Upholding the Rules of War in NYC

by Michael de Vulpillieres, American Red Cross Greater NY Region

Every day we are confronted with images of war—on television, online, in movies, even in videogames. With news of refugees crossing borders and ambulances under attack, the recent crisis in Syria has brought added attention to armed conflict and the consequences it can have on millions of civilians. These tragic events remind us that even war should have limits.

This is why understanding International Humanitarian Law (IHL)—guidelines that seek to protect civilians and regulate the methods of warfare—is so critical.

The Red Cross was founded on these ideals more than 150 years ago and today in New York City they are actively promoted by two Red Cross offices. The American Red Cross in Greater New York does so locally, while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the United Nations defends them on a global stage.

Rooted in Wartime Relief

Horrified by the sight of thousands of wounded soldiers lying helpless and abandoned after a huge battle in Solferino, Italy in 1859, Swiss businessman Henri Dunant felt compelled to act. In the years that followed, Dunant set forth a process that led to the creation of “voluntary relief societies that could be trained to care for the wounded in time of war.” These national societies eventually united under the Red Cross symbol.

As the Red Cross network grew, its scope evolved to encompass not only issues of conflict, but also natural disasters, health crises and other humanitarian emergencies.

Although there are several entities that make up the Red Cross (or the Red Cross Movement, as it is also called) today, one branch focuses on situations of conflict: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Their mission is to provide humanitarian assistance for people affected by conflict and promote laws that protect victims such as civilians and health workers in Syria.

Photo: Liz Borda

Assisting Families Separated by War and Promoting IHL in NYC

The American Red Cross in Greater New York mainly provides assistance following local disasters. However, as part of the Red Cross Movement, the office does at times deal with issues related to war. When it does, it works through the ICRC.

One such program is Restoring Family Links, which helps reconnect family members who are separated by war. By relying on its staff and partners around the world, the ICRC is able to serve those searching for lost loved ones. Due to this extensive network, for example, the Greater NY Red Cross is able to help New Yorkers like Christine Green—who fled her native Liberia in the mid 1990s—reconnect with family members she did not even know were alive.

“I did not hear from my family in Liberia for 14 years,” says Green. “Thanks to the Red Cross, I was able to reconnect with them.”

Another way the Greater NY Red Cross promotes the ICRC mission is by teaching high school students the basic principles of IHL. The goal of the curriculum is to inspire future humanitarians to understand when conflict intersects with the rights and protections of civilians. Lessons taught during the program also help teenagers contextualize current events they read about.

Seventeen-year-old Johanna Monge from Queens was a student who participated in the IHL curriculum. The class has helped her focus her future career path as well. Monge now aspires to pursue international relations in order to become involved in humanitarian work. She says of the IHL classes, “they really helped me understand the treacherous path that humanitarian aid workers have to go through in order to help the Syrians in need.”

Defending IHL at the UN

While the Greater New York Red Cross promotes ICRC principles locally, less than a mile to the east, the ICRC office at the United Nations does so on a global stage.
 
The ICRC has held Observer Status at the UN since 1990, which allows it to participate in UN meetings, committees and debates. This includes thematic discussions about the protection of civilians or children in armed conflict, as well as geographic crises like the conflicts in Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There, the ICRC voices its opinion and provides input within its frame of expertise.

“We make sure that ICRC concerns are fed into the UN and shared with member states,” says Walter Fuellemann, head of delegation to the United Nations at the ICRC.

An example of ICRC advocacy is Health Care in Danger, a program launched last year with the intent to raise awareness of the issue of violence against healthcare.

Attacking healthcare workers and facilities and deliberately obstructing the efforts of the wounded to find help are still common features of conflicts throughout the world. While the Red Cross Movement is “rooted in the protection of health care in conflict zones,” as Fuelleman emphasizes, many of those who try to help are injured in the process. The goal of Health Care in Danger is to mobilize action within the international community in order make a difference for those affected on the ground.

So far, the program has seen much success. “We strive to include Health Care in Danger language into resolutions and presidential statements at the level of the Security Council,” says Fuellemann. “We have been able to do so on several occasions.”

Another major opportunity for the organization is at the UN General Assembly (GA). There, the ICRC engages states on the topics of humanitarian action, peacekeeping and humanitarian law. Fuellemann describes the ICRC’s role in the GA as unique, saying, “The GA allows the ICRC to interact in the same place and time with every state in the world, all of which are signatories to the Geneva Conventions.”

Nevertheless, the work of the ICRC at the UN is not limited to advocacy. The ICRC’s presence in nearly every conflict zone around the world allows it to provide real-time updates from the ground, which helps shape UN policy.

In Syria, the ICRC and local partners have been providing humanitarian assistance to millions of people affected by the fighting, but there are considerable challenges.

“The suffering of civilians in Syria has now reached unprecedented levels,” says Fuellemann. “There are acute shortages of food, water and medical supplies in a number of areas that have been sealed off for months and to which the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have not been given access.”

These grave concerns make the ICRC’s efforts here in New York and around the world all the more urgent.

Photo: Syrian Arab Red Crescent

Teen Kids News Films Red Cross Clubs International Humanitarian Law Exercise

Teen Kids News, a national TV show broadcast Saturday mornings, came to Greater NY Red Cross headquarters the end of April. They filmed eight high school students, all Red Cross Youth Club members from across New York City, as they participated in an International Humanitarian Law (IHL) training exercise.

During “Raid Cross” the students played roles such as soldier, humanitarian aid worker, and prisoner of war in in simulations designed to teach young people about IHL, or the rules of war. This gave them the opportunity to make tough decisions and experience a small sense of what it is like to participate in a conflict. The segment will air in early fall.

Photo by Evan Marcy: Red Cross Club members participate in a "Raid Cross" exercise this past February.

Beauty Is Possible, Even in Brokenness

Pastor Burt Crabbe addresses Red Cross High School Club members

“Profoundly jarring.”

That’s how Bert Crabbe, pastor of True North Community Church in Bohemia, N.Y., described his journey to the Far East six years ago to learn about the sex trafficking of children.

Crabbe was addressing a group of 14 Red Cross High School Club members enrolled in “Exploring Humanitarian Law,” a program designed to help students understand the rules governing war and their impact on human life and dignity.

The program, which is being held at Greater New York Red Cross regional headquarters in Manhattan from July 9 through August 2, also addresses supplementary rules and guidelines regarding armed conflict, such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on Genocide and the UN Convention on the rights of the child.

“While human trafficking may most often be a result of poverty, it can also be a result of armed conflict,” said Amanda Crabbe, Greater New York Red Cross youth programs manager and Pastor Crabbe’s cousin. “Bert’s talk set the stage for our students’ knowledge of human trafficking and conveyed a personal account of what sexual slavery actually looks like. We have been referencing his talk throughout the program,” she added, “and applying his examples to instances of sexual slavery during times of conflict.”

On Crabbe’s 2006 trip to Thailand and Cambodia, he accompanied Rob Morris, president of LOVE146, a non-profit international human rights organization working to end child sex trafficking. Crabbe, who had supported the work of LOVE146 through small personal financial donations, now wanted to see the organization’s challenges and programs firsthand.

While waiting in LA for a connecting flight to Thailand, Crabbe and Morris drove through Bel Air, California, passing lavish homes and mansions, and luxury shops.

Right after landing in Bangkok, Thailand, Morris took Crabbe through the Red Light district, where trafficked children—girls and boys—end up. The contrast between Bel Air and Bangkok was a huge shock, said Crabbe.

Sex tourism, he told the students, brings an enormous amount of money into Thailand. He explained that young girls living in the countryside are procured by men who tell the parents that their daughters will earn money waitressing in the city. If that argument fails, they may simply give the parents $100 American in exchange for their daughters.

Crabbe said these stories made him sick to his stomach.

“Then we went to Boys Town,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. “That’s where underage boys work in the sex trade.”

“A little boy tried to lead me to his pimp,” he said. “I just wanted to die. You know intellectually that there are people in the world who have it rough. But you don’t get it until you see it and smell it,” he said. “We saw children living in slums, literally walking through garbage. It was profoundly jarring; the most difficult stuff you’ve never seen.”

Crabbe went on to describe their next destination—Cambodia, a country he called “beautiful and broken.”

He showed slides of lush green countryside, followed by photos of the Tuol Sleng Museum, a former high school in Phnom Penh used as a prison and torture center between 1975 and 1979. There, more than 17,000 Cambodians were said to have been executed by the ruling party, the Khmer Rouge.

Crabbe said when he returned from the Far East, he came close to having a nervous breakdown and had nightmares for a month.

“I realized I am affluent,” he said. “I have first-world problems. If you earn $36,000 a year you are in the top five percent of the world’s wealthy; in fact, your part-time job at Starbucks puts you in the top 10% of the world’s wealthy.”

Crabbe immediately cut a large personal check to LOVE146 and asked Morris what more he could do. Morris said the organization needed $200K to build a facility in the Philippines where rescued trafficked children could get their lives back.

Crabbe approached his parishioners and raised the needed funds.

The Round Home

In 2009, the “Round Home” for rescued girls opened in the Philippines. Its distinctive construction is meant to promote togetherness, with none of the children feeling marginalized by being at the “end” of a corridor. In addition to the main Round Home, there is also a staff house, a Therapy Tree House and a Reflection Room.

“I’m most proud of the chapel we built and a tree house therapy environment,” Crabbe said. “I visited there. I saw that talking to the girls as human beings was a big deal to them. So was simply having fun; dancing.”

Crabbe advised the EHL students: “Walk the earth aware of what’s going on and your reflex will be to be an ‘upstander,’ not a bystander. Live generously and support organizations that help others.”

The students reacted positively to Crabbe’s talk.

“It was profoundly disturbing, but an informative session,” said Tanvir Shahjahan of Brooklyn Tech High School. “I'll never again feel underprivileged and be sure to spread awareness of sex trafficking to those I know and the invaluable efforts of groups such as LOVE146."

Sandra M., who attends high school in Queens, said, “Bert's presentation/story touched my heart and made me realize how fortunate I am to live comfortably, unlike children and teenagers in Cambodia and Thailand who live in poverty and try to survive day-to-day.”

Crabbe concluded his talk on an optimistic note. “I’ve learned,” he said, “that beauty is possible, even in brokenness. If more and more people step up, we’ll see a lot more beauty and a lot less brokenness.”