ICRC: ICRC urges respect for humanitarian law February 2005

February 11, 2005 - PRESS RELEASE

For the past nine years Nepal has been steeped in violence and more than 10,000 lives have been lost to date.

All too often civilians have directly or indirectly suffered as a result of the ongoing conflict.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urges the parties to the conflict to respect the basic rules of international humanitarian law enshrined in Article 3 common to the universally accepted 1949 Geneva Conventions, to which Nepal is a party, the customary rules on the conduct of hostilities applicable to non-international armed conflicts and the relevant rules contained in other international treaties. These rules include the following:

	Attacks directed against civilians and acts of violence aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population are prohibited.
	Murder, summary execution, torture, rape, cruel treatment and the taking of hostages are prohibited.
	Minors under 18 should take no direct part in the hostilities.
	Wounded and sick fighters and those who are captured or surrender must be treated humanely.
	The wounded and sick must be cared for without delay and without distinction. Medical personnel and medical units such as ambulances, health posts and hospitals must be respected by both parties to the conflict.

The facilities, vehicles and personnel of the Nepal Red Cross Society must be respected as well.

The ICRC is an impartial, neutral and independent organisation whose mandate is to protect and assist victims of armed conflicts and other situations of violence and to promote respect for international humanitarian law. As such, it has held training and discussion sessions for the armed forces of both parties to the conflict.

Since it started its activities in Nepal in 1998, the ICRC has visited 4,749 detainees in the hands of both parties to the conflict. During the same period, 3,151 Red Cross messages have been exchanged between the detainees and their families. However, the ICRC is aware of more than 900 persons who remain unaccounted for and whose families are living in anguish.

ICRC medical staff provided war-surgery training for approximately 100 surgeons, doctors and paramedics in 2004. Nearly 60 amputees were fitted with artificial legs and close to 400 persons were trained as first-aid trainers and volunteers throughout the country. Three ambulances were also donated to the Nepal Red Cross Society.

Thanks to the ICRC, inmates of five jails now have access to clean drinking water. In cooperation with the Nepal Red Cross Society, the organisation is also upgrading the water-supply systems of several villages.

The ICRC calls on both parties to the conflict to maintain and improve their humanitarian dialogue with the ICRC for the benefit of the population of Nepal, which bears the brunt of the conflict.

Source: ICRC, Geneva

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