17 December 1996: six Red Cross staff killed in Chechnya

30-06-1997 Article, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 318

The Review continues to report on questions raised by the tragedy of Novye Atagi, Chechnya, where six Red Cross staff were killed while working at a Red Cross hospital. The March-April 1997 issue described what actually happened and outlined the initial conclusions drawn by the ICRC and their implications for the conduct of its operations [1 ] . In the present issue, the President of the Norwegian Red Cross, Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, focuses on how a National Society which lost two of its members in the tragedy handled the situation, and what lessons have been learned for the future. In the second contribution, Dr Barthold Bierens de Haan gives a detailed account of the way the ICRC helps its delegates in the field to handle stressful situations, which can arise in any circumstances.

 7 May 1997: Ten Zairian Red Cross volunteers killed in Kenge, Zaire  

On the eve of World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, ten first-aid workers of the Red Cross Society of the Republic of Zaire were killed in Kenge, a town 200 km east of Kinshasa. They were assisting people wounded in the fighting which had been raging in the region.

This sad announcement highlights the fact that death does not discriminate among Red Cross and Red Crescent workers. Volunteers from National Societies, expatriate (international) Red Cross delegates and locally hired staff are equally vulnerable when violence strikes those who bring aid.