Hijacks, terrorism force role review

Press, 20 April 1988, Page 9

Hijacks, terrorism force role review

By

CHRISTOPHER MOORE

, For Alain Modoux, the television images of a hijacked Kuwaiti airliner on the tarmac of ian Algerian airport drive home the realities of a situation facing the International Red Cross. I Hijacks and international terrorism have forced a re-examination of the organisation’s role in providing humanitarian aid to the victims of war and disaster, said Mr Modoux, head of the Inter-: national Red Cross information department, in Christchurch yesterday. I Mr Modoux is visiting b[ew Zealand for a series of meetings with Red Cross- officials and staff. I The shifting boundaries separating humanitarian aid and politics! had affected Red Cross work in assisting hijack victims, he said. “Initially, we played an active role. There were no guidelines or directives when the Red Cross became involved with the first incidents of hijacking,” Mr Modoux said. | “The parties involved accepted the Red Cross’s role as a neutral intermediary. During an early incident at Athens Airport in 1969 we even served as guarantors of a promise by the Greek Government to release a number of prisoners in its prisons.

1 I “■But we now face a different situation. For the Red Cross, the role of negotiator in a hijacking is impossible. “It is difficult to be neutral where the stakes are human lives and the game being played is a political or military one.” The organisation worked under a set of strict directives. It would only become involved at the request of all the parties. Red Cross officials would not become negotiators. Its role in hijack cases was limited to the organisation’s traditional humanitarian responsibilities. “Internaticjnal relations have changed so much,” Mr Modouxj said. “Once nations andj States dealt directly .'together. Today, States are threatened by ■ i I

private ( powerful groups with international connections. | “The! Red Cross has no role in dealings between a Government and tiese individual groups. We still deal primarily with situations arising between two nations.” The establishment of a hotline to assist journalists captured, imprisoned or missing while working on dangerous professional missions was a further example of the Red Cross adapting its work to meet new situations. Mr Modoux found himself in the midd e of a delicate diplomatic situation while negotia ing the formation of the service. In 1985, he successfully organised a meeting between 16 inter rational and regional new; media organisations from the West and East. “In the class c war situation, war co-respon-dents were attached to different armief. The majority of journalists today work totally independently. Their s:atus remains vague ... and we had to take positive steps. “The effect of :he Hotline should rot be underestimated. Many Governments wou d be reluctant to harm captured journalists after an approach from th j International Red Cross. We can ensure that individuals simply do not disappear. The system can save lives."