The Hostage Crisis in Lima: Some Clarifications on the Role of the ICRC as 'Neutral Intermediary'
The delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was one of the 600 guests of the Japanese ambassador in Lima on that December 17, 1996. When the Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA) command carried out a spectacular hostage-taking, the delegate, who identified himself to the MRTA members, did not wonder whether he was acting as an intermediary: he simply acted, because the situation required it, because the physical integrity of hundreds of people was threatened.