INDEPTH: RED CROSS
The Red Cross mandate
Randi Druzin, CBC News Online | October 30, 2003
On one bloody day in October 2003, suicide bombers in Iraq killed 35 people in attacks on three police stations and the Baghdad headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
A dozen people, including two guards, died in the attack on ICRC headquarters.
In the following days, several international agencies debated whether to continue operations in Iraq. In the end, the ICRC decided to reduce its presence in the war-torn country, but not to evacuate altogether.
Those familiar with the agency's history weren't surprised. It has been providing assistance to people in troubled regions for more than a hundred years.
In 1862, Swiss philanthropist Jean-Henri Dunant wrote an account of the suffering of the wounded in the Battle of Solferino, a decisive engagement in the Franco-Austrian War. Dunant urged organizations to care for the wounded, and to remain neutral while doing so.
A Swiss welfare agency responded immediately, establishing a five-member commission to consider how to implement Dunant's ideas.
A year later, a dozen nations signed the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. The accord provided for the neutrality of armed forces medical personnel, the humane treatment of the wounded, the neutrality of civilians who voluntarily assisted them, and the use of an international emblem to mark medical personnel and supplies.
In homage to Dunant, organizers adopted as an emblem a red cross on a white background. It's the same as the Swiss flag, but with the colours reversed.
In 1986, the International Red Cross changed its name to the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement in order to encompass several Arab societies.
Today, the Movement encompasses national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world; the ICRC, which serves as a neutral intermediary in time of war; and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), a collection of national societies that foster co-operation and program development, especially in times of peace.
In the second half of the 20th century, the Red Cross expanded its mandate to include refugee relief activities, care for refugees of warfare, drought and ethnic conflicts all over the world. Some examples:
Korean War (1950-53) - A conflict between North Korea and South Korea. Communist China supported the former, the United States and other United Nations members supported the latter. The Red Cross suggested the first exchange of prisoners, and sick and wounded combatants.
Hungarian Revolution (1956) - The country's government declared Hungary neutral, withdrew from the Warsaw Pact and asked the United Nations for aid. One government minister, however, formed a counter-government and asked the U.S.S.R. for military support. Soviet forces suppressed the revolution in severe and brutal fighting. The Red Cross put together a massive relief effort that helped Hungarian refugees escape Soviet rule. Approximately 6,000 Hungarians fled the country daily.
Somalia (1991-92) - Extended warfare and drought claimed the lives of a half-million Somalis and demolished the country's infrastructure. After the fall of the Somali government, militia forces and bandits looted possessions and food supplies of rival clans. In this chaotic environment, Red Cross relief workers provided food, expertise in water sanitation, nursing, blood services and surgery to residents.
Massacre of Tutsis in Rwanda (1994) - Within days of the death of the Rwandan president, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were slaughtered in tribal warfare. About 500,000 died within months. Three million others, about half the country's population, sought refuge in Rwanda's hills or in other countries. The Red Cross provided transportation and, the following year, organized a massive relief effort.
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