International Committee of the Red Cross January News and Notes

You have been ICRC Head of Regional Delegation for the United States and Canada since 2004. What are your thoughts on ICRC's work in Washington, DC, as 2009 begins?

We have a privileged opportunity to underline the humanitarian consequences of armed conflict at multiple levels in Washington and Ottawa, to the government including Congress in the U.S., and to academia, nongovernmental organizations, and think tanks. The ICRC is present in all the world's armed conflicts, and most of our work occurs in those places. But it is extremely important for us to share the consequences of those conflicts in human terms so that public debate can take place, so that decisions can be made, and so support can be given to those who need it.

It has also been extremely important for the ICRC over the past eight years to act as an independent monitor to places of detention run by the United States in connection with armed conflicts in which it is involved. I think our prison visits in Afghanistan, Iraq, and in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have generated a very important dialogue with the United States Government, one that is always has focused on ensuring that the standards and treatment of persons deprived of their freedom are in accordance with the standards that the United States and other countries have set for themselves. We are confident that dialogue will continue.

How does the ICRC cooperate with the American Red Cross and Canadian Red Cross?

Our cooperation with those societies is extremely important because we share the same values and we share the same principles. The strength of the Red Cross Movement comes from its acceptance by everyday people. When you go to communities anywhere in the world, the people recognize the Red Cross and Red Crescent and understand them to be symbols of hope, support, care, and non-judgment. For the ICRC to work, it must be known and accepted in all communities for being neutral and independent. That acceptance often comes through people in local communities who are members of their Red Cross or Red Crescent.

The ICRC works in situations of armed conflict while the American and Canadian Red Cross work in situations largely of peacetime in their own countries supporting the public service. In all cases, everyone who operates behind the Red Cross flag operates under the principle of providing care and support for all people affected by natural or manmade disasters.

What one aspect of the ICRC's work worldwide would you most want people to know?

Despite the globalization of media, no doubt remains that human suffering linked to armed conflict is largely unknown, whether loved ones are taken through death, disappearance, injury, or conscription. We in the ICRC have the tragic privilege of bringing a tiny bit of support to those families and to those people deprived of their freedom. I think the hope we provide is the most valuable thing we do.

It is a challenge for any country to accept unconditionally that an organization can easily move across frontlines, between enemies and allies. We work very hard to demonstrate that our work is exclusively focused on humanitarian concerns and carries absolutely no political significance whatsoever. We are active in the name of the community of States that gave us a mandate to help protected persons, such as civilians, detainees, and the wounded, from all sides, regardless of the origins of conflict. That is a very difficult job and requires understanding and acceptance by those who put their lives at risk in war zones.