Like war itself, which was one of the first and will undoubtedly be the last of mankind's social activities, the effort to regulate violent confrontations has a long history. Indeed, the laws of war in ancient China, 400 and 500 years before Christ, the chivalry of mediaeval knights, and the modern law of armed conflict, which started to take shape in the mid-nineteenth century, are but a few examples of the countless attempts made by different political regimes and legal systems to humanize the use of weapons as a means of settling disputes between States, and even between rulers and those they govern. Colombia is no stranger to this civilizing tradition. On the contrary, its history contains a number of illustrious precedents. The fact that they have fallen into oblivion makes them no less binding on the parties to the conflict ravaging the country at present.

The League General Assembly held its VIIth session from 23–26 October 1989 in Geneva. The session was attended by about 400 delegates from 144 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

At the opening ceremony, the League President, Mr. Mario Villarroel Lander, said: “The future of the League lies in the hands of all of us who are here today. We, as its present leaders, have great responsibilities to face, but it is essentially on you that its success depends; for it is you, as representatives of a world-wide organization, who will have to plan and carry out its new strategies”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (hereinafter called “the ICRC”), represented by Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President, and by Mr. Yves Sandoz, Director, on the one hand, and

the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (hereinafter called “the League”), represented by Mr. Mario Villarroel Lander, President, and Mr. Pär Stenbäck, Secretary General, on the other hand,

The Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which brings together representatives of the National Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, met on 26 and 27 October 1989 in Geneva.

Mr. Claudio Caratsch will act as new permanent Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross as from 1 June 1990. He was co-opted as a member of the Committee by the Assembly at its meeting on 9 November 1989 and will take up his duties in that capacity on 1 March 1990.

The President of the ICRC, accompanied by Mr. Dieter Pfaff of the ICRC's Africa Zone, paid an official visit to Chad from 4 to 7 November 1989. He was received by Mr. Hissen Habré, President of the Republic of Chad, with whom he discussed the question of the Libyan prisoners of war detained in Chad, pointing out the advantages that Chad could derive from closer collaboration with the ICRC, particularly if the ICRC was allowed to carry out its mandate under the Geneva Conventions as regards visits to prisoners of war and their repatriation. An agreement in principle was concluded on this subject between the ICRC and Chad, and it was agreed that the procedure for implementing it should be finalized by, and with the mutual consent of, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ICRC. The President of the ICRC also had talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Health.

In November, the ICRC completed its seed distributions to civilians affected by the conflict on the Angolan Planalto. During the operation, which started at the end of September, delegates distributed over 1,000 tonnes of seed to about 120,000 families in the provinces of Benguela, Bié and Huambo, where the conflict had seriously disturbed the normal crop cycle. ICRC teams conducted regular nutritional surveys which revealed a particularly high incidence of malnutrition, resulting from drought and the continuing conflict. To remedy the situation, the ICRC started to distribute food rations as early as October, along with the seed. Food distributions were stepped up in November and in December, reaching a total of about 65,000 people at the end of the year.