In his introductory address at the third International Refresher Course for Junior Medical Officers, Dr. H. Meuli, member of the ICRC, said “No one knows war better than the military medical officer, nor measures its horror, nor hates it more. No one has greater insight into war to enable him to take a stand for peace and against war”. From its very beginnings the Red Cross has been linked to medicine; it was the ICRC which obtained for doctors the means of exercising their profession in war, which are laid down in the Geneva Conventions.

It therefore seems appropriate to quote extensively from a communication submitted at the Course by an Italian doctor, bearing moving testimony to the difficulties facing the medical officer, the noble character of his mission and the principles underlying his activity in the prisoner of war camp. These principles were summed up in his conclusion : “Like peace and justice, medicine loses its significance if not accompanied by charity. If it is to stay universal, it must not lose its humanity”. (Ed.).

In 1963, the International Committee answered the appeal for help from the entire Yemeni population. It installed humanitarian missions for both sides of the conflict, in the North as well as in the South and its action is still being pursued today.

Mention has been made in a previous number of the International Review that negotiations were being carried out between the Nigerian Government and the ICRC, following on that government's decision to put an end to the co-ordinating role which the International Committee had assumed for the relief action in territory under Nigerian control. At the end of August these negotiations were being pursued and we now give details of these below.

In June we received from Miss Cécile M. Ringgenberg, Tracing Officer at the ICRC Tracing Service in Nigeria, an article which will no doubt interest our readers, as it describes an unspectacular but very humanitarian activity prescribed in the IVth Geneva Convention.

Mr. Raymond Courvoisier has since 1 August 1969 taken over the appointment of special assistant to the President of the International Committee, thus bringing it his wide experience in the field of international humanitarian law. It should, in fact, be recalled that from 1936 to 1945 he undertook a large number of missions in ICRC service as delegate in Spain, Turkey, in East European and Middle East countries. Furthermore, he was in charge of a section in the Central Prisoners of War Agency in Geneva during the Second World War.

Apart from the practical work it carries on in many regions of the world for the benefit of victims of war and internal disturbances, the International Committee of the Red Cross unremittingly pursues its mission of diminishing as much as possible the evils engendered by hostilities of all kinds. The United Nations, as is well known, has displayed its concern for this problem in a resolution adopted unanimously by its General Assembly in December 1968.

Some months ago Mr. Samuel A. Gonard informed the International Committee of his wish, for reasons of age, to be relieved of his presidential office which he had held for over four years.

The International Committee has agreed to this request with great regret, expressing to Mr. Gonard its appreciation of the devotion with which he has carried out his task and for the considerable services he has rendered to the Red Cross cause.

Each month these pages give an account of the ICRC's relief action in Nigeria and the secessionist province (Biafra). That operation has been ceaselessly developing, but cannot carry on unless the ICRC may in future count on help on a large scale. For this reason, Mr. Jacques Freymond, ICRC Vice-President, on May 30, made the following statement on world-wide television and radio.

Glancing through the 196 numbers of the Bulletin international des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge certain major themes stand out significantly. Some of these were already described in its first issue of October 1869, then can be met with again throughout the years until this last number of October 1918 devoted almost entirely to wartime activities in 28 belligerent or neutral countries and to interventions on behalf of victims. The account which follows, however incomplete it may be, will at all events describe the successes, hopes and preoccupations of a decisive period in the history of our movement.

On the morning of 30 June 1969, the Nigerian Government officially stated that it was putting an end to the assignment which the ICRC had been discharging since July 1968 for co-ordination of relief action in territory controlled by the Federal Government. This decision stipulated that:

the Nigerian Rehabilitation Commission would take over co-ordination, with assistance from the Nigerian Red Cross; relief to Biafra would be subject to control by the federal authorities;

only people or organisations complying with Federal Government requirements would be permitted to carry out relief operations.

Reuniting of Families.—An important humanitarian operation took place under the auspices of the International Committee on 8 October 1969 at El Qantara on the Suez Canal. This was the 35th reunion of families whose members had been separated since the war in June 1967.

In its session of 6 November 1919 the ICRC appointed a new member, Mr. Jacques Cheneviere. On 6 November 1969, fifty years later day for day, the International Committee payed tribute to this man who for so many years devoted himself to the Red Cross ideal. Mr. Marcel A. Naville, President, said in a meed of praise:

Exactly fifty years ago today, on 6 November 1919, our colleague, friend and doyen, Jacques Cheneviere, was elected to membership of the ICRC, after having worked for it since 1914. Fate has managed things well, since 6 November is the very day on which we hold our plenary session.

In November the International Committee had the pleasure of welcoming to its headquarters the Presidents of two National Societies of Central America.

The International Review in its last number mentioned that a DC 7 aircraft, placed at the ICRC's disposal by the Swedish Red Cross, had been shot down during the night of 5-6 June 1969 when flying relief supplies to Uli in Biafra. The four members of its crew: David Brown, Captain, Stig Carlson, Co-pilot, Kiell Pettersen, Flight Engineer and Loadmaster Harry Axelsson, were all killed.

It will be recalled that on 30 September 1969, two delegates of the International Committee, Dr. Dragan Herčog, a member of the Yugoslav surgical team, and Robert Carlsson, member of a Swedish relief team, were killed during the fighting that was then raging around Okigwi, some miles north of Umuahia. At the same time and place, two persons working for the World Council of Churches were also killed and another member of the Swedish team wounded. Last November, the International Review published the circumstance of this drama which profoundly disturbed the Red Cross everywhere. It also mentioned that ICRC Commissioner-General, Mr. August Lindt, had protested strongly to the federal military government at Lagos. He demanded an enquiry and the punishment of those responsible. He further demanded the tightening up of orders to Nigerian front-line troops to ensure the safety of Red Cross personnel.