When one studies the rôle of the International Red Cross in favour of so-called international refugees, who do not benefit from the national regime in the country of their residence, it is interesting to attempt to define, from a legal point of view, the character of the interventions which are made by this institution.

We have the honour to inform you of the official recognition, on May 4, 1961, of the Nigerian Red Cross Society by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The work of the Red Cross in the Congo. — Mr. P. Delarue and Dr. P. Kiefer, delegates of the ICRC returned on April 15, 1961 from their mission to Katanga. They were able to obtain the necessary authorization and were granted every facility to visit places of detention: the central prison of Kasapa near Elisabethville and the penitentiary of Buluo near JadotviUe, where there were respectively 1095 and 547 persons under detention. The delegates also visited two camps under construction especially reserved for political detainees.

Since the beginning of the events which took place in Cuba in April 1961, the International Committee of the Red Cross, in accordance with its traditions and with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, has offered its humanitarian assistance in favour of all the victims of these events.

In keeping with the efforts which the International Committee of the Red Cross is pursuing in visiting civilians and military personnel detained in all areas in the Congo, one of its own doctor delegates was authorized by the Government in Leopoldville, in May, to visit Mr. Moise Tschombé, President, and Evariste Kimba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Katanga, in the villa at Coquilhatville, where they had both been detained before being transferred to Leopoldville. Accompanied by a doctor of the Swiss Red Cross, the delegate made a thorough medical examination of both these Katanga personalities.

On the occasion of the resignation of Dr. Weitz, President of the German Red Cross in the Federal Republic, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr. Léopold Boissier, paid a short visit to Bonn.

The financial position at the end of December 1960 and accounts for the past year were verified by the Société fiduciaire OFOR S.A., the official auditors accredited by the Swiss Federal Council and the Commission tede'rale des Banques.

As in previous years, World Red Cross Day was celebrated on May 8, the anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant. The National Societies of a number of countries organized special celebrations in commemoration of the author of “A Memory of Solferino”.