Troubled Red Cross Talks End Peacefully : Resolutions OKd to Improve Compliance With Geneva Accords

The international Red Cross conference has ended on a conciliatory note, a week after the ouster of South Africa’s government delegation prompted Western protests and warnings of grave consequences for the humanitarian movement.

At the closing plenary session Friday, government and Red Cross delegates from almost 150 countries adopted by consensus a string of resolutions designed to improve observance of the Geneva Conventions in the world’s 23 armed conflicts.

Warns Against Pessimism

Alexandre Hay, president of the all-Swiss International Committee of the Red Cross, said in a final speech that the movement must not remain divided and must “not indulge in pessimism” after the controversial exclusion of Pretoria.

But he reiterated that the expulsion, forced by a majority of Third World and Soviet Bloc delegations, was contrary to basic Red Cross principles of universality and neutrality.

South Africa retaliated by expelling all 26 International Red Cross representatives in that country and the neighboring territory of Namibia.

PLO Status Studied

Arab countries avoided a potential new dispute, agreeing after hours of behind-the-scene negotiations not to push demands for observer status for the Palestine Liberation Organization. Instead, a standing commission will study the issue before the next conference, to be held in Cartagena, Colombia, in 1990.

The principal resolution “appeals to all parties involved in armed conflicts to fully respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.”

An original draft submitted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which monitors compliance with the conventions, noted a “disturbing decline” in respect for humanitarian law and cited 11 countries or regions of particular concern: Iran, the Israeli-occupied territories, Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Namibia, Chad, Angola, Mozambique and by both warring sides in the Western Sahara.

But the final text includes only a reference to Israel’s occupied territories.

Israel Objected

Israeli Ambassador Pinhas Eliav recorded his objection, saying he regretted that one country was singled out. Anders Wijkman, general secretary of the Swedish Red Cross, also regretted that the balance in the original draft was “not maintained.”

Another measure expressed “deep concern that children under the age of 15 years are trained for military combat.” It recommends that “children should be educated to respect humanitarian principles.”

During the conference, Iran and Iraq had accused each other of using child soldiers in their Persian Gulf war.

Two resolutions voiced deep concern at “the increasing use of torture in the world” and called on national societies to help victims.

Approved New Name

The plenary session also formally approved renaming the International Red Cross, which is composed of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of National Societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The new name is International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Israel, whose equivalent national society is named Red Star of David, deplored the renaming but did not insist on a vote. Efforts to have the Red Star of David recognized as an official protective symbol under the Geneva Conventions failed in 1977 at a diplomatic conference, the only body authorized to amend the conventions. So the Israeli national society still has only associate member status in the league.