ICRC Bulletin

Issue No. 6
Spring 2009

©Keiko Ishida / Haruhiko Nishimura

From left to right: Nagamine, Kraehenbuehl (Director of Operations), Mr. Akashi, Mrs.Ogata and Mr. Konoe (President of Japanese Red Cross)Tokyo Office’s opening party, February 3rd 2009

Dear Readers,sharing the same humanitarian values.

It is with great pleasure that we present toyou the first ICRC Bulletin from our new officein Tokyo. Thanks to the invaluable supportof the Japanese Red Cross Society and theMinistry of Foreign Affairs and the persistentefforts of the Kuala Lumpur regionaldelegation, the ICRC is honoured to be able
to open an office in Japan after 60 years.
It is indeed a fortunate coincidence thatthe establishment of the office coincides
with the 150th anniversary of the Battle ofSolferino, which was the beginning of theRed Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The aims of the ICRC Tokyo Office are
multifold: (i) we hope to strengthen ourties and networking with the politicalauthorities in Japan such as the Ministryof Foreign Affairs and the Ministry ofDefense; (ii) to foster cooperation within
the Movement together with our nationalpartner, the Japanese Red Cross Society;(iii) to raise awareness of the ICRC’s
mandate and activities among the larger
public; and (iv) to facilitate an increased
number of Japanese staff working for
ICRC missions abroad.

As a field-based humanitarian organization,
the ICRC generally operates in countries
which are ravaged by the effects ofconflict. In the same vein, the ICRC once
had a presence in Japan to visit prisonersof war and to assist war victims. Today
however, the reason for opening anoffice in Japan is a different one. The ICRC
recognizes that Japan is increasingly
becoming an important humanitarian
actor on the world stage and thus deems
the country to be a strategic partner

With regard to the latter, Japanese staff
returning from the field invariably agree
that the minute they began working
for the ICRC was a turning point intheir lives. They regarded the close
contact with victims of war as well as
the personal commitment of the ICRC
staff to protecting the lives and dignityof persons in need as being enrichingexperiences. As reflected in the articles
of our colleagues Dr. Makiko Kikuchi
and Takuro Fujii in Kandahar and Kabul

respectively, many human stories unfold
while implementing ICRC’s mandate ofassistance and protection of prisoners andcivilians. We hope that their stories are an
inspiration for many who may consider
joining the ICRC one day.
As mentioned above, this year marks
the 150th anniversary since the Battle ofSolferino, which led to the establishmentof the world’s largest humanitarianorganization the International Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement. Together
with our Movement partners, ICRC offices
worldwide will launch the two year “Ourworld, Your move” campaign on WorldRed Cross and Red Crescent Day on the 8thof May 2009, with the message that “onesimple humanitarian action is worth morethan a hundred words”. With that, we
invite you to join us in making that firstsimple gesture for the sake of humanity.
Yours sincerely,

Yoshinobu Nagamine
Head of Tokyo OfficeInternational Committee of the Red Cross
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From the Field
The ICRC maintains a permanent presence in over 60 countries and conducts assistance andprotection operations in about 80 nations. The following is a snapshot of our worldwide
activities in several contexts which are currently facing serious humanitarian crises.
The ICRC continues to monitor
allegations concerning violationsof International Humanitarian Law
affecting civilians throughout thecountry. With the cooperation ofgovernment officials and the LTTE, theICRC has been visiting people arrested
in connection with the armed conflict tomonitor their treatment and conditionsof detention.The ICRC paid for 10
detainees to return home by public
transport after release, and for thefamilies of 635 detainees to visit theirdetained relatives.

SRI LANKASOMALIA©ICRC/McGoldrick Claudia
The ICRC helps to guarantee the smooth passageof people and goods

The conflict has disrupted traffic throughOmanthai, formerly the only crossing
point between government and LTTE
(Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) areas.
The ICRC has been facilitating themovement of the sick, the wounded andhumanitarian aid between the LTTE- andgovernment-held areas by sea.
The centre of the conflict has shiftedfrom the east coast to the Vanni. Fromthe end of June 2008, Sri Lankan armed
forces made considerable gains overareas formerly controlled by the LTTE
in the Vanni. The result was the mass
displacement of some 80,000 people.
Since evacuations started on 10February 2009, ICRC-chartered Green
Ocean ferry has evacuated over 4,000
sick and wounded people together
with their carers. On 12 occasions,the ICRC facilitated the movement offood shipments from Trincomalee toPutumattalan, delivering a total of over
700 tonnes of flour, dhal, sugar andoil provided by the government andthe World Food Programme. On threeoccasions, it was possible to deliver
some medicines provided by theMinistry of Health, but the quantities
were too limited by comparison withthe needs.

“We fled from Mogadishu two years agoand when we arrived in Dusamareb [thecapital of the central region] we werehoping for a better life. But then westarted suffering from the drought and
now the conflict has followed us. We
had to leave town and we will not goback in the near future. There is nothing
to go back to,” said Faduma Mahmud, anelderly woman who has been displacedwith her entire family.
The ICRC has been working in Somalia
since 1977. It focuses on providing
emergency aid to people directly
affected by armed conflict, often in
combination with natural disasters, andruns extensive first-aid, basic health-careand other medical programmes to treat
the wounded and sick. It also carries
out agricultural and water projects
designed to improve the economic
security of vulnerable communities overthe medium term. It works closely withand supports the development of theSomali Red Crescent Society.

The ICRC plans to step up its presence
over the coming months, especially inthe south. The expatriate medical teamsupporting staff at Mirwais regional
hospital in Kandahar is set to growfrom 12 to at least 15. New ICRC officeshave opened in Farah in the west andMaimana in the north-east, and work
has expanded at the ICRC office inKunduz. Additional ICRC offices areexpected to open in Helmand province
in the south, and Badghis in the west.
An ICRC first-aid post has opened in
Wardak province in the central region,
bringing the number of such posts inAfghanistan to five.
The ICRC visits places of detention run
by the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force, the US forces and theAfghan authorities, where it monitors
the conditions of detention and thetreatment of detainees. The ICRC
followed up the cases of 114 people
after their arrest. As an illustration of its
work in Restoring Family Links, the ICRC
helps family members separated byconflict to keep in touch, and responds
to requests from families to trace
missing relatives. Families of detainees in
Bagram Theatre Internment Facility havebeen able to make a total of 172 video
calls to their detained relatives, while 37
families visited Bagram in person. The
ICRC also provided transport to Bagram
and back for these family visits.

AFGHANISTANFighting continues in all but nine of
Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, and thesituation for the civilians affected isgiving cause for extreme concern.

©ICRC/KEUSEN, RobertVideo links between Bagram detainees and theirfamilies

For further information, visit ⇒ www.icrc.org

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In the central region of Galgadud,
several thousand people had to flee
their homes earlier this year becauseof heavy fighting. Severe drought has
further aggravated the situation for thedisplaced and residents alike. Families
have inadequate shelter, they are shortof water and may run out of food soon.

Operational Highlights:-Promoting compliance withInternational Humanitarian Law-War wounded assistance-Health and Orthopaedic Services-Detention visits-Restoring Family Links programme-Water and Habitat

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Working with the ICRCICRC In Afghanistan: Needed now more than ever
Takuro Fujii
Interpreter (Pashto) working for ICRC
Kabul
My very first visit to Afghanistan wasaround the time that the Taliban had
begun destroying the ancient statues ofthe Buddha.
While general order was largely still
established, severe droughts andwidespread poverty continued to afflictthe population there, largely ignored by
the international community.
In the capital Kabul, people were living
without even money enough to put
glass in their window frames, andinstead plastic sheeting was being
commonly used: The shattered glass andthe mountains of rubble wherever you
looked were evidence of the disastrous
impact of the conflict.
In Afghanistan, the ICRC is facing many
new challenges, and is undertaking what
could be described as cutting edge work.
Since the end of the Cold War, internal
conflict has been most prevalent, andthe initiatives within the “Global War onTerror” have come to the fore since 9/11.
In the midst of the shouts and cries, there
have been whispers by some that theprinciples of International Humanitarian
Law (enshrined in the Geneva
Conventions) that form the foundationof the ICRC’s activities, may be outdated.
This underscores how important it is toensure that all parties respect IHL.
Undeterred, the ICRC has steadily
maintained its regular visits to detention
centres in conflicts, and continued
carrying the torch of humanitarianprinciples forward. As the situation
deteriorates in Afghanistan, the ICRC
has expanded its work on restoring
livelihoods and providing medical
assistance to those affected by theconflict. The ICRC’s ability to expand its
operations in this worsening security
situation is due to its unchanging
commitment to total impartiality andneutrality, which has meant that it
benefits from the cooperation of boththose in power and the opposition.
N o w a d a y s, i t i s h a r d t o i m a g i n enegotiations for the return of abductees
or the handover of the bodies of thosekilled in the conflict without the presence

Overlooking the city of Kabul, with local childrenof ICRC mediators.
We work on protection for non-combatantsand detainees in the conflict here. Thisis a field that few other organisations
work in, making it to some extent anendeavour unique to the ICRC. One
aspect of this is making visits to those
held in prisons and detention centres
administered by the Afghanistan
government or foreign armed forces in
the country.
We assess whether their legal andprocedural rights are being protected
in line with Humanitarian Law for thetreatment of detainees. We also assessthe detention centres’ physical condition,and whether those who are ill or injured
are being treated appropriately. Basedon such investigations, we then makeconfidential recommendations regarding
points for improvement to those
responsible at that centre.
In addition to meeting with detainees
directly, we facilitate the exchange ofshort Red Cross Messages (letters onfamily news) between detainees andtheir families who remain outside thedetention facility. At the American army
administered Bagram detention centre,
the ICRC has been able to arrange
meetings for detainees with theirfamilies, as outlined in page 2.
When I bring messages from thesedetainees to their families, their intense
gratitude makes me so happy that all
the tiredness I feel from the day’s work
seems to disappear at once. The otherday, I phoned a house to pass a message
on to the father of a detainee from hisson. The son had said that he was fine,and not to worry, but the father wasunable to lay his worries aside just withthat information, and questioned me
repeatedly about his health, how heseemed when I met him, and so on.
Finally, he thanked me, unable to express
just how much the ICRC had helped him.
These small heart-to-heart encounterswith those suffering in conflict are what
motivate me each day, and moreover, it isthe driving force behind all that the ICRC
does.
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International RC/RC Movement
Working as an ICRC medical staff for six months in Afghanistan
The security situation is still unstablein Kandahar, south of Afghanistan.
Vulnerable groups like women andchildren are suffering the most.
According to UNICEF, among Afghan
women who are in their reproductiveyears, half of their deaths result frompregnancy and childbirth and one
fourth of children die before their fifthbirthday.
The Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar is theonly hospital that is publicly funded
and accepts 3.6 million civilians. The
ICRC has provided its department ofsurgery with humanitarian assistancesince 1996 and begun to support
the department of gynecology andof pediatrics to help more womenand children. As a gynecologist, I
worked as an ICRC medical staff forsix months from October 2008 to
improve the quality of medical service
in its gynecological department bycooperating with a local medical team.
I encountered horrible scenes in
the field involving newborns andpregnant women. Many were brought
to the hospital due to hemorrhage,

Exhibition

convulsive seizure,uter ine rupture orserious contamination
cases and the babies
were already lost.
Cases such as these
are usually not seenin Japan. Together
with our local staff, westruggled tirelessly
to save lives, thoughsometimes in vain.
Needless to say, I havenever felt so muchsatisfaction seeing
mothers together with
their newborn babies.
What is needed in order to protect
the health of women and children?
This is a question that remains close
to my heart, and one I cannot ignore.
For a start, expanding the capacityof hospitals; and ensuring that those
who require treatment are provided
with appropriate medical care services
swiftly. Of course, such points are
essential. Moreover, we must ensurethat peace and order are maintained
so that people are able to live their

daily lives free from the fear of death.
We must fight against extreme poverty;
we must address people’s desire to beable to live in good health. Even if ittakes time, without addressing theseissues, we will never be able to claimthat the people of Afghanistan areliving healthy, happy lives.

Dr. Makiko Kikuchi

Japanese Red Cross Medical CenterGynecologist

OUR WORLD AT WAR

The year 2009 has great significance for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement:
it marks the 150th anniversary of the battle of Solferino and thus the beginningof the Movement itself. To commemorate this anniversary, the ICRC sent five
photographers from the world-famous VII Photo Agency to eight countries that wereeither at war or living through its aftermath: Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Georgia, Lebanon, Liberia Haiti and the Philippines.
The exhibition aims to showcase every individual story of loss and suffering in war,brought to the forefront of the world’s attention: women struggling to recover fromsexual violence, families coping with displacement and people victimized by gang
violence.

Date and Venue

Japanese Nursing Association (Omote-Sando)

JICA Global Plaza (Hiroo)

8-14 May 2009 10:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Some photos will remain exhibited until May 29, 2009.
10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. only for weekdays

19-31 May 2009 10:00 a.m. -8:00 p.m. (last day until 12:00 p.m.)
Weekends 10:00 a.m. -6:00 p.m.
Closed on Monday

Sponsored by International Committee of the Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross Society and Japanese Nursing Association

ICRC Tokyo Office
Address: La Piazzolla 6F, 2-9-3 Higashi-Shimbashi
Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0021 Japan
TEL: +81(0)3-6459-0750 / FAX: +81(0)3-6459-0751
E-mail: tokyo.tok@icrc.org / Website: www.icrc.org

Website: www.jrc.org

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