The author of the article printed below is Vice–President of the Institute of International Law and had attended the 1949 Diplomatic Conference in Geneva as a delegate. In October 1974 he organized at the Institut d'Etudes politiques d'Aix-en-Provence a colloquium on Las Casas and Human Rights. The article is reproduced, with the author's permission, from a paper presented at the colloquium.

The President of the Bahamas Red Cross, Mrs. R. B. Eldon, and Mrs. L. V. Tynes, the National Society's Director General, were in Geneva from 4 to 6 October on a visit to the ICRC and the League of Red Cross Societies.

H.R.H. the Princess Lalla Malika, President of the Moroccan Red Crescent, visited international Red Cross institutions in Geneva from 15 to 18 June.

A delegation from the Alliance of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR visited ICRC headquarters from 26 to 28 April. The delegation was led by Dr. V. A. Baltiyski, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Alliance, and included Mrs. L. I. Tcherkasskaya, Chief of the Section for Co-operation with International Organizations, Mr. B. I. Morgunov, Chief of the External Relations Department, and his deputy, Mr. I. A. Teterin.

The Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross met in Basle on 2 and 3 June.

The ICRC has reorganized its Medical Division.

Under the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. R. Käser, medical function is increasingly prominent in the work of the International Committee. The Chief Medical Officer has, first of all, to examine all problems of a medical and paramedical nature and to deal with them in the light of ICRC's thought and of its humanitarian mandate, to follow and to promote the development of humanitarian law and its dissemination in the field of health services, then to take all practical measures required by the medical aspects of the ICRC's traditional duties of protection and assistance.

Mr. Paul Carry, who was an honorary member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, died in Geneva on 30 March, after a short illness.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, on 16 December, sent the governments of States parties to the Geneva Conventions a memorandum on the implementation and the dissemination of knowledge of the Geneva Conventions. We quote that memorandum below:

The Twentieth International Conference of the Red Cross at Vienna in October 1965, in its Resolution No. XXI entitled “Implementation and Dissemination of the Geneva Conventions” expressed the wish that Governments and National Societies submit periodic reports to the ICRC on the steps taken by them in this sphere. On the basis of information received pursuant to that resolution, the ICRC submitted to the International Conferences of the Red Cross at Istanbul and Teheran a report on the implementation of and the dissemination of knowledge of the Geneva Conventions.

The Central Tracing Agency is a permanent and integral part of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Yet it retains an autonomous character during conflicts, as laid down in the four Geneva Conventions.

It is the duty of the Central Tracing Agency to carry out the mandate entrusted in time of war to the two central information agencies mentioned in Article 123 of the Third Convention and Article 140 of the Fourth Convention, namely: the central information agency for prisoners of war, and the central information agency for civilian internees and other protected persons. The Geneva Conventions contain about twenty–five articles relating to the role of these agencies, their relations with the Detaining Power, with the “Power of origin”, with the captives and with their families.

On 20 December 1976, there were a number of serious clashes in Majunga, in the north-west of Madagascar, between Malagasy citizens and immigrants from the Comores who had been resident in Madagascar for many years. As a result of these incidents, the Government of the Comores decided, with the agreement of the Malagasy authorities, to repatriate the Comorian community in Majunga, numbering some 16,000 persons, who, in the interim, had been concentrated in camps provided by the army. The Government of the Comores called for international assistance, including that of the ICRC, to enable it to carry out this task.

In view of the situation in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr. Alexandre Hay, sent the following appeal on 14 January 1977 to leaders of the various parties to the conflict. The same text was also sent by the ICRC President to the British authorities and to the Heads of State of the following countries: Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.

Mr. Roger Gallopin, former President of the ICRC Executive Board, has received the Swedish Red Cross Gold Royal Medal, the highest award conferred by that Society.

On the occasion of his visit to Geneva to take part in the International Labour Conference, HRH Prince Hassan of Jordan paid a courtesy visit to the ICRC, on 10 June.

Mr. Waldemar Jucker, member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, has resigned from the Committee following his appointment by the Swiss Government as of 1 April 1977 as delegate of the Federal Council for questions of economic development.