Cautious response to call for rapid reaction force

MILITARY intervention in complex crises without clear objectives can undermine international humanitarian law, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mr Cornelio Sommaruga, has warned.

Speaking at a press briefing in Dublin yesterday, Mr Sommaruga said the confusion of political and military with humanitarian goals could cause major problems in such crises.

His remarks follow a call at this week's national aid forum by the director of Goal, Mr John O'Shea, for an international rapid reaction force, which would be trained to deal with such emergencies.

Each non-governmental organisation (NGO) was free to do as it wished, and the ICRC president said he did not necessarily think that military protection within the current humanitarian code should always be refused.

However, the ICRC would never call for such military intervention, because it would pose a threat to its own code of neutrality, impartiality and independence, he said.

"There is a difference between military protection of humanitarian assistance and cessation of genocide, as the latter is an operation to enforce observance of international law," Mr Sommaruga said.

Too often this difference was ignored. The work of the ICRC was based upon the Geneva Conventions, and their additional protocols, and it was at its initiative that governments had adopted the initial convention in 1864.

Almost all states are bound by the four Geneva Conventions of August 12th, 1949, but Mr Sommaruga expressed disappointment that Ireland had not ratified the two additional protocols, adopted in June 1977.

The protocols protect the victims of international and internal armed conflicts, and codify the rules protecting the civilian population against the effects of hostilities. Almost two-thirds of states are now bound by them.

The ICRC is present in 28 armed conflicts, and its humanitarian staff preferred to work away from television cameras in the "forgotten" areas. Images conveyed by television could often cause problems in such situations, he said.

It has withdrawn from Burundi, following the death of three staff last month. Some 500 people per week were dying in the current genocide there, he said. There were no plans for an immediate return, but contacts with all parties would continue, he said.