Liohn was recently awarded the 2011 Robert Capa Gold Medal Award for Almost Dawn in Libya and “photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise."

In this Decisive Moment, Mr. Liohn speaks about the meaning of that award, photojournalism and the healthcare workers he reported on while covering Libya.

On the occasion of the Capa Medal ceremony on May 9th in New York, the Overseas Press Club of America wrote:

"Liohn’s harrowing and dramatic series of images taken in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata are truly in the spirit of Robert Capa’s combat photography. These searing images are a first rate example of close quarters combat photography obtained at great personal risk. Rarely do we see photos taken so deep in the fog of war, serving, as they do, to shine a bright light on the horrors and consequences of combat."

Couldn't agree more.

Africa

Libya

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ICRC Visa d'Or photojournalism award - Submit your work!

Simon Schorno — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:41:33 +0000

ICRC Visa d'Or photojournalism award - Submit your work

The ICRC in Paris will award the 2nd Humanitarian Visa d'Or photojournalism prize at this year's Visa pour l'image, an international photojournalism festival held every September in Perpignan, France.

The € 8,000 award is open to professional photojournalists whose work highlights violence committed against the wounded and/or medical personnel in situations of violence or armed conflict.

The first Visa d'Or was awarded to Catalina Martin-Chico in recognition of her reporting on the difficulties faced by medical staff in Yemen during confrontations between the government and protesters in 2011.

The deadline for submissions is May 31st, 2012.

Contact my colleague Fred Joli at par_visapourlimage@icrc.org for more information.

Hurry up and... good luck!

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ICRC/IFRC presidents on Red Cross/Red Crescent Day

Simon Schorno — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:54:36 +0000

ICRC/IFRC presidents on Red Cross/Red Crescent Day - © ICRC/KOKIC, Marko

Today, in the Philippines, young people whose lives have been turned upside down by repeated typhoons are planting mangrove trees to protect homes from storm damage and protect fish-pond dykes to ensure more secure livelihoods.

Today, in Gambia, young musicians are delivering powerful messages, through music, about vaccines, malaria prevention and HIV to increase community access to much needed health care. In Romania, youth volunteers are spreading similar messages through an innovative SMS helpline.

Today, in Afghanistan, where the conflict and its resulting insecurity prevents many from safely accessing health care, thousands of volunteers are learning basic first aid techniques, thereby safeguarding vital access to primary health care for their communities.

Today, In Lebanon, to build respect for diversity and a culture of non-violence in a region facing unprecedented change, youth are breaking world records by securing creative commitments to tolerance, participating in peace festivals and leveraging the power of our fundamental principles.

Today, on World Red Cross Red Crescent Day, we honour these contributions and encourage young people around the world to continue “doing more, doing better and reaching further.”

Each year, the 8th of May allows us an opportunity to celebrate our remarkable history of neutral, impartial voluntary service to humanity. But this year, World Red Cross Red Crescent Day also affords us a chance to look to the future, faced as we are by emergencies that are unquestionably increasing in their frequency, severity and complexity. From civil unrest in the Middle East, to open conflict in Afghanistan, to food insecurity in the Sahel, to severe flooding in South America, our well-established network of more than 13 million volunteers and humanitarian workers continues to play a vital role in meeting the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people. But we cannot rest on the stable foundations of today.

Rather, we must work to better recognize, invest in and empower the next generation of young leaders who will surely carry our Movement and our lifesaving mandate forward. Today, we recognize “Youth on the move,” and the profound impact that young people, who represent nearly half of our volunteers world-wide, are having in their communities and on the global stage through the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

In the face of major challenges such as climate change, conflicts and violence, migration and urbanization, young people everywhere are showing that they want to be part of the solution. They give time, talent and energy, delivering vital assistance and harnessing the power of technology to mobilize their peers, connecting people and the causes that are important to them. They are helping communities prepare for disasters, facilitating safe and equitable access to health care, accepting responsibility as agents of behavioural change and building a culture of peace. Youth around the world are exploring humanitarian law enabling them, as tomorrow’s leaders, to take decisions preventing unnecessary suffering in times of armed conflict and other situations of violence.

Today, young people are already making a profound difference in the lives of vulnerable people. They have true capacity to become community champions and to provide needed expertise in an increasingly digital world. For these reasons, young people should fill positions of leadership within our humanitarian network, and they should be afforded real opportunities to advise our strategic decision-making. They should increasingly become the face and the voice of our Movement, allowing us greater access to new generations of volunteers and leaders to come after them.

On World Red Cross Red Crescent Day, let us, together, celebrate our rich history of service to humanity. Let us, at the same time, celebrate the rich promise of our “Youth on the move” and fully embrace the potential they offer for an even brighter future.

Jakob Kellenberger

President,

International Committee of the Red Cross

Tadateru Konoé

President,

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

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Appealing for 27 million dollars to help Syrians

Simon Schorno — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:07:32 +0000

Fighting in Syria has affected tens of thousands of people.

Béatrice Mégevand-Roggo, head of ICRC Middle East operations, announces a $27 million appeal to our donors that will allow us and our Syrian Red Crescent partners to expand humanitarian operations within Syria as well as in Jordan and Lebanon.

Middle East

Syria

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Addressing the denial of healthcare

Simon Schorno — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:08:52 +0000

Addressing the denial of healthcare - Misrata, April 2011 - © ICRC/LIOHN, André

In situations of armed violence, medical personnel and humanitarian workers are often targeted, kidnapped or even murdered. Clinics are ransacked, doctors prevented from caring for their patients.

Recent field-based research by the ICRC show that health care is inaccessible or interrupted for thousands of people affected by violence.

Last week, policy makers, academics, medics and civil society actors gathered in London for a Health Care in Danger symposium, the first of its kind, co-organised by the British Red Cross, the British Medical Association, the World Medical Association and the ICRC. Together, they took concrete steps to respond to the denial of health care.

Paul-Henri Arni leads the Health Care in Danger project at the ICRC, a four-year effort to strengthen the protection of medical personnel and improve access to health care.

He explains why the London symposium mattered, the concrete steps taken by the ICRC in the field and in the world's capital, including in Washington, where military doctors and experts will meet under the auspices of the US Department of Defense later this year.

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Dispatch - President Kellenberger, Washington, March 28

Simon Schorno — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:13:22 +0000

President Kellenberger, Washington, March 28

ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger met yesterday with President Obama and held talks with senior United States government officials.

Mr. Kellenberger met at the White House with President Barack Obama and John Brennan. In addition, the ICRC President met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the Director of National Intelligence, General James Clapper, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, General David Petraeus, and Deputy Attorney-General James Cole.

"In Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, the United States must strike a balance between security, military necessity and humanity," said Mr Kellenberger while in Washington. "In particular, it remains imperative that persons held for security reasons who have not been charged be regularly assessed through a robust review mechanism. If such persons no longer pose a threat, they must be released."

President Kellenberger also delivered the 2012 Grotius Lecture at ASIL's 106th Annual Meeting while in Washington. He was awarded the association's Honorary Member Award on this occasion.

In this Dispatch, the ICRC President speaks about humanitarian principles, his visit, the dialogue between the ICRC and the United States, detention and the law.

Americas

United States

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Pakistan - Kidnapped ICRC delegate murdered

Simon Schorno — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:37:19 +0000

Pakistan - Kidnapped ICRC delegate murdered

The ICRC condemns in the strongest possible terms the murder of its staff member Khalil Rasjed Dale.

The ICRC has now received confirmation that Khalil, a 60-year-old health-programme manager in Quetta/Balochistan, was murdered almost four months after his kidnapping.

"The ICRC condemns in the strongest possible terms this barbaric act," said Director-General Yves Daccord. “All of us at the ICRC and at the British Red Cross share the grief and outrage of Khalil’s family and friends."

"We are devastated," said Yves Daccord. ‘’Khalil was a trusted and very experienced Red Cross staff member who significantly contributed to the humanitarian cause."

Khalil worked for the ICRC and the British Red Cross for many years, carrying out assignments in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. He had been working as a health-programme manager in Quetta/Balochistan for almost a year. At about 1 p.m. on 5 January 2012, he was abducted by unidentified armed men while returning home from work.

The ICRC has been active in Pakistan since 1947, providing humanitarian services in the fields of health-care, in particular physical rehabilitation, including in Balochistan.

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Syria - Syrian Red Crescent first-aid responder killed

Simon Schorno — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:25:32 +0000

One Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer was killed and three others were injured while on duty on yesterday.

Mohammed al-Khadraa was a first-aid responder working in the city of Douma, near Damascus. He was shot and killed in a vehicle clearly marked with the red crescent emblem.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the ICRC condemn the lack of respect for life-saving medical services in Syria.

"We are saddened and extremely shocked by the death of Mohammed al-Khadraa," said Dr Abdul Rahman al-Attar, the president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. "This is the third fatal incident involving the Red Crescent in less than eight months."

The aim of the Red Crescent and the Red Cross is to bring life-saving assistance to those in need on a fully impartial and neutral basis. This humanitarian work must be respected by all and at all times.

Medical personnel, medical facilities and ambulances must not be harmed. Health-care personnel, in particular Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers, must be able to provide aid unhindered and in safety. The red cross and red crescent emblems must be respected by all sides.

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Syria

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From the field - The other Colombia

Simon Schorno — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:41:56 +0000

A new ICRC report shows that forced displacement, threats of violence, rape and damage to civilian objects have all increased in Colombia in 2011.

Despite a growing economy, Colombians continue to suffer the effects of an armed conflict that has lasted for almost 50 years. The impact of this conflict on civilians remains significant.

Delegates working across the country witness first-hand the conflict and its effects. The report is based on their field monitoring.

In 2011, our colleagues recorded over 750 violations of IHL and other rules protecting human life.

These include a victim of death threats who had to flee her home:

"They came to my home and destroyed my belongings, throwing things everywhere, breaking down the door. They even stole the money I had earned from selling my homemade tamales. It's a good thing I wasn't at home or they would have killed me there and then. They threatened me because I lived next door to a member of an armed group. The whole town knew they wanted to kill me, except for me. They came after me because I had sold food to the other side. But that's how I earn a living. People come and buy my food. What am I supposed to do? Refuse to sell to them? Because of this, I had to flee the town. I try to get by with my son, but it's very hard leaving your home behind."

Or a son who was disappeared:

"My son has been missing since 6 February 2006. He was 18 years old. He went out at 6 o'clock in the evening, saying 'I'm going to run an errand. I'll be right back'. At 10 o'clock he still wasn't back and I went to bed as I was tired. I got up just after 5 o'clock. I always look in on my children when I get up. But I couldn't see him. Dario wasn't there! We started by looking for him at the police stations. I went to the authorities to report him missing. I am still looking. What I want is justice and the truth. I want to know what happened. It is painful, very painful – to lavish so much care on your children and then end up searching for them. All I do is ask God to grant me strength. At least if I knew one way or the other, but you don't know what it's like to go to sleep every night with that uncertainty, to get home from work and not find him there."

Or a minor forced to take part in the conflict:

"They took my son when he was barely a young man. He must be 27 by now. Armed men came to the farm and took him away. During all this time I have seen him only rarely, when neighbours helped us meet in secret. I last saw him three years ago and the last time I had news of him was in 2010, when I received a phone call telling me that my son had been captured. That was many years after he was taken away. I have been looking for him ever since but nobody can tell me anything."

Jordi Raich heads the ICRC in Colombia. He speaks about the "other Colombia", geographically remote and too often absent from the headlines, and how he and his collleagues will use this public report to make a difference.

J. Raich ex-Bogota On Report.mp3

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