The delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross brought its aid to civilian and political prisoners.

One of the ICRC representatives in Santo Domingo, Mr. Pierre Jequier, general delegate for Latin America, visited prisons of the “Constitutional Government” presided over by Colonel Francisco Caamano Deno and of the “Government of National Reconstruction” of General Antonio Imbert. There were no restrictions placed by either on visits.

In its issues of June and July 1965, the International Review gave some account of Mr. Samuel Gonard's journey. Having left Geneva at the beginning of May, the ICRC President successively visited Pakistan, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, then Mexico. The last stage of his journey was spent in the United States, where he stayed one week in July and was joined by Mr. Pierre Basset, head of administration and finance of the ICRC in Geneva.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the League. of Red Cross Societies sent a letter, on January 5, 1965, to all National Red Cross, Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun Societies. We quote hereunder the text thereof and remind readers that this letter was announced in the preceding issue of the International Review

We have the honour to inform you of the official recognition, on September 2, 1965, of the Red Cross Society of Uganda by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

One of the ICRC nurses spent several months last year in the field hospital at Uqhd in the Yemen. Her personal notes during the period in which she carried out her humanitarian task are well worth reproduction here, for like the many articles and photographs which we have already published on the ICRC's action in the Yemen, they describe the difficulties of work in the desert but they also show how useful is this task, especially in respect of training nursing personnel

The World Veterans Federation, which held its Xlth General Assembly in Lausanne, from May 1-6, wished to express to the International Committee of the Red Cross its gratitude for the immense work accomplished on behalf of the victims of two world wars and other conflicts.

Prisoners of War. — Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross in both India and Pakistan have been permitted to visit prisoners of war; both governments have demonstrated their intention to apply the Geneva Conventions of 1949 on the protection of victims of war. Mr. Roger Du Pasquier in India and Mr. Michel Martin in Pakistan were therefore given access to several places of internment and were authorized to interview prisoners without witnesses. The delegates' reports were conveyed each time to the Detaining Power and the government of the prisoners' country of origin. Mr. Du Pasquier was also able to see prisoners of war who had been wounded in the course of the fighting.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has received from the Federal Political Department in Berne a communication informing it that the Canadian Government notified the Swiss Federal Council on May 14, 1965 of the ratification by that State of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, such ratification taking effect on November 14, 1965.

The General Delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Asia, Mr. Andre" Durand, went on mission to Cambodia from March 8 to the beginning of April 1965.

Although the Malaysian Government does not accept the Geneva Conventions as being applicable to the armed conflict in which Indonesia is opposing it, the International Committee of the Red Cross has been authorized to carry out its humanitarian activity on behalf of the Indonesian victims of that conflict. Its general delegate for Asia, Mr. Andre Durand, visited in December 1964 and January 1965, a number of Indonesians who had fallen into the hands of the Malaysian authorities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has received from the Federal Political Department in Berne a communication informing it that the Government of Sierra Leone has confirmed, under date of June 10, 1965, to the Swiss Federal Council, its participation in the Geneva Conventions of 1949, by a declaration of continuity. In fact, Sierra Leone considered itself bound by these Conventions since its accession to independence, namely April 27, 1961.

Mr. Thant, United Nations Secretary-General, paid an official visit on July 7 1965 to the International Committee of the Red Cross, meeting in plenary session. The President, Mr. Samuel A.Gonard, in his address of welcome, stressed the common ideal of the United Nations and the Red Cross to promote the spirit of peace.

During the course of 1964, the recrudescence of troubles in various regions of the Congo gave rise to further distress. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which had been in the country since I960, had to consider intensifying its activity on behalf of ever more numerous victims amongst the native population as well as foreign residents. Its delegates then succeeded in achieving several notable results, such as in arranging for the evacuation of civilians as was the case in Albertville.

The situation in the Yemen where, in spite of the cease-fire agreement concluded last November, hostilities have broken out again in various areas, is obliging the International Committee of the Red Cross to continue its humanitarian activity which started in 1962 on behalf of the victims of the conflict. Mr. André Rochat, head of the ICRC mission, has returned to the Arabian peninsula after a fortnight's stay in Geneva, during which he examined with the institution's directors methods of continuing its work in the Yemen. It has now been decided that the ICRC will continue, for the time being, to give medical aid to the wounded and sick. It will therefore maintain its field hospital at Uqhd in North Yemen for some time longer, as well as the mobile medical teams working in the interior of the country near the fighting areas.

The Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam has in its turn replied, in a letter which will be found below, to an appeal made on June 11 by the ICRC to the four belligerents concerning the application of the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, on the protection of the victims of war.

A sun-dial, built by young Dutch artists and craftsmen and offered to the Red Cross by the Netherlands Committee for National and International Competitions of Professional Craftsmen, was inaugurated on August 6, 1965, in the grounds of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is of brick and cement and measures about 5 feet high. On the dial itself, in the form of a concave hemisphere, are engraved not only the hours in Roman figures but also signs of the zodiac and the Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Lion and Sun emblems.

As we have mentioned elsewhere, Mr. José Barroso Chavez, who has just been appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of the League, paid a visit to the ICRC on his return from Vienna. He was received by the President, Mr. Gonard. Several members of the ICRC and staff were also present.

Some months ago, the President of the ICRC paid a visit to the Mexican Red Cross and was able to see the importance and effectiveness of that Society's work, both in Mexico City as well as in other large towns. He met the President of the Mexican Red Cross, Mr. Barrbso Chavez, and various leading personalities with whom he discussed the respective activities of that National Society and of the ICRC.

Mr. Carl J. Burckhardt, member of the ICRC, has recently asked to be relieved of his duties. This resignation was announced by Mr. S. A. Gonard, the President, at a plenary session of the International Committee of the Red Cross, on January 6, 1965. A ceremony took place on that occasion at which were present many members of the ICRC, directors and heads of Services, as well as some who had worked especially closely with Mr. Burckhardt.