The chairman of the Russian Red Cross, Pavel Savtjuk, on his way into the IFRC headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday. On the wall behind him are the movement’s basic principles of neutrality and independence.
Photo: JENS CHRISTIAN
The revelation of how the Russian Red Cross has close ties with Vladimir Putin’s regime, which was published in late February, became a very sensitive issue for the Red Cross and has been handled at the highest international level by the leadership in Geneva. Some of the movement’s most basic rules are independence and neutrality.
During the four-day board meeting, members of the board and management of the IFRC refused to make any comments.
The chairman of the Russian Red Cross, Pavel Savtjuk, was himself present but declined to answer Expressen’s questions.
Photo: JENS CHRISTIAN
Pavel Savtjuk did not want to answer Expressen’s questions when he arrived at the IFRC headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday.
Photo: JENS CHRISTIAN
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During Thursday evening, a statement finally came from the Red Cross about how, due to the serious information, they decided to appoint a special monitoring group that is given the board’s task of making sure that the Russian Red Cross follows the movement’s rules.
“As the Russian Red Cross cooperated throughout the review and demonstrated its willingness to address identified challenges and alleged violations of the IFRC Privacy Policy, the Board has decided that the Oversight Group is the most appropriate mechanism at this time,” they write in the statement.
Seat on the board
The mission to the group will be to “assess, identify, monitor and recommend corrective actions to the Russian Red Cross”
Since 2022, Russia has one of 20 seats on the board of the IFRC, but while the issue of the Russian Red Cross was being discussed, the Russian chairman was not allowed to participate. The decision was made by the board on Thursday.
The monitoring group will be chaired by IFRC Vice President Manuel Bessler and report back to the Board.
Staff from the Russian Red Cross during a military training for children.
One of the points to be particularly reviewed is the Russian Red Cross’ principles for protecting children. As we previously revealed, Russian Red Cross personnel have participated in military training camps for children, and in January the chairman of the Russian Red Cross signed a cooperation agreement with an Artek children’s camp on the Crimean peninsula where abducted Ukrainian children were held captive and subjected to “Russian re-education”.
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The director of the children’s camp is also under international sanctions for his role in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
Russian Red Cross Chairman Pavel Savtjuk (right) with Konstantin Fedorenko who was placed under Western sanctions for his involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
“The collaboration with Artek requires a serious review to ensure that children’s rights and safety are put first in every decision and activity. This will be further considered by the supervisory team.” writes the IFRC in the statement.
Expressed support for the war
Another issue raised is the two members of the national board of the Russian Red Cross who made statements in support of the Russian war in Ukraine and called Ukrainians Nazis. According to the IFRC, these cases should have already been raised in the Russian ethics committee – the case will be specially monitored by the new group.
The IFRC also writes that it recommended the Russian Red Cross to train “all employees and volunteers of local branches in basic principles, international humanitarian law and its code of conduct and appropriate standards.”
Additional points to be reviewed are the Russian Red Cross’ policy and practice on partnership and engagement with national and international partners and how
the law that regulates the Red Cross in the Russian Federation and conforms to the principles of the international movement.
KREMLIN LEAKS
The express in international collaboration.
The review of the Kremlin’s ideological war against its own population continues in cooperation with the Estonian media house Delfi, the German media Paper Trail Media, Spiegel, ZDF, the Austrian Standard, the Swiss Tamedia, the Central European Vsquare and the Polish Frontstory.pl, as well as the British The Guardian and the Finnish Yle.
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READ MORE: Expressen’s review of the leaks from within the Kremlin
