As violations of human rights are a growing concern all over the world, and as the perpetrators are not only governments and their agents but all sorts of parties on many levels, it is essential for a major humanitarian organization like the Red Cross and Red Crescent to focus its efforts on counteracting this evil. If it fails to do so it might dangerously weaken its profile and, what is much worse, it will be deserting many of the most vulnerable groups and communities.

The ICRC President, Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, and his special adviser, Mr. André Pasquier, took part on 5 and 6 March 1993 in the 25th session of the Academy for Peace and International Security in Monaco, chaired by the Academy's President, Professor René-Jean Dupuy.

On 19 March 1993 in Berne, Mr. Renè Felber, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the ICRC, signed an agreement to determine the legal status of the ICRC in Switzerland.

At its latest meeting on 20 and 21 January 1993, the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross appointed two new members, Mr. Jean-François Aubert and Mr. Josef Feldmann. Their appointment brings the membership of the Committee, which is composed exclusively of Swiss citizens, to 21.

At its meeting on 29 April, the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross elected two new members, Ms. Lilian Uchtenhagen and Mr. Georges-Andrè Cuendet.

Lilian Uchtenhagen was born in 1928 in Sissach in the Canton of Basel-Land. She attended school in Olten and Neuchâtel before studying at Basel University and the University of London. Mrs. Uchtenhagen holds a doctorate in economics and was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1971 to 1991.

On 20 November 1992 ICRC President Cornelio Sommaraga made a statement to the United Nations General Assembly during the debate on strengthening the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance (text published in this issue of the Review, pp. 49–56).

The Federal Council recognizes the international juridical personality and the legal capacity in Switzerland of the International Committee of the Red Cross (hereinafter referred to as the Committee or the ICRC), whose functions are laid down in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977 and in the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The end of the cold war raised hopes for a more peaceful world. While in the new climate of international relations tension has indeed eased in several areas of conflict, violence has flared up in other parts of the world and is today claiming not thousands but millions of victims on every continent.