Red Cross News

[Moses]

Thursday:

Amman, Jordan, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross Thursday demanded safe passage for its medical teams and ambulances to enter the embattled Iraqi city of Fallujah.


ICRC spokesman Moein Kassis said in Amman the organization has had no medical teams in Fallujah since the beginning of military operations more than 10 days ago and as such "we have no clear picture of what is going on inside the city."

He said the antagonists have the duty to provide immediate medical assistance for the wounded.

"Under the rules of international human rights law the killing of the wounded or the people who surrender is banned and forbidden," Kassis said, adding that the ICRC was deeply worried about acts committed by U.S. soldiers in Fallujah such as executing injured Iraqi insurgents.

Kassis said the ICRC distributed urgent humanitarian assistance, including food and blankets, to refugees who had fled Fallujah to nearby makeshift camps.

He said the organization is in contact with all parties, including the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led multinational forces, to secure safe passage.

washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041118-062045-6400r.htm

[Moses]

Strange: Central Texas Television station, home of the man who brought us all this carnage, doesn't have a single story about the war tonight:

www.kwtx.com/news

[Moses]

Saturday, AP:
www.boston.com/dailynews/325/world/Red_Cross_deeply_concerned_by_:.shtml

Red Cross deeply concerned by humanitarian law violations in Iraq {/b]
By Sam Cage, Associated Press, 11/20/2004 09:46


GENEVA (AP) The International Red Cross is ''deeply concerned'' with the killing of civilians and non-combatants in Iraq and the apparent failures by all sides to respect humanitarian law.

The International Committee of the Red Cross operations director, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, stressed that international law prohibits killing anyone who is not actively taking part in fighting or has ceased to do so.

''As hostilities continue in Fallujah and elsewhere, every day seems to bring news of yet another act of utter contempt for the most basic tenet of humanity: the obligation to protect human life and dignity,'' Kraehenbuehl said in a statement released late Friday.

''We are deeply concerned by the devastating impact that the fighting in Iraq is having on the people of that country,'' he said.

The world was shocked this week by the killing of Margaret Hassan, CARE International's head of Iraq operations and the fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine, Kraehenbuehl said.

No one should use torture or any form of inhuman, humiliating or degrading treatment, he said.

Kraehenbuehl also stressed that all parties must provide adequate medical care for the wounded no matter which side they have fought on and that hostage taking is forbidden in all circumstances.

''If these rules or any other applicable rules of international humanitarian law are violated, the persons responsible must be held accountable for their actions,'' Kraehenbuehl said.

The neutral ICRC, whose main job is to help victims of war, has lost contact with people in the city of Fallujah, where much of the recent focus has been because of the fighting between U.S.-led forces and insurgents.

© 2004 The New York Times Company  

[Moses]

UPI

Red Cross condemns rights abuses in Iraq

washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041120-054245-8873r.htm

Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross has issued a statement condemning the "utter contempt for humanity" shown by all sides of the Iraq War.


The ICRC issued a strongly worded statement from its Iraq headquarters that said the conflict had a devastating impact on the people of Iraq, Sky News reported Saturday.

The statement urged all sides of the war to comply with international humanitarian law and let aid workers carry out their duties.

The statement came after hostage-takers apparently killed aid worker Margaret Hassan and U.S. troops allegedly shot dead an injured Iraqi.

"As hostilities continue in Fallujah and elsewhere, every day seems to bring news of yet another act of utter contempt for the most basic tenet of humanity," said Pierre Kraehenbuhl, the ICRC's director of operations.

Kraehenbuhl said international humanitarian law was "an obligation, not an option", for all parties.

[Moses]

None of the American media seems to have done anything more than run the AP story on this. I don't see any of the networks covering it?