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ICRC says opening its Guantanamo files would set dangerous precedent

June 18, 2013 17:01
By Jane Sutton GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - No court in the world has ever ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross to open its confidential files on prisoner visits and the U.S. Guantanamo war crimes tribunal would set a dangerous precedent if it becomes the first to do so, a lawyer for the humanitarian group said on Tuesday.

U.N. talking to Germany about resettling 5,000 Syrian refugees

June 11, 2013 16:31
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency is talking to Germany about temporarily resettling up to 5,000 Syrian refugees, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said on Tuesday. Edwards said UNHCR was also working with other European governments to find ways to help the 1.6 million Syrians who have fled the country, a number the United Nations expects to reach 3.45 million by the end of 2013. (This story corrects figure to 5,000 instead of 10,000 after UNHCR official clarification)

5 Nobel laureates slam Hashimoto over wartime sexual servitude remarks

Kyodo News InternationalMay 31, 2013 05:02
"The crimes committed against the 'comfort women' continue to cause terrible pain for individuals and their families, and contribute to the continued tensions, enmity and mistrust in East Asia today," the statement said.

Hope guides visitors through revamped Red Cross Museum

Agence France-PresseMay 15, 2013 23:30
Hope and human resilience are the guiding themes of the new permanent exhibit at Geneva's International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, which will finally re-open its doors this week after a nearly two-year makeover. "It was important to have the museum be a museum of hope, to show that it is possible to rebuild a new life after living through something very dramatic," director Roger Mayou told AFP after showing off the revamped exhibition to journalists ahead of the official reopening on May 18.

Red Cross says Yemen captive staff are fine

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 09:05
Three employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen are in good condition, but the demands of their captors remain unknown, an ICRC spokeswoman said on Tuesday. "Our colleagues told us that they are fine," ICRC Middle East spokeswoman Dibeh Fakhr told AFP, confirming the three employees were being held by a group in southern Yemen since Monday.

Red Cross urges swift evacuation of Syria's dead and wounded

May 7, 2013 10:48
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urged both sides in Syria's civil war on Monday to allow swift evacuation of the dead and wounded, many of them civilians, who often lie abandoned for days or months in intense urban fighting. The ICRC reminded the government and the rebels that international humanitarian law requires bodies to be removed promptly and respectfully, and the injured to be evacuated for treatment.

Two Red Crescent staffers killed in Afghanistan

April 17, 2013 11:31
Two local employees of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) have been killed in a "shocking" attack in the north of the country, Red Cross and Red Crescent officials said Wednesday. Two other staffers were injured in the shooting Tuesday on a main road in the Khanaqa district of Jawzjan province while their mobile clinic was travelling to the provincial capital Shiberghan, the officials said in a statement. They described the killings as "shocking and unacceptable" but said the identity of the attackers was unknown.

ICRC halts all Uzbekistan prisoner visits

April 12, 2013 10:16
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday it was terminating all visits to prisoners in Uzbekistan owing to the conditions imposed by the local authorities and their unconstructive attitude. The decision, which follows a suspension of several months, comes after a visit to Tashkent this week by the ICRC's director general Yves Daccord where he met with Uzbek government officials.

Red Cross appeals for $43mn for war-hit Mali

April 10, 2013 19:15
The Red Cross has appealed for an additional $43 million to help hundreds of thousands of people in war-torn Mali, and said it would be stepping up its visits of detainees. "Now that northern Mali has been in the grip of armed violence for almost 16 months, the living conditions of people affected by the conflict are very worrying and humanitarian needs substantial," the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement late Wednesday.

Looters strip Red Cross depots in coup-hit C.Africa

March 27, 2013 12:47
Looters in the coup-hit Central African Republic have stripped aid depots run by the International Committee of the Red Cross, threatening its ability to deal with the humanitarian crisis there, it said Wednesday. "The buildings we use to store equipment and food have been looted in Bangui. The bulk of the food has been stolen," ICRC spokesman Marie-Servane Desjonqueres told AFP in Geneva. "Acts like this endanger the work of the ICRC. Most of these supplies could have helped us deal with the emergency," she added.
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