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31-12-2005 ICRC detention visits: ex-detainees share their experiences  Visits by ICRC delegates to those deprived of their freedom during armed conflict have been made to people all over the world since the height of the First World War. Here, former detainees express their thoughts and feelings about the ICRC's role in letters, interviews, speeches and other written testimonies. ICRC personnel visited and interviewed me every month in the various prisons where I was held, and carefully monitored the situation of people imprisoned...
Peru – bringing hope to the victims of internal strife Ricardo Gadea Acosta is a journalist by profession and was 53 years old when Peruvian police arrested him in 1993 and accused him of treason against the state. He spent several months in various detention centres. From Spain, where he eventually resettled, he sent a letter to the ICRC expressing his thanks. In the letter, Gadea Acosta describes the months he was in prison as extremely hard, not knowing whether he ever be freed and doubting his ability to tolerate the tough prison regime. He obviously held the visits made by ICRC delegates in a very high regard. "In these conditions, it was invaluable for me and the other prisoners to receive the ICRC's support...the only organization able to access the prisons and the bearer of a humanitarian aid that was absolutely essential." The ICRC followed Gadea Costa as the authorities moved him from prison to prison, ensuring that he remained visible. In addition, it provided medical help to prisoners suffering from tuberculosis or other illnesses and injuries. Material assistance was also highly valued and he remembers how much the inmates appreciated the mattresses and blankets provided. He ends his letter by thanking the ICRC for the work it conducts for victims of war around the world. Read more of Gadea Costa's letter
Spanish Red Cross Càceres, 16 October 1996 D. Francis Amar Head of operations for the Americas ICRC Geneva Dear Sir, I am writing from the town of Càceres in Extremadura, Spain, where I am working for the provincial assembly of the Spanish Red Cross (international cooperation department). My name is Ricardo Gadea Acosta. I am 56, a journalist, of Peruvian nationality. I have been living in Spain for two years as a political refugee, along with my family. I have decided to write to you directly – and through you, to the International Committee – as I am a direct witness and beneficiary of the prison visits programme that the ICRC operates in numerous countries. I was held prisoner in Lima for two periods between June and September 1993. I went through some very difficult periods during these months in jail. At times, I wondered whether I would ever be released....Under such conditions, the support of the ICRC – in the form of its offices in Peru – was invaluable to me and to everyone else held on similar charges. The ICRC was the only organisation with access to the prisons, and it is a matter of objective fact that the humanitarian assistance provided by the ICRC was absolutely vital. ICRC personnel visited and interviewed me every month in the various prisons where I was held, and carefully monitored the situation of people imprisoned....These visits showed that police and military authorities were influenced by the presence of a prestigious international body like the ICRC....Follow-up visits were supplemented by the provision of urgently-needed medicines and medical treatment. Throughout this time, I slept under sheets and blankets which, I later discovered, had been provided by the ICRC.... Despite the time that has elapsed since then, and the different conditions in which I now live, I wanted to send you this personal testimony and, via you, to express my deepest thanks for the valuable work the ICRC is doing in prisons around the world in its efforts to reduce the suffering and abuses to which the victims of war are subjected. Modestly but sincerely, I wish to encourage the commitment to solidarity and humanitarian assistance of your organization. With kind regards,
Ricardo Gadea Acosta |
