Le Monde: Red Cross is the jewel of humanitarian action.

The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been the scene of political and moral clashes over suspicions of Swiss President Peter Murer of his position at the Davos Economic Forum and his contacts with some companies.

In a lengthy investigation of the subject by the French newspaper Le Monde, journalist Remy Ordan says that the most humane institution on Earth is old and in turmoil. In a century and a half of its history, the question has never been asked: "Is the president of the ICRC a visionary, The jewel of global humanitarian action? ".

All this story is followed by one man, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Morer since 2012, the diplomat who served Switzerland for 15 years and worked at the United Nations and was the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Berne.

The man, who has been busy with Swiss diplomacy and UN action, has been able to double the organization's budget from 90 million euros to 1.8 billion euros, but he sometimes seems to be a defender of Switzerland or wants to turn the organization into another United Nations.

Unique
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is unique. It is not an international organization like the United Nations or a non-governmental organization such as MSF and its like. It is a world body with full sovereignty, although it is not a state, , An observer member of the United Nations.

Founded in 1863 in Geneva, the organization is "impartial, neutral and independent" and has "a purely humanitarian mission to protect and assist the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence."

This organization contributed to the drafting of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977, and was unanimously adopted by the international community as a guardian of international humanitarian law after the Second World War. It is formally recognized by all States, and negotiations are conducted with States and guaranteed by States.

This organization embodies "goodness in people" because of the universal nature of its values ​​and obligations for the wounded on the battlefield, prisoners of war and all victims of armed conflict, and for its slogans "Mercy in the midst of battles" and "Humanity towards peace".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a central role in war-torn countries, which is admired by other humanitarian workers. It is the first and last to leave the battlefield. Its delegates have access to the battlefield and access to prisons. They are received by heads of state and warlords. The basis of trust and confidentiality.

Unexpected message
This organization, together with Geneva, is surprised when retired delegate Terry Jermon, who has faithfully served the organization for 35 years, wrote to the president to express his concern about the "protection, credibility and respect for the fundamental principles" of the Red Cross. "Your position in the business community seems to contradict what the ICRC expects the Red".

In his first letter on August 28, 2015, Girmond was very surprised that the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was a member of the Davos Forum, considering that this weakens the concepts of neutrality and impartiality that form the cornerstone of the ICRC's privacy.

A month later, Jermon wrote to the honorary members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - the governing body of 15 or 25 Swiss citizens - that "many members of the Economic Forum represent the economic forces directly or indirectly responsible for the suffering of the victims of conflicts who seek To assist them ".

"I can not imagine that the board of directors of the organization is fully aware and accepts that its president is a member of the board of another organization that includes among its members the main arms makers on this planet," he said.

"Can the president of the ICRC take the lead or participate in a campaign to ban some weapons developed by a member of his organization," Jermon said, stressing that "this commitment not only seriously harms the credibility of the institution but threatens the physical integrity of its delegates on the earth".

Although Mr Moorer explained that his participation in the economic forum was part of a strategy to diversify the Commission's contacts and expand its humanitarian diplomacy, Jermon did not stop as the Red Cross president hoped, but began to have the time and documentation to prepare it.

Sit down with arms makers
"It is frightening that the ICRC president sits at the Davos forum with all the weapons manufacturers in the world," says the angry retired delegate. "It is even more frightening to sit with internationally banned cluster bomb manufacturers.

The alarm bell for Girmon was an interview with Murrer, who said he had met with a Swiss banker in Davos. "He gave him useful explanations to understand the investment climate and the type of market in this or that country," and the ICRC also cooperates with some 15 companies.

Gremon says what he is worried about is not only the presence of Mürer in the management bodies of the sudden economic forum, but his own contamination of the ICRC itself, either by bringing controversial businessmen to the General Assembly or by creating risky partnerships.

"The ICRC established a partnership with Holcim in conjunction with its merger with Lafarge, which was then financing the organization of the Islamic state in Syria," he said.

Stay away from neutrality
As part of their duties, the ICRC delegates were in dialogue with the State Organization, which is normal, but at the same time Davos is reading a report entitled "Three Ways of a Stubborn Defeat," away from the neutrality demanded by the ICRC.

"This is the first time in the history of the ICRC that the idea of ​​bombing a belligerent of any nature has been confirmed by the authority of its president," according to Giron.

In Nigeria, on the occasion of a visit after the release of schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram group, Morier is eager to partner with Lafarge Africa to "strengthen Lafarge's position in the cement market in northeastern Nigeria."

International Red Cross team helps rescue victims of Indonesia's recently crashed Indonesian plane (Anatolia)

Jermon attributes several positions to Murray that he does not see fit with the position of the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, such as his presence in Dubai and his praise of the UAE, which is a partner in the Yemen war, including a military parade on the occasion of China's victory. The Commission can not access Uighur or Tibetan detainees or political opponents , Etc.

Following Jermon's warnings, three honorary members of the ICRC Council conveyed these questions to the President, saying that "the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross can only be president of the International Committee of the Red Cross" and that he has always "refused" to participate in other organizations, Resigned from the post of head of a family enterprise, "but Moore's allies in the Assembly attacked these members.

Then, on December 1, 2016, 25 of Jermon's former colleagues - including a former director-general, three former chiefs of operations and senior delegates - sent a letter to Mueller expressing "deep resentment," recalling that one of the seven core principles of the ICRC As "to refrain from participating in hostilities", and in accordance with that principle they assert that "the ICRC president has no place at the Davos Forum".

Secret State
Although members of the ICRC reassured - after meeting with them - that they would be consulted before Moore's reappointment at the World Economic Forum, his mandate was renewed in June 2017 in closed session, after his first mandate was kept secret for a year before it was ratified by the Assembly Retroactively.

"He tried to hide his role in the economic forum from the International Committee of the Red Cross in an unfair way, and the hidden agendas are rarely innocent," said former delegate Nicholas Bursinger.

"The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has become an agent for the World Economic Forum and its partner companies," said former Operations Director Andrei Pasquier, who coordinates the work of the Group of 25.

"His membership at the World Economic Forum is inconsistent with his job as president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The President's participation in the World Economic Forum will not bring any benefit to the victims of conflicts. The risks, flaws and criticism are more important than the benefits, And the reputation of the ICRC. "

Dangerous connections
In Switzerland, the public was kept out of the controversy until a journalist in Loutan published an article entitled "The ICRC's Dangerous Relationships" in which he raised the questions of Germon and the 25 members.

However, until now there is no strong reaction. This may be due to the fact that the organization is no longer managed by the Department of Operations, but on the ground, where bureaucrats have not worked under conditions of war, most of whom owe loyalty to those who pay them.

"The great uncertainties are natural when exploring new ways, everything about the private sector is complex, we have set ourselves up to influence the agenda of Davos," said Yves Daccord, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"We assess the risks. We ended the partnership with Lafarge and Hulseem on the day we learned about what happened in Syria," Operations Director Dominique Stellett told Dakord. "Operations teams are in essence very critical of risky partnerships."

Impasse
"The ICRC's reaction to our arrests is unacceptable," says Margaret Contet. "The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stood with the powerful who had the firepower and the economic power." "With Murer, it seems as if the Church has abandoned the Ten Commandments," Sergei Nisi said.

"This is not a battle between the old and the modern, but the confrontation between the weak and the realistic is what worries me is that we are moving from the Holy Red Cross, which can not be touched to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the mud," Nicholas Borsinger said.

Inside the organization, the observations are almost identical. They all see the ICRC as a wonderful organization and fear to penetrate it, which contributed to the killing of the internal protest, one of them said without being named.

Asked why Peter Maurer, who declined to be interviewed by the newspaper, was unperturbed, "Berne replaced Geneva as the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as one delegate thinks, and Murray plays a political role."

the real reason
Private funds account for less than 5% of the ICRC budget. The real reason for Murer's actions is to promote the interests of Switzerland and the Swiss economy, he says, dismissing what he called "serious deviation and betrayal."

"The ICRC is facing an extraordinary departure from the world of humanitarian work," says former MSF president Ronnie Bruman. "The most problematic is the concealment of the president's commitments and the lack of internal dialogue. Morier seems to have weakened the ICRC's historic mission for projects that are difficult to distinguish , Germon and 25 are making a desperate attempt to save the ICRC. "

In Geneva, the time of silence may end. In his book, published in October, Swiss jurist Dick Marty says: "I regret that the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross has accepted to be part of the board of directors of the Davos Forum."

He called on Switzerland to "take a political initiative" and a question would be asked the government about the crisis the ICRC is going through in the federal parliament in December. Members want to open the debate.

For the leader of the United Nations, the irresponsible change of the president will not solve the problem in full. "It requires a radical gesture. The entire assembly must resign. There is a need for a temporary structure for delegates, former delegates and truly independent personalities to open the debate and choose a new governance regime for the ICRC."