Red Cross complains of misunderstanding

 Baku/17.02.23/Turan: The office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan has claimed false allegations about its activities.

A press release issued by the organisation on 17 February said "a number of false allegations related to the ICRC, which may have a detrimental effect not only on our activities in the places where we work but, importantly, may deprive thousands of people of the lifesaving services we offer here in Azerbaijan".

"Over the past 160 years, the ICRC has spared no efforts in protecting and assisting people suffering the consequences of armed conflict around the world. We have always stood by our core principles that guide our work: neutrality, which means not interfering in politics and not favouring one side, and impartiality, which means helping affected people wherever they may live, wherever they may be.

These principles of neutrality and impartiality are not always well understood, but they remain important for our humanitarian work."

"We have been present in Azerbaijan and the region since 1992. During the 1990s alone, and in keeping with our role, we helped repatriate over 360 detainees across the contact lines, to and from Azerbaijan, returning them to their families.

We helped detainees and civilians in the region who had been separated from their families to keep in touch with their loved ones, delivering some 30,000 messages.

During this period, we reached over 260,000 displaced and vulnerable people, including in Fizuli, Agdam, Terter, Kelbajar, Barda and Nakhchivan, distributing food, blankets, clothing and basic necessities with other partners.

Since the nineties, at the request of thousands of families, we began documenting and preserving information about the missing. Such data was shared in a timely manner with the Azerbaijani authorities, who are ultimately responsible for clarifying the fate of the missing, not the ICRC. What can be done at our level is to support such efforts through technical expertise, capacity building and helping families cope with uncertainty and the loss of loved ones. This is what we have done in the past and continue to do today to assist the authorities in the search for missing persons in Azerbaijan," the press release said.

"Since December last year, we have been conducting humanitarian operations along the Lachin road as a neutral humanitarian facilitator. During this period we have been able to transfer 99 patients in need of urgent medical care, reunite 259 people with their families and deliver medicines, food and baby formula to hospitals.

These operations are coordinated with all stakeholders each time. We discuss and inform them about all logistical aspects: what we are transporting and who we are transporting in our vehicles, and get their consent and agreement to do so.

The ICRC has a very specific role and working standards entrusted to it by all signatory states to the Geneva Conventions. This role allows us to monitor, promote and advise states and authorities on issues related to international humanitarian law (IHL). But it is important to recall that they are obliged to observe and respect its provisions, including those relating to prisoners of war and detainees.

As for the latter, the ICRC has the right to visit them, to register them, to discuss with them privately the conditions of their internment and their treatment, to exchange news between them and their families, and to raise their concerns with the authorities. However, it is the responsibility of the detention authority to preserve the life, dignity and well-being of detainees and to decide on their release," the document goes on to say.

"Sometimes we are asked why we do not share our observations publicly and punish the guilty? If we don't communicate publicly, it doesn't mean we don't care, on the contrary. Whenever we observe violations of any standards of IHL, we directly and persistently raise them bilaterally and confidentially with the party concerned. Confidentiality can give us a better chance of changing certain behaviour and violations of IHL.

Our efforts may not always be visible to the public and progress can take time. Sometimes such work does not lead to successful results. But the ICRC, as a humanitarian organisation, cannot force States to comply with their legal obligations.

We are humanitarians, not politicians. The responsibility to prevent and punish violations of IHL lies first and foremost with the states. The ICRC cannot get involved in legal proceedings or divulge any information about what we see or discover in the course of our work.

Finally, amidst the proliferation of false allegations, misinformation, and political debates, we would like to reiterate the need not to politicise humanitarian aid.

We also call on all parties to do everything possible to continue to maintain this neutral humanitarian space for the benefit of affected populations in Azerbaijan and elsewhere," we conclude.-0-