The regional delegation in Manila changed its structure somewhat in 1996 with the addition of a part-time ICRC representative for the Pacific, based in Fiji. The newly appointed representative was active primarily in promoting knowledge of and compliance with international humanitarian law across the region, thus leaving the Manila-based regional delegate more time to concentrate on the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.

Both the Fiji-based ICRC representative and the regional delegate travelled extensively in the south Pacific to maintain contacts with governments and National Societies. In July the regional delegate took part in the Pacific Red Cross Societies' VIIth Programme Meeting, in Western Samoa.

Like all ICRC delegations, the Manila delegation worked to promote adherence to the various instruments of international humanitarian law by the States within its region. In June, Palau acceded to the four Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. In July, the Philippines ratified the 1980 UN Weapons Convention and three of its four Protocols.

In addition to its basic task of cultivating relations between the ICRC and the region's media, the information office in Sydney was involved in a range of other activities, including serving as a link between the ICRC's Jakarta delegation and Australia-based representatives of the Free Papua Movement during the hostage crisis in Irian Jaya, and contacts with the Australian Red Cross Society.

The signing in September of a peace agreement between the Philippines government and the Moro National Liberation Front brought the south of the country a step closer to peace. However, violence continued as groups not party to the agreement carried on the armed struggle. At the end of the year preliminary talks were announced between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, even as other armed groups urged a united front against the peace accord.

Visits to detainees

The ICRC continued to make regular visits to people detained in connection with armed political resistance in the Philippines and, where necessary, returned to prisons for ad hoc visits. ICRC staff carried out anti-scabies and
disinfestation programmes in a number of prisons and paid the cost of medical treatment for detainees lacking the means to pay for it themselves. Direct medical care was also provided in some cases. In conjunction with the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), the delegation organized and financed a series of family visits to detainees who requested such assistance and whose families could not afford the travel costs.

The delegation's tracing service concentrated on detention-related activities as its workload from other traditional activities in the country diminished.

In its endeavour to ensure that the civilian population was spared the effects of the violence, the delegation adopted a two-pronged approach: collecting information regarding violations of humanitarian law and then making representations to the parties concerned, and providing assistance to civilians affected by fighting. Thousands of civilians fled sporadic clashes between the Philippine armed forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Working with local branches of the PNRC, delegates distributed both food and non-food relief to families in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and Basilan. The ICRC paid the cost of treatment for a number of civilians injured in the crossfire. With the ICRC acting as a neutral intermediary, the New People's Army released two members of the Philippine armed forces whom it had detained for five months.

An ICRC doctor based at the Jakarta regional delegation held a workshop at Bacolod Regional Hospital, dealing mostly with the management of war wounds and the rights and obligations of medical professionals during armed conflict.

Promoting humanitarian law

The delegation stepped up its work to promote knowledge of humanitarian law among armed forces personnel and PNRC staff. It also provided material both on that law and on the ICRC's work to non-governmental organizations, government agencies and universities. In July the Bangkok-based delegate to the armed forces held a seminar for officers from all three branches of the armed forces. In September he organized a presentation for cadets at the Philippine Military Academy and in October a workshop for military in-structors. It is hoped that humanitarian law will eventually be incorporated into the military's general training programme. Sessions for active armed units were also held in the field, including courses for combatants belonging to Muslim secessionist groups. ICRC field officers gave talks on the law of war as part of their day-to-day work. The delegation also actively supported the National Society's own dissemination work at both national and local level.

The situation in Bougainville remained tense in 1996. The year-long cease-fire between the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and the BRA* ended and further violence erupted. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes to escape the fighting. With the conflict in its eighth year the ICRC offered its services to the authorities of Papua New Guinea, proposing activities to promote knowledge of and compliance with humanitarian law among the armed forces and the BRA, protection work for the civilian population, restoring family contact and, where needed, food and medical relief for civilians living in BRA-controlled areas. The delegation in Manila also monitored the situation of refugees from Bougainville living in the Solomon Islands. As the period under review ended, the ICRC was still waiting for a reply from the Papua New Guinea government.


In 1996, the ICRC:

- visited 437 detainees in 95 places of detention in the Philippines, registering 168 of them for the first time;

- financed family visits for 198 detainees in the Philippines.



- distributed relief to some 3,000 families displaced by fighting in the Philippines.


- in the Philippines, organized events for over 250 members of the armed forces, 665 members of the Moro National Liberation Front and 1,580 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front;

- organized events for 70 police officers in Fiji and for 20 in Vanuatu.


Note:

* BRA: Bougainville Revolutionary Army