ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the historical role and activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in its different fields of operation and within the international community. It presents an overview of its multifarious activities. The chapter reports how ICRC's visits to prisoners can help them to cope with the trauma caused by the many aspects of arrest and detention. It describes the specific methods used by the ICRC to ensure the protection of prisoners, and gives concrete examples from field experience. The ICRC constantly strives to ensure that belligerents respect their humanitarian commitments. The Central Tracing Agency was the first, and is probably the most original and certainly unique body available to the ICRC to meet the needs of persons who have lost all contact with their relatives owing to severe political or military upheavals. The chapter examines to what extent the efforts of the ICRC can contribute to relieve the psychic suffering of prisoners.
