U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 119
20 - 26 April 2002


CONTENTS:

ROC: Fighting continues, entire Pool region inaccessible
DRC: Alliance formed between RCD-Goma and political opposition
DRC-BURUNDI: Security Council urges peace in DRC, Burundi
BURUNDI: More than 20 people killed in fighting
BURUNDI: Poverty and hostilities threaten transitional government
RWANDA: Bizimungu handed over to prosecutor-general's office
RWANDA: ICTR Registrar defends withdrawal from commission
RWANDA-UGANDA: Ugandan deputy premier in Kigali to see Kagame
KENYA: Court blocks forest excisions
TANZANIA: Funding boost for fight against malaria
KENYA-TANZANIA-UGANDA: Rights groups urge tougher refugee protection laws

ALSO SEE:

DRC: Focus on the results of the inter-Congolese dialogue at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27470

ROC: Fighting continues, entire Pool region inaccessible

The entire Pool region of the Republic of Congo (ROC) remains
inaccessible, even for humanitarian missions, with Congolese authorities
stating that access will not be possible until at least 25 April, the
office of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the ROC reported
on Monday. The situation "remains tense" in various localities of the Pool
region, although there were no reports of fighting that weekend, according
to the report.

In Kinkala, located in the Pool region some 79 km west of the ROC capital,
Brazzaville, three internally displaced person (IDP) sites harbouring a
population of about 3,500 appear to have been spontaneously deserted over
the weekend after more than 30 young men were taken from the camps by
government forces and did not return. The whereabouts of the 3,500 people
is unknown.

As a result of humanitarian evaluation missions, information thus far
suggests that only 10,000 of Pool's 220,000 inhabitants have found refuge
outside the region, in IDP sites in Brazzaville, Lekoumou, Bouenza and
Plateaux regions. "The condition of those persons who remain within Pool
is cause for serious concern," the UN reported. The UN and its partners
would continue their dialogue with government authorities to obtain access
to this region, it said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27425]

DRC: Alliance formed between RCD-Goma and political opposition

The Rwandan-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie
(RCD-Goma) has formed an alliance with five other political parties in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to fight attempts by President
Joseph Kabila and the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC) to form
a new government, following an agreement made between them at the end of
the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) last week. The alliance, called
Alliance pour la sauvegarde du dialogue inter-congolais (ASD) - to be
headed by veteran politician Etienne Tshisekedi, leader of the Union pour
la democratie et le progres social (UDPS) - has as its main objective the
continuation of the ICD in Sun City, South Africa. Other objectives are
the formation of a new consensual political order, the defence of the
Lusaka Peace Accord and the establishment of the rule of law.

The ASD, which will be based in Kisangani, northeastern DRC, brings
together the UDPS, the Dynamique pour une transition neutre (DPTN), the
Mouvement Lumumbiste progressiste (MLP), the Conseil de l'opposition
congolaise externe de l'Amerique du Nord (COCEAN) and the Rassemblement
pour une nouvelle societe (RNS).

RCD spokesman Kin Kiey Mulumba told IRIN on Friday that the alliance "is
going to see everyone who can help us", including South African President
Thabo Mbeki, diplomats and the members of the UN Security Council who will
visiting South Africa next week, in order to apply diplomatic pressure on
the government-MLC alliance to return to the negotiating table. He said
his message to the Security Council would be that the agreement between
the government and MLC would be unable to bring peace to the DRC, and that
all Congolese must unite to do so. "The dialogue is our last chance to
bring peace to our country," he said.

Asked what would happen if the government-MLC forged ahead with their
plans to form a government, which excludes the RCD, he said: "It will be
something bad for our country. It [the new government] will not be able to
respond to the problems in our country. It will lead to the partition of
the Congo, which we do not want." He added, however, that the ASD was not
going to fight a war with the government-MLC, saying "we are for peace". A
statement issued by the ASD on Friday described the government-MLC
agreement - which would allow Kabila to remain president and install MLC
leader Jean-Pierre Bemba as prime minister - as "high treason" and "a
grave manifestation of political irresponsibility".

DRC-BURUNDI: Security Council urges peace in DRC, Burundi

The UN Security Council is to send a mission to the Great Lakes region and
southern Africa from 27 April to 7 May. The 15 ambassadors will travel to
South Africa, DRC, Angola, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. The aim
of the trip is to give new impetus to the peace process in the DRC, to
support the UN Organisation Mission (known by its French acronym, MONUC)
in the country, and to encourage the parties to the conflict to fulfil
their obligations on the basis of the Lusaka agreement and resolutions
passed by the Council, said the UN.

The mission would urge all parties to take the necessary steps to start
the process of disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration, repatriation
and resettlement ("DDRRR") of armed groups in the DRC, as well as discuss
with relevant parties the expediting and facilitation of the withdrawal of
foreign troops from the country. Parties to the conflict would also be
reminded, among other things, of their obligations as regards the
ceasefire, the disengagement plans of Kampala and Harare, the
demilitarisation of Kisangani in eastern DRC, the human rights situation
in the country, the illegal exploitation of natural resources, and the
resumption of commercial traffic on the Congo river, the UN said. The
parties would be reminded that "the success of the peace process rests
upon them, and that cooperation, dialogue and confidence among the parties
are necessary to advance this process".

With regard to Burundi, the mission would, among other things, provide
support for the peace process and the transitional government, urge the
rebel groups to cease hostilities immediately, and address human rights
issues, including those concerning refugees and child soldiers. "It will
also discuss with the transitional Government of Burundi the dire economic
situation the country is facing and the risks this situation brings to the
success of the peace process," the UN reported.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27421]

BURUNDI: More than 20 people killed in fighting

Two people were killed and four wounded during an attack by rebels on
Biniganyi camp in Nyanza Lac, southwestern Burundi, an official from the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Burundi told
IRIN on Tuesday. According to the official, 40 to 60 houses were burnt in
the attack, which took place on the night of 17-18 April. "From mid-April,
groups of rebels started by initially looting from the displaced people's
camp. On the night of 17-18 April they actually attacked the camp," he
said.

"There is no information whether the families attacked were targeted," the
official said. The camp is host to between 800 and 1,000 people. He said,
however, that returnees still continued to arrive in the camp.  An analyst
on Burundi affairs told IRIN on Tuesday that Nyanza Lac was one of the
areas where a lot of returnees were expected. "It seems like this attack
was carried out to destabilise the process of the refugee return," he
said. Unverified reports have been circulating that as many as 60 people
were killed in this attack.

Earlier, on 6 April, at least 21 civilians were killed during fighting
between government forces and rebels in the town of Gihanga, in the
northwestern province of Bubanza, the local human rights organisation
Iteka confirmed to IRIN on 19 April.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27370]

BURUNDI: Poverty and hostilities threaten transitional government

A combination of continuing insecurity and increasing poverty in Burundi
form "a deadly combination" which threatens not only the survival of the
transitional government but also that of the peace process as a whole,
says a regional analyst, Jan van Eck, in a report just issued.
The credibility of the whole transition process was being questioned by a
growing percentage of Burundians, he said, simply because the Burundian
peace process had not produced any (positive) dividends for the people of
the country.

Not only was there no inclusive ceasefire process between the Burundi
government and the two excluded rebel movements - Conseil national pour la
defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie and
Forces nationales de liberation - but "there is no prospect of a durable
cessation of hostilities or ceasefire being signed in the near future".
Secondly, said van Eck, the money received from donors had not resulted in
the people of Burundi experiencing any improvements in their daily lives.
"Poverty, disease and misery is growing on a daily basis."

Unless the key factors of poverty and an end to the war were addressed
immediately, it was very unlikely that the transitional government would
be able to continue implementing the Arusha accord, van Eck said. It was
even more unlikely that the second 18 months of the transition, when a
Hutu leader was to assume the presidency, would actually take place under
these circumstances, he warned.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27422]

RWANDA: Bizimungu handed over to prosecutor-general's office

Former Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu and former Public Works
Minister Charles Ntakirutinka were handed over to the prosecutor-general's
office by the police on Monday after the completion of investigations,
Rwanda's police spokesman, Tony Kuramba, has told IRIN. Kuramba said on
Thursday that police accused the two of breaching state security, sowing
seeds of division and spreading rumours that could cause fear in the
population. "Despite having been advised by the government not to
establish a political party until the end of the transitional period when
multiparty politics could be resumed, they have been involved in
clandestine mobilisation for their party," he said.

"We have been investigating such activities, and on 19 April, police
conducted a search at the residences of the two and recovered publications
containing anti-government propaganda, which would spread rumours that
would cause fear and discontent. The publications also called for
rebellion against the government, and predicted the return of genocide,"
Kuramba said. "We also found documents which link Bizimungu to a bank case
in which clients lost their money," he added. Bizimungu was arrested on
the 19 April and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Ntakirutinka, the secretary-general of Bizimungu's unregistered political
party, the Parti democratique pour le renouveau (PDR - Party for Democracy
and Renewal), was arrested on 20 April after documents and computer
equipment were seized from his home. However, efforts by IRIN to obtain
comment from the prosecutor-general's office proved unsuccessful. Under
current Rwandan law, political parties must be approved by the government,
and political campaigning is prohibited during the current period of
transition to a new national government.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27472]

RWANDA: ICTR Registrar defends withdrawal from commission

The Registrar of the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR), Adama Dieng, on Tuesday dissociated the Tribunal from the
assertions made in a statement issued by the president of the Association
of Defence Advocates (ADAD) before the ICTR, and said that his office was
an independent organ of ICTR. The Association's statement was on the
registrar's withdrawal of his proposal to the Rwandan authorities of a
joint commission to investigate allegations of mistreatment of prosecution
witnesses at the Tribunal, an ICTR statement said. Dieng said his decision
to withdraw the proposal was due to misunderstandings about the intended
mandate of the commission.

"The registrar wishes to underline that he exercises his functions in full
independence in accordance with the statute of the Tribunal and the rule
of procedure and evidence, and not on the basis of the partial interests
of the parties before the Tribunal or under pressure from any external
entity," the ICTR statement said. "The registrar did not, and does not,
interpret Rwanda's views as 'manipulative demands' as the ADAD statement
calls them," it said.

The ADAD statement had, among other things, praised Dieng for the decision
to withdraw, saying that the trial chambers together with the relevant
tribunal organs "are competent to deal with any issues regarding
prosecution and defence witnesses", the Arusha-based Internews agency
reported. "The attempt by Kigali to unilaterally expand the mandate of the
commission is a clear vindication of our position that the commission
should never have been established in the first place," the ADAD statement
had said.

"In this connection, on 2 April 2002, the registry suspended a defence
investigator, Mr Pierre-Claver Karangwa, pending the completion of such
investigations into his background," the statement said. "As has been the
position in other cases, should the investigations, when completed, reveal
no credible evidence, the registrar will lift the suspension," it added.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27448]

RWANDA-UGANDA: Ugandan deputy premier in Kigali to see Kagame

Uganda's third deputy premier, James Wapakhabulo, was in the Rwandan
capital, Kigali, to meet President Paul Kagame, an official in Rwanda
confirmed to IRIN on Thursday. He added, however, that he had no details
of Wapakhabulo's programme. The Ugandan government-owned New Vision
newspaper quoted Wapakhabulo as telling the Ugandan parliamentary
committee on presidential and foreign affairs on Wednesday that he would
travel to Kigali to deliver a special message from Ugandan President
Yoweri Museveni.

"I am going to Kigali to meet President Kagame as a follow-up on the
leadership in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the paper quoted him
as saying. He told the committee that relations with Rwanda were
improving. "The two presidents are talking, although we still have a few
hitches, but that is normal in life," he said.

Meanwhile, Uganda and Rwanda are to set up permanent military liaison
offices at border posts to share security information and monitor any
possible activity by each other's enemies, The New Vision quoted officials
as saying. It reported that a memorandum of understanding to set up the
liaison offices at Katuna and Mirama Hills border points had yet to be
signed by the respective foreign affairs ministers. "The memorandum is
already drafted, but it has not been signed, because the ministers are too
busy," the paper quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.

An official source in Kigali also confirmed to IRIN on Thursday that the
setting up of the liaison offices had been proposed by the Joint
Investigation and Verification Committee of the two countries, but was
still in draft form, pending approval by the ministers of defence of the
two countries.

KENYA: Court blocks forest excisions

Environmental activists in Kenya have welcomed a court order temporarily
blocking the Kenyan government's plans to excise some 70,000 hectares
(170,000 acres) of the country's remaining forests, pending the hearing of
a suit they have filed challenging the move. The local media reported on
Tuesday that the temporary order, issued by a Nairobi judge, Richard
Kuloba, also halted the carrying out of a survey, issuance of further land
titles or any other development on the disputed forest land, until the
dispute had been settled, the East African Standard reported on Tuesday.

Kuloba also ordered the contentious suit, filed jointly by three
organisations and two individuals, (namely the East African Wildlife
society [EAWS], Environmental Liaisons Centre [ELC] and the Kenya Alliance
of Residents Association [KARA]), James Aucha and Lumumba Odenda
respectively), served to the environment minister and top government
officers, according to the paper.

"We are quite pleased that the initial reaction by the court was a stay of
the transfer of land titles on the disputed forests," Barbara Gammill, the
ELC executive director, told IRIN on Wednesday. Gammill said the lawyers
of the group which had made the application were currently in the process
of drafting a legal notice to enable them to enlist additional signatures
of support from interested groups and individuals, on the application,
which will be used in the trial, in a month's time. "This would mean that
they are in support of the cause we are fighting for. We filed the case on
a representative basis, and the trial will give the government an
opportunity to defend itself," she added.

Ali Kaka, who heads the EAWS, told IRIN on Wednesday that this was the
third attempt by environmental groups to halt plans by the government to
excise forests, and the only one to succeed so far in getting a court
order. The previous attempts, brought to court respectively late last year
and early this year by the local environmentalist Green Belt Movement,
failed on the basis of technicalities, according to Kaka. "In this case,
the judge gave the order, which technically means nothing can be done by
the minister of environment or any other government official without being
held in contempt of court," Kaka said. "The order has brought the whole
process of excision to a halt. We want to publicise all the orders and
tell the public what they mean."
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27444]

TANZANIA: Funding boost for fight against malaria

As the continent marked its second Africa Malaria Day on Thursday, it was
confirmed that Tanzania was to receive a substantial amount of money to
fund its fight against the disease, which kills up to 100,000 people in
the country every year. The UK government's Department for International
Development (DFID), told IRIN on Wednesday that both DFID and the Royal
Netherlands Embassy had set aside a "considerable" amount of money jointly
to fund a continued Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) and social marketing
campaign in the country.

Paul Smithson, DFID's Health and Population Adviser, told IRIN the
anti-malaria campaign was an ambitious one. "It has been approved, and we
will be supporting a major ITN and social marketing campaign that we hope
will help us to achieve our aim of 80 percent ITN coverage all over the
country," he said. At the moment, there was 25 percent ITN coverage in
Tanzania, but this was hoped to expand to 60 percent by 2005, and to 80
percent by 2007, he added. "If we can achieve these aims, it would mean
that Tanzania has the highest coverage rates throughout Africa, and it
would make a huge dent in infant mortality," he continued.

According to Roll Back Malaria (RBM), a global partnership of governments,
development and aid agencies, and private sector organisations, the use of
ITNs can reduce episodes of malarial illness by up to 50 percent. RBM also
reports that malaria is endemic in most parts of Tanzania, with few
malaria-free areas, and that estimates from 1997 showed five million
children under five and some 6.7 million women from 15 to 49 years to be
at high risk of infection with the malaria parasite.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27468]

KENYA-TANZANIA-UGANDA: Rights groups urge tougher refugee protection laws

Although the East African region has had a decades-long experience of
hosting refugees, it remains desperately in need of "positive and
progressive" laws to adequately guarantee protection of their rights,
according to regional and international refugee rights organisations.
"Lack of security and a policy framework on which refugee issues can be
addressed has compounded refugee problems in East Africa," Abi Gitari, the
executive director of the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK), told IRIN on
Monday. "There is need to have laws or policies that can harmonise refugee
management at the regional level," she said.

The refugee protection policy issue was the theme of a conference held
last week in Mombasa, Kenya's port city, which brought together about 70
members of parliament (MPs) from Kenya, Uganda and the recently revived
East African Community (EAC) to discuss ways of developing laws and
policies for refugee management in the region. The four-day "Protecting
Refugee Rights in East Africa" conference, which opened on 17 April, was
told that although the three East African countries, Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania, were together hosting several hundred thousand refugees from
conflict-prone countries in the region, governments had dealt with refugee
issues on an "ad hoc" basis. The lack of comprehensive policies addressing
refugee problems has also meant that the protection of refugees largely
depends on the goodwill of their host governments, thereby rendering
refugees vulnerable to violations, according to Gitari.

The conference, jointly sponsored by RCK, the Lawyers Committee for Human
Rights (LCHR), and the Refugee Law Project of Uganda, with support from
the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), hoped to
provide the MPs with "a comprehensive understanding of refugee issues in
the region". "It was a very successful meeting, because we are getting the
attention we needed for refugee issues," Gitari told IRIN. This was the
first workshop bringing together MPs from the East African Legislative
Assembly and the Kenyan and Ugandan parliaments to discuss a single
legislative issue, and aimed at encouraging them to support the enactment
of "positive and progressive" laws for the protection of refugees in their
countries, according to LCHR.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27418]


[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by
commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2002


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International Disaster Information
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
                                          web: www.cidi.org
                                     listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Central/East Africa             www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/ceafrica