The President of the German Red Cross in the Federal Republic of Germany addressed the assembly of the Lower Saxony chapter of that Society, held at Goslar on 22 June 1974. He has kindly sent us a copy of his address, which is partly published below for information. The views expressed are solely those of the author.

The year 1974 marks the centennial of the International Declaration of Brussels on the Laws and Customs of War. This effort to codify the most important laws of war, undertaken on the initiative of Czar Alexander II of Russia, constituted a decisive stage in the development of the law of war. It is this event which the Committee for the Protection of Human Life in Armed Conflicts, under the patronage of the Belgian Government, proposes to commemorate by an international seminar on the theme “The Concept of International Armed Conflict—New Perspectives”, in December of this year.

The Conference of Government Experts on Weapons which may cause Unnecessary Suffering or have Indiscriminate Effects opened on Tuesday, 24 September, at Lucerne, under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Conference, attended by more than 150 experts from some 50 countries, will continue until 18 October.

The study of the use of the weapons in question had already been the subject of a preliminary meeting in Geneva, in the context of work directed towards the further development of international humanitarian law.

ICRC action in Cyprus has developed considerably since the end of the second phase of hostilities, as new human problems have arisen.

At the end of September, the ICRC delegation consisted of 47 persons—including 14 delegates, 6 medical delegates and 8 Agency delegates. Their work had increased considerably, in providing protection and assistance to prisoners and to the civilian population.

Dr. Eric Martin, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, was in Bulgaria from 6 to 12 September 1974, as the guest of the Bulgarian Red Cross. He was accompanied by the ICRC delegate-general for Europe and North America, Mr. Melchior Borsinger.

Dr. Martin was greeted on his arrival on 6 September by Dr. Kiril Ignatov, President of the Bulgarian Red Cross, Mr. George Gospodinov, First Vice-President, Dr. Mincho Nikov, Vice-President, Professor Nikolov, a member of the Central Committee Executive Committee, and by Dr. Kancho Doskov, and Mr. Pouchkarov, Head and Deputy Head of the External Relations Department. He was later received in audience by Mr. Stanko Todorov, Premier of the Council of Ministers. The following day, after having been received in audience by Mr. Peter Mladenov, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Martin went to the headquarters of the Bulgarian Red Cross Central Committee.

At the Conference of Experts on the Reuniting of Dispersed Families, held in Florence last June, Mr. N. Vecsey, Deputy Director of the Central Tracing Agency, Geneva, submitted a statment on recent Red Cross action in that specific field. We give below an outline of his statement.