Geneva, Switzerland - Swiss humanitarian and diplomat Cornelio Sommaruga, who headed the International Committee of the Red Cross for more than a decade, has died at the age of 91, his son announced Monday.
Switzerland's Cornelio Sommaruga, International president of Initiatives of Change, attends a press conference during the 2nd International Salon for Peace Initiatives in Paris, on June 2, 2006. Swiss humanitarian and diplomat Cornelio Sommaruga, who headed the International Committee of the Red Cross for more than a decade, has died at the age of 91, his son told Swiss media on February 19, 2024. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
The ICRC hailed Sommaruga, who served as its president from 1987 to 1999, as a tireless defender of the victims of armed conflict.
Sommaruga died overnight Saturday-Sunday, his son, Swiss politician Carlo Sommaruga, told Swiss media.
Born in Rome in 1932, the native of Switzerland's Italian-speaking Ticino region held a doctorate in law from the University of Zurich.
Before joining the ICRC in 1986, he held various Swiss diplomatic positions and served among other things as deputy secretary-general of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
During his nearly 13 years tenure, Sommaruga guided the ICRC as the world underwent historical upheavals at the end of the Cold War.
The ICRC had to respond to the war in the former Yugoslavia, the first war in Chechnya and the Rwanda genocide.
He later reportedly said the murder in December 1996 of six foreign ICRC staff as they slept in their compound in Chechnya was the toughest challenge he faced while in office.
Following the murders, the ICRC beefed up its humanitarian diplomacy with all conflict actors, including governments but also with non-governmental armed groups.
Sommaruga "tirelessly spoke up for those affected by armed conflict", the ICRC said in a statement.
The organisation described him as "a fervent defender of the fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence".
Even after leaving the ICRC, Sommaruga took on missions for the United Nations and served as president of the International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (CIDHG) in Geneva.