ICRC

Our 13-delegate team is currently and for the next week visiting detainees held at Guantanamo in the context of ongoing tensions and hunger strikes.

A month ago, ICRC Washington detention coordinator Marc Linning travelled to a military base at Fort Bliss, NM/TX. There, he presented the ICRC and its modus operandi in detention facilities to U.S. Army prison guards about to be deployed to Guantanamo.

Mr. Linning explains how this session prepared the guard force for future interactations with ICRC teams working at the facility and why we interact with guards during our visits.

In recent weeks in South Sudan, intercommunal clashes and repeated incidents on the northern border with Sudan have affected thousands of civilians. 

Head of South Sudan delegation Melker Mabeck explains how our teams are responding across the country, concentrating on access to healthcare and assistance to the the over 200,000 Sudanese refugees currently living in the country. 

An example of the emergency assistance delivered in the field is the response to fighting in Jonglei state, one of the country's most innaccessible, where the delegation is deploying a mobile surgical team to treat the wounded and sick.

Putting separated families in contact with each others is a priority. Since last November, working in close cooperation with the South Sudan Red Cross, tracing teams have helped nearly 1,500 people separated from other members of their families get back in touch with their relatives through Red Cross messages and satellite phone calls.

A colleague and I visited a Malian place of detention two days ago in Mopti to register detainees and monitor their treatment and conditions of detention. 

It was first time ICRC delegates visited persons held in relation to the current conflict.

Despite being unnacustomed to ICRC visits, detaining authorites respected key modalities and we were able to see all detainees in private, as we do worldwide. More detainees will be visited by our Bamako team in coming days.

The ICRC was formally granted access to detainees across Mali and starting to visit places of detention in the field was a priority. Another was to start documenting allegations of exactions against the civilian population that recently surfaced in the public arena.

One hour-and-a-half ICRC flight to Mopti, where Philippe Mbonyingingo and his team have been holding the fort.

As head of the Mopti sub-delegation, Mr. Mbonyingingo oversees our humanitarian response in Sevare, Konna and other localities hit during the first wave of Malian and French military operations on January 11. He explains how things are getting back to normal, sort of.

In Konna and elsewhere in the area, thousands fled when the French-led offensive started, often seeking refuge with relatives. People are now coming back home, including in Konna, even if day-to-day life and the future remain uncertain.

French and Malian troops patrol the city and military operations continue but despite the helicopters flying above, checkpoints and questions by residents about what comes next, life goes on.