BETWEEN BOMBS and GOOD INTENTIONS the Red Cross and the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936 Rainer Baudendistel

BETWEEN BOMBS AND GOOD INTENTIONS Human Rights in Context General Editors:Marguerite Garling, British High Commission, Nairobi and Guglielmo Verdirame, University of Cambridge Research on human rights, or social and political issues closely related to human rights, is nowadays carried out in many academic departments, from law to anthropology, from sociology to philosophy. Yet, there is sur- prisingly little communication amongst scholars working in these different disciplines, and research that takes more than one perspective into account is seldom encouraged. This new series aims to bridge the divide between the social sciences and the law in human rights scholarship. Books published in this series will be based on original empirical investiga- tions, innovative theoretical analyses or multidisciplinary research. They will be of interest to all those scholars who seek an audience beyond the confines of their academic subjects. Volume 1 BETWEEN BOMBS AND GOOD INTENTIONS The Red Cross and the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936 Rainer Baudendistel Volume 2 UNSILENCING THE PAST Track-Two Diplomacy and Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation D.L. Phillips BETWEEN BOMBS AND GOOD INTENTIONS The Red Cross and the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936 Rainer Baudendistel BeBerghahnrghahn BooksBooks NEWProv YORKidence• •OXFORDOxford First published in 2006 by Berghahn Books www.berghahnbooks.com © 2006 Rainer Baudendistel All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Baudendistel, Rainer. Between bombs and good intentions : the Red Cross and the Italio-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936 / Rainer Baudendistel. p. cm. –– (Human rights in context ; v. 1) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-84545-035-3 1. Italio-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936––War work––Red Cross. I. Title. II. Series. DT387.8.B38 2006 963’.056––dc22 2005056787 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Printed in the United States on acid-free paper ISBN 1-84545-035-3 (hardback) To Astier ‘How many times can a man turn his head And pretend that he just doesn’t see? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind The answer is blowin’ in the wind.’ Bob Dylan CONTENTS List of Illustrations x List of Tables xiii Foreword xiv Preface xvi Map xviii Introduction 1 Objectives and Methodology 1 Historiography on the Subject 3 Sources 4 Transliteration 6 1. Switzerland, the ICRC and the Red Cross Movement at the Time of the Italo-Ethiopian War 7 Switzerland and the War in East-Africa 7 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): Activities, Composition and Organisation 16 Un posto al sole for the Italian Red Cross 31 Rise and Fall of the Ethiopian Red Cross 36 Ambiguous Relations with the League of Red Cross Societies 44 2. An African Solferino: the Emergency Medical Relief Operation in Ethiopia 50 Health in Ethiopia at the Outbreak of the War 50 Medical Services in the Ethiopian Army 53 Ethiopian Efforts to Provide Medical Assistance 55 The ICRC and the Emergency Medical Relief Operation 57 viii Between Bombs and Good Intentions Red Cross Field Hospitals in Ethiopia 73 A Meeting Near Korem, or the Disparity between Needs and Relief 96 3. Red Cross Work Challenged: the Respect of the Emblem 102 Ethiopia’s Respect of the Emblem: a Barrage of Accusations, but Little Substance 103 The Respect of the Emblem by Italy: Red Cross Hospitals under Fire 110 Behind the Smokescreen: a Surprising Discovery 160 4. The Heart of the Matter: Ensuring the Protection of the Emblem 168 Consequences of the Bombings for the Red Cross Units in the Field 168 Prevention is Better than Cure: Notification to Italy of Medical Installations under Red Cross Protection 171 Transmission of Complaints Regarding Violations of the Geneva Convention 173 First Steps in Humanitarian Diplomacy 176 Ensuring the Application of the Geneva Convention through an Inquiry 180 Protecting the Interests of War Victims through Humanitarian Diplomacy – a Trip to Rome (24 March–1 April 1936) 185 ‘Quella Benedetta Neutralità …’ 192 The White Book on the War – between a Cover-up and a Contribution to Peace 196 Revising the 1929 Convention to Reflect the Experiences of the War 200 Sidney Brown, another Casualty of the War 206 Humanitarian Action and Justice 211 5. Prisoners of War: Propaganda Prevails over Reality 219 Charges and Legal Questions 219 Prisoners on the Italian Side 221 Prisoners of War on the Ethiopian Side 233 The ICRC and the Protection of Prisoners of War 246 Wrong Assumptions Lead to Wrong Conclusions 256 6. ‘Rain that Kills’: the ICRC and Fascist Italy’s Chemical Warfare 261 Chemical Warfare between the First World War and the Italo-Ethiopian War 261 Poison Gas in the Italo-Ethiopian War 264 The ICRC and Chemical Warfare until 1935 270 First Reports on the Use of Poison Gas: Discovering the Truth 273 Experience in the Field with Poison Gas 275 Contents ix Silence on Chemical Warfare during the Mission to Rome 279 The Defeat of the League of Nations on the Question of Poison Gas 282 The League of Nations and the ICRC: Collective Security and Humanitarian Concerns 285 The ICRC Response: a Request for Gas Masks 289 Between the Spirit of 1918 and the Letter of the Law of 1929 291 An Intervention to the Italian Red Cross: Too Little, Too Late 293 The Red Cross Movement Bows to the Inevitable 296 Summary and Conclusion 303 The Belligerents and International Humanitarian Law 303 Humanitarian Action in Transition 305 The ICRC and Its Humanitarian Action 305 The ICRC and Fascist Italy 310 ‘We didn’t know the truth’? 311 Appendices 1. Chronology of Political and Military Events 313 2. Glossary 320 3. Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in October 1935 321 4. Red Cross Field Hospitals on the Ethiopian Side during the Italo-Ethiopian War 322 a. Field Hospitals under the Ethiopian Red Cross 322 b. Foreign National Red Cross Field Hospitals 323 5. Bombings of Red Cross Field Hospitals and the Transport Unit during the Italo-Ethiopian War 325 Bibliography 331 Index 338 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Max Huber (1874–1960), President of the ICRC from 1928–1944 21 1.2 Villa Moynier, the ICRC’s headquarters from 1933 to 1939 27 1.3 Paul Logoz (1888–1973), Vice-President 29 1.4 Guillaume Favre (1875–1942), Vice-President and Chairman of the Ethiopia Commission 29 1.5 Carl J. Burckhardt (1891–1974) and Jacques Chenevière (1886–1976) in 1939 29 1.6 Lucie Odier (1886–1984), the only woman on the Ethiopia Commission 29 1.7 A Fascist salute from an Italian Red Cross Nurse 32 1.8 Before the departure of the Ethiopian Red Cross field hospital no. 2 from Addis Abeba to Dessie 39 1.9 Ethiopian stamps issued in early 1936 to support the Ethiopian Red Cross 41 2.1 Cartridges were an accepted means of payment for medical treatment in Ethiopian hospitals 51 2.2 A soldier carries a patient for medical treatment to a Red Cross field hospital 54 2.3 Sidney Brown and Marcel Junod, the two ICRC delegates, on their trip from Marseille to Djibouti 70 2.4 Gunnar Agge, a former missionary and leader of the second Swedish Red Cross field hospital, holding a prayer service in the field 76 2.5 Through a forest in Sidamo Region 83 2.6 A Red Cross truck has to be pushed through a muddy piece of road in northern Ethiopia 84 List of Illustrations xi 2.7 Local people pushing and pulling the staff car of John Melly, the leader of the British Red Cross main unit, through a difficult piece of road 84 2.8 Towing a Swedish Red Cross truck over a rocky piece of road in December 1935 85 2.9 The roads in Ethiopia were often little more than mule tracks 85 2.10 The telephone station in the southern Ethiopian town of Ghinir 87 2.11 Thomas Lambie, the Executive Secretary of the Ethiopian Red Cross, assists at the departure of the Swedish Red Cross field hospital 91 2.12 Meeting with Arussi tribesmen during the trip of the Swedish Red Cross field hospital to the southern tip of Ethiopia 91 3.1 When the Italians discovered rifle ammunition on a Swedish Red Cross truck in the forest of Wadara in January 1936 107 3.2 Bombs lined up for loading on Italian Ca.133 of the 6th Squadron on the Sciafat airfield near Mekele 114 3.3 Dessie. Bombing of 6 December 1935 121 3.4 Dessie. Bombing of 6 December 1935 121 3.5 Dessie. Italian bombing of the town on 6 December 1935 during which the hospital was hit 122 3.6 Dessie. Emperor Haile Selassie at a modern Swiss-made Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun 123 3.7 Melka Dida. Marcel Junod with Eric Smith and Kurt Allander 129 3.8 Melka Dida. The Swedish Red Cross field hospital before the bombing raid 130 3.9 Melka Dida. Suspended flags of Sweden, the Red Cross and Ethiopia, in conformity with the Geneva Convention of 1929 131 3.10 Melka Dida. The Swedish Red Cross field hospital on the banks of river Genale Doria on 23 December 1935 132 3.11 Melka Dida. Bombing of the Swedish Red Cross field hospital on 30 December 1935 133 3.12 Melka Dida.

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