The 14th Round Table on international humanitarian law was held on 13 and 14 September 1989 at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo. Its theme was “Rules of international humanitarian law governing the conduct of hostilities in non-international armed conflicts”.

In view of the large number of participants (about 150), it was decided to form two working groups and divide the Round Table topic into two sub-topics. The Round Table was to study first the general rules governing the conduct of hostilities in non-international armed conflicts (sub-topic A) and then the prohibitions and restrictions on the use of certain weapons in non-international armed conflicts (subtopic B).

The Council of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, meeting in Taormina on 7 April 1990,

basing itself on the work and the conclusions of the 14th Round Table on humanitarian law, organized by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and held under its auspices at San Remo on 13 and 14 September 1989,

At a time when non-international armed conflicts are increasing in number, it may be interesting to examine the implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL) applicable in these conflicts. To ensure its respect in international armed conflict, this law provides for the penal repression of certain violations. Used with discernment, especially for preventive purposes, this is undoubtedly an effective measure. There is good reason, therefore, also in view of the work of the International Law Commission (ILC) on a draft code of crimes against the peace and security of mankind, to see whether penal repression of the violations of international humanitarian law applicable in non-international armed conflicts should be promoted.

The forms of violence which are all too frequently encountered in armed conflicts today have given rise to an increase in the numbers of civilian victims, and particularly of children, who, an account of their special vulnerability, are the most seriously affected. The active participation of children in hostilities, too, is a disturbing factor – serious enough to justify the increasing attention the subject is receiving within the international community.

Emanuel Christen and Elio Erriquez, the two ICRC orthopaedic technicians abducted while on their way to work in Sidon, Lebanon, on 6 October 1989, were released on 8 and 13 August 1990 respectively after 307 and 312 days of captivity.

Both delegates followed the same path to freedom. They were handed over to Syrian forces in Lebanon and then transferred to Damascus where, in the presence of the head of the ICRC's delegation in the Syrian capital, they were entrusted to the care of the Swiss embassy. From Damascus a special aircraft chartered by the ICRC brought them back to Switzerland, where they were welcomed by their families, by Mr. René Felber, head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and by ICRC President Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga.

On 13 September 1990, the President of the People's Republic of Mozambique, His Excellency Mr. Joaquim Alberto Chissano, visited the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where he was received by the institution's President, Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, and several members of the Committee. Mr. Chissano was accompanied by Dr. P. Mocumbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and by Mozambique's Ambassador in Paris and Geneva.

ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga, accompanied by Mr. Angelo Gnaedinger, the Delegate General for the Middle East, was in the Middle East from 3 to 7 September 1990 for high-level talks with the Jordanian, Iraqi and Iranian authorities concerning the Gulf crisis. To quote President Sommaruga, the purpose of this mission was to achieve a “comprehensive humanitarian mobilization”. The mission itself was in keeping with the ICRC's mandate to act in the event of international armed conflict on the basis of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the institution's statutory right of initiative. It had four main objectives:

• to provide protection and assistance, in both Iraq and Kuwait, to the various categories of civilians affected by the events;

• to improve co-ordination and step up the ICRC's operation in Jordan in behalf of foreigners transiting through the country;

• to examine possibilities of assisting foreign nationals crossing other borders (particularly into Iran);

• to review the current situation with regard to the repatriation of Iraqi and Iranian prisoners of war.

Several surveys carried out by delegates during the period under review showed that the next crops were being disastrously affected by the lack of rainfall. Certain vulnerable groups of the population (children, elderly and newly displaced persons, etc.) are already suffering from the drought. Since it is impossible for other agencies to get food to Malakal (by barge along the Nile) and Aweil (by train), the ICRC organized an airlift to supply these two points. Relief was also flown by large cargo aircraft to the town of Leer, in the area controlled by the SPLA, pending an ICRC barge service there.