Visits were made to security detainees in 29 prisons run by the Gendarmeria national (Ministry of Justice), and to detainees under interrogation at the Policía de Investigaciones and the Carabiñeros. Negotiations with the new government which came into power in March resulted in permission to continue these visits.

Over the year ICRC delegates made 66 visits to 34 places of detention in Colombia, all of which were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. During these visits 810 security detainees were seen and 217 new detainees were registered. In spite of repeated attempts, ICRC delegates were not granted access to detainees being interrogated by the armed forces and the police. Nonetheless, in December 1990 the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), which comes under the direct control of the Presidency, gave formal authorization for ICRC delegates to visit its detainees.

The delegation in Lima, which was opened in 1984, has expanded over the years, to keep pace with the mounting violence throughout the country, in its efforts to assist security detainees and civilians affected by the internal conflict. The expatriate staff was increased to 31 by the end of the year and after numerous field surveys, operations were extended into areas previously cut off to any aid whatsoever. The ICRC therefore played a key role in bringing assistance and protection to victims of the conflict where no one else could.

San José — (Costa Rica, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, the Lesser Antilles)

Haiti — The National Society received technical and financial assistance from the ICRC which enabled it to continue its programme of dissemination to members of its individual branches within the country, as well as to other sectors of the population, especially law students.

Brought to Afghanistan in 1987 by its mandate to protect and assist the victims of armed conflict, the ICRC developed its activites there considerably. As a result, it opened sub-delegations in Mazar-I Sharif and Herat in 1989 and became one of the few humanitarian organizations operating in most parts of the country with the consent of both government authorities and opposition movements.

In 1990, as in the previous year, ICRC delegates based in Pakistan carried out missions across the border into Afghanistan. They reached the provinces of Paktia, Paktika, Ghazni, Wardak, Logar, Badakhshan, Takhar, Parwan, Kapisa, Helmand, Uruzgan, Kandahar, Nimroz, and Zabul. They also carried out joint missions with delegates from Afghanistan (see under Afghanistan). In June, they managed, for the first time, to enter the city of Kandahar, where they established contacts, took stock of humanitarian needs and brought support for the local medical infrastructure. Later in the year, following other missions, they also opened a first-aid post in the city for evacuation of wounded civilians to the ICRC hospital in Quetta (since the civilian hospital in Kandahar had been destroyed).