The ICRC learned with deep sadness of the death on 24 September 1988 of General Pietro Verri, President of the Florence Branch of the Italian Red Cross, and the death on 16 October 1988 of Mr. Soehanda Ijas, Co-Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross.

General Verri, former Vice-Commander of the Arma dei Carabinieri, was an active supporter of the Red Cross and a tireless champion of international humanitarian law (IHL), a subject in which he was well versed. He was a member of the Italian delegation to the Diplomatic Conference which led, in 1977, to the adoption of the Protocols additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and as a profilic author and translator did much to promote the dissemination of IHL in his country. He drew his ability to do so from a flawless knowledge of the theoretical questions underlying the law of armed conflicts, coupled with a vast experience of the practical problems arising from the implementation of these rules. For several years he also acted as director of the courses set up by the Italian Red Cross to train instructors of humanitarian law and regularly taught the law of armed conflicts to members of the Air Force and Police Officer Academies.