U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
email: irin@ocha.unon.org
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Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 39
23 - 29 September 2000



CONTENTS:

BURUNDI: Agenda agreed at follow-up meeting
BURUNDI: Attacks and killings continue
DRC: Little progress in DRC peace process - Annan
DRC: Kabila in Angola
DRC: Mayi-Mayi claim victories over RCD-Goma
RWANDA: US gives $4.5 million to support democracy
RWANDA: ICTR opens information centre in Kigali
TANZANIA: Rights body documents abuse against Burundi women refugees
UGANDA: "Understanding" with Angola over DRC


BURUNDI: Agenda agreed at follow-up meeting

The 19 signatories to the 28 August Arusha accord, who began their meeting
in Arusha last Monday, have agreed on an agenda for their talks, the
independent Hirondelle news agency reported. A senior official of the
facilitation team, Judge Mark Bomani, announced that they had adopted a
five-point agenda, including nomination of the members of the peace
accord's Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC), leadership of the
transition, reaffirmation of the parties' commitment to the accord,
modifying the timetable and correcting technical errors or contradictions
in the text of the peace agreement. The agenda did not include issues such
as inviting the belligerents to negotiate a ceasefire, an inventory of the
state's acquIsitions, an appeal for international assistance and the venue
for future meetings.

BURUNDI: Attacks and killings continue

Eleven people were killed last week during an attack in Matakura, northern
Bujumbura, news organisations reported at the weekend. The British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said the attackers, believed to be rebel
fighters, carried automatic weapons and grenades and sang religious songs
during the attack.

In Rutana Province in the east of the country, rebels fighting government
forces burned down a health centre at Gasakuza, according to Burundi
radio, which described the security situation in the province as
"deplorable".

Private Umwizero radio reported that nine soldiers had been wounded in
fighting between the army and rebels in Itenga, Bujumbura Rural Province.
The BBC Kirundi service said Colonel Audace Basuzuguye, the commander of
Muha barracks in Bujumbura, was killed during the fighting.

DRC: Little progress in DRC peace process - Annan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted at the end of last week in his
latest report to the Security Councilriday that there had been "little
progress, if any, in the implementation of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement,
which has been consistently violated in the intensified fighting between
the government, the rebels and the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF)in
northern Equateur Province".  The hostilities, according Annan, have not
only imperilled the peace process, but have also spilled over into the
Republic of Congo (ROC) and the Central African Republic (CAR). He,
however, recommended an eight-week extension of the UN operation in DRC
(MONUC).

On the humanitarian situation, Annan said the number of people in critical
need of food was estimated at 16 million or 33 percent of the population,
most particularly among displaced communities in northern Katanga (Pweto)
and southern Equateur (Bokungu-Ikela).

Annan's report also expressed grave concern over the state of human rights
in the country, noting that the situation in the rebel-controlled east had
deteriorated significantly. Much of the violence in that area was being
perpetrated along ethnic lines, the report said, with "a high incidence of
murder of women and children of Rwandan origin".

DRC: Kabila in Angola

President Laurent-Desire Kabila paid a brief visit to Angola last Monday,
where he held talks in Luanda with his Angolan counterpart, Jose Eduardo
dos Santos. Angolan state television said they held closed-door
consultations on the "worrying" situation the DRC, and on bilateral
relations. No statement was issued at the end of the meeting.

DRC: Mayi-Mayi claim victories over RCD-Goma

Militias allied to the DRC government forces last Wednesday claimed to
have recaptured Matere, near Shabunda in the east of the country, from
Rwandan-backed rebels. A report on DRC state television quoted General
Padiri Kalendu, the leader of the pro-government Mayi-Mayi militias, as
saying his fighters had also taken Ngongomeka in Maniema Province, also in
the east.

The governing Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma)
described the claims as "wishful thinking". RCD-Goma head of security
Bizima Karaha told IRIN: "Kinshasa is just fabricating claims of victories
for propaganda purposes."

RWANDA: US gives $4.5 million to support democracy

The US government has disbursed US $4.5 million to the Rwandan government
to support democracy, justice and good governance programmes in the
country, the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) quoted a ministry of finance
communique as saying. The money will be processed through the US Agency
for International Development (USAID). The communique said a total of $4
million has been made available through the US government's Great Lakes
Justice Initiative (GLJI).  GLJI is a special programme launched by
President Bill Clinton in 1998 to strengthen justice systems in countries
of the Great Lakes region. RNA noted that with this increment the US
government will have made available US $14 million to Rwanda under the
GLJI.

RWANDA: ICTR opens information centre in Kigali

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has opened an
information centre in Kigali, according to an ICTR press release.
Launching the centre, the ICTR Registrar, Agwu Ogali, said the ICTR's aim
was to try genocide suspects and ensure that these trials made justice a
reality in Rwanda. "The launching of this centre is an important dimension
in the relationship between the International Tribunal and the people of
Rwanda,"  Okali noted.

The ICTR has also launched a new initiative to support survivors of the
1994 genocide. It will provide the survivors with legal guidance,
psychological counselling, integration assistance and physical
rehabilitation services. A statement from the ICTR says the programme will
be implemented by five Rwandan non-governmental organisations.

TANZANIA: Rights body documents abuse against Burundi women refugees

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) organisation has reported that
Burundian women in refugee camps in Tanzania are confronted by "daily
violence". In its latest report, the body said that widespread sexual and
domestic abuse had left many of these women physically battered,
psychologically traumatised, and in fear of their lives. It said that
although UNHCR had taken "significant steps" to address the violence, the
measures were "insufficient".

Reacting to the report, an official of the Tanzanian department for
refugees was quoted by the BBC as describing HRW's allegations as "a grave
exaggeration", adding that in most cases the refugees were living
peacefully in the camps.

UGANDA: "Understanding" with Angola, Rwanda over DRC

An Angolan military delegation led by Chief-of-Staff General Joao Baptista
de Matos has visited Uganda and held talks with President Yoweri Museveni
and senior military officers. A Ugandan source told IRIN that the talks
were a confidence-building measure between countries fighting on opposite
sides in the DRC war. "We assured the Angolan delegation led by the army
chief-of-staf that we are not working with their enemies," a senior
Ugandan official close to the negotiations said. He said there were plans
to develop an understanding between the three countries "with clear
security interests in the DRC" - Angola, Rwanda and Uganda. "This
three-nation concept will go a long way towards implementation of the
Lusaka agreement," he said.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Ugandan-backed Mouvement de liberation du
Congo (MLC), Jean-Pierre Bemba, has had a meeting with a delegation of
senior Angolan officials led by the foreign minister in the French
capital, Paris.  "The [MLC] president visited Europe last week and he will
make public the outcome of his visit next week," the MLC
secretary-general, Olivier Kamitatu, told IRIN.


Nairobi, 29 September 2000


[IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail:
irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ]


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