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Three Zimbabwean prisoners of war (POWs) detained in Kigali were repatriated to the Zimbabwean capital Harare last week, an ICRC spokesman told IRIN on Monday. The Rwandan authorities decided to release the soldiers because they were ill. “Under the Geneva conventions, they had to be released for medical reasons,” the spokesman said. “They were repatriated on an ICRC plane and received in Harare by the Zimbabwean authorities.”
An ICRC statement on Thursday said two other repatriations of POWs, in connection with the DRC conflict, had taken place so far this year on medical grounds. ICRC repatriated a Rwandan soldier from Zimbabwe to Rwanda on 22 April, while another Zimbabwean POW was taken from Rwanda to Zimbabwe on 14 July, the statement said. Under the Lusaka ceasefire agreement, the warring parties were to have released their POWs between 7-30 days after its signing, with the assistance of the ICRC. But the ICRC spokesman said no additional information on POW releases was currently available.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
