Since the end of the evacuation operations at Tel Al-Zaatar, the ICRC delegation in Lebanon has continued its work in protecting and assisting the wounded and sick, displaced populations, minorities isolated in hostile territory, and prisoners. It has given special attention to developing the necessary structures for providing medical and material assistance to deal with any worsening of the situation.

In the August 1972 issue of International Review, an article on the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment drew attention to one of the vital problems of our day. The importance of the subject was underlined in the seven-paragraph Declaration adopted in Stockholm in June 1972, expressing man's common interest in the preservation of our planet. The Declaration, comprising a preamble and a number of principles, stated, inter alia, the following:

Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality which permits a life of dignity and well-being, and bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations.

In recent years, public opinion throughout the world has been increasingly disturbed by a problem which also seems to be on the increase—that of torture. The experience of the ICRC has led to the conviction that the concern is justified and that the subject is an exceedingly grave one. Repeated and even systematic resort to torture, whether on orders from or with the tacit approval of the authorities, whether by violence or by psychological or chemical means, is a cancer which seems to be spreading, threatening the body of our civilization. Of all weapons, torture is probably the most cruel and the most harmful. Its cruelty needs no proof; the injury it does results not only from what it does to the victim, who is often forced to violate his conscience and betray his loved ones, but also to the torturers themselves and to their superiors, and finally to the whole of the country in which torture is practiced.

In previous numbers, International Review published several news items about the field hospital set up by the ICRC in Beirut. The article printed below, written in July 1976, gives an idea of the serious tasks carried out, quite often under the most difficult conditions, by the men and women who, under the sign of the red cross, seek to bring relief to the victims.

When the Rhodesia Conference opened in Geneva on 28 October, the ICRC took the opportunity to contact all the parties represented. It had talks with the nationalist leaders—Mr. R. Mugabe, Mgr. Muzorewa, Mr. J. Nkomo and the Rev. Sithole—and with the Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Mr. I. Smith, his Minister of Justice, Mr. H. Squires, and with the chairman of the Conference, Mr. I. Richard, ambassador and permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the UN.

In a letter to the Swiss Federal Council, despatched on 27 June and received on 11 July, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas stated that the Commonwealth considered itself bound by the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.

Operations Director's mission. — From 25 February to 7 March 1976, Mr. J.-P. Hocké, Director of the Operations Department, was in Luanda. The purpose of his visit was to discuss with the authorities of the People's Republic of Angola what would be the activities of the ICRC in the postwar situation. Mr. Hocké had talks with the Prime Minister, Mr. Lopo di Nascimento, and with the Minister for Health and the Director of Information and Security. He also met leaders of the Angolan Red Cross, a Society which is in process of formation.

In July 1973, the International Committee of the Red Cross adopted new structures and the Assembly appointed Mr. Eric Martin as President. His term of office extended until December 1975, but he agreed to remain in the post until the end of June 1976.

ICRC action in the People's Republic of Angola. — During the last few months the ICRC has carried on in Angola its assistance (medicosurgical services and distribution of food to needy persons) and its protection (mainly the work of the Central Tracing Agency), with a team of delegates at Luanda, another at Huambo, and three medico-surgical teams, one at Dalatando, one at Vouga, and one mobile, visiting the hospitals and dispensaries in the Huambo district. The team at Dalatando was provided by the Swedish Red Cross, the Vouga team by the British Red Cross, and the mobile team by the Swiss Red Cross. In all, the ICRC delegation in the People's Republic of Angola (RPA), led by Mr. C.-A. Neukomm, numbered thirty persons, not counting the locally recruited staff.

Upon his retirement as President of the International Committee of the Red Cross at the end of June, a position in which he had served since July 1973, Mr. Eric Martin was elected an honorary member of the ICRC. The appointment was made by the ICRC at its meeting on 30 June. In granting him the honour, the Committee expressed its gratitude for the distinction and devotion he had displayed during his presidency, noting that he had carried out important missions in various countries and had worked unceasingly to increase respect, even in difficult situations, for the emblem of the red cross, a symbol of humanity.

A joint mission of the League of Red Cross Societies and the ICRC in São Tomé and Principe, from 11 to 18 August, was the first since the independence of the islands on 12 July 1975. The League delegate, Mr. M. Toé, and the ICRC representative, Mr. T. Germond, were received by the Prime Minister, Mr. M. Trovoado and the Ministers of Health, Social Affairs and Sports, Information, and Education and Culture. They also had an interview with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe having acceded to the Geneva Conventions on 29 April 1976, the questions discussed were the dissemination of knowledge of those Conventions and the role of the ICRC in the development of international humanitarian law. ICRC activities in general throughout the world were also reviewed.

The ICRC has learned with great regret of the death of Dr. Jean-Maurice Rubli, one of its former delegates, who devoted himself constantly and courageously to the cause of humanity.

After taking part in recent visits to places of detention in South Africa and Rhodesia, Mr. F. Schmidt, ICRC delegate general for Africa, visited Tanzania, Benin, Togo and Angola in May and June.

Mr. Hans Bachmann having decided not to stand for re-election to the International Committee, the Assembly conferred honorary membership on him at its meeting of 15 January 1976.

The work of the ICRC in Nazi concentration camps. —The ICRC has been approached from different quarters following recent publications which purported to reveal the total number of deaths which occurred in Nazi concentration camps and stated systematically that the figures were based on statistics attributed to the ICRC.

As a post-war emergency assistance operation, the ICRC, at the end of February, submitted to the Government of the People's Republic of Angola (RPA) a six-month medico-social programme to supplement the humanitarian activities which it had been carrying on for several months. In a letter on 13 April, the Angolan Prime Minister, Mr. Lopo do Nascimento, informed the ICRC of the Angolan Government's wish for assistance programmes for the Angolan people to be conducted by national agencies and particularly through the National Red Cross Society which was then being organized.

As announced in our issue of September 1975, Mr. Roger Gallopin's mandate as President of the Executive Council will terminate on 31 December this year.