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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 111
15 - 22 February 2002


CONTENTS:

CENTRAL & EASTERN AFRICA: No link between malaria and global warming
DRC: Annan recommends increasing number of UN troops
DRC: MONUC slams threats to its eastward deployment
DRC: Council urges "constructive spirit" in peace talks
RWANDA: US senator expresses "strong" support for ICTR
CONGO-DRC-RWANDA: Sassou-Nguesso to hand over three genocide suspects
ROC: European Union to send election observers
CAR: Trial for 28 May 2001 coup attempt begins
CAR: UN encourages dialogue for national reconciliation
BURUNDI: Belligerents in Pretoria for cease-fire talks
KENYA: Ration reductions pose threat of malnutrition to refugees
UGANDA: Rights groups concerned by parliamentary bills

CENTRAL & EASTERN AFRICA: No link between malaria and global warming

The increase in the prevalence of malaria in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and
Burundi is not linked to global warming, says the scientific journal,
Nature. In an article published on Thursday, Simon Hay of the University
of Oxford said drug resistance or the failure of health-care systems to
keep pace with population growth were more likely culprits for malaria's
rise in eastern Africa. These should be the focus of public-health
efforts, he urged. "Drawing simplistic links between global warming and
local disease patterns could lead to mistaken policy decisions," Hay's
team of researchers was quoted as saying. "There's been some terrible
bandwagon-jumping and misdirection of resources that could be spent
learning how to control mosquito-borne disease," Nature quoted Paul
Reiter, an expert in insect-borne diseases at the Harvard School of Public
Health, as saying. "We urgently need to cool down the rhetoric and start
to look objectively at what the factors behind their recent resurgence
are."

Malaria kills between one and two million Africans per year. In the
regions on which the study focused, its incidence has risen sharply over
the past two decades, in some cases more than fivefold, according to
Nature. Through computer simulations of the weather patterns of four
upland regions, respectively in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, between
1911 and 1995, Hay's team established that there had been no significant
climatic changes. Upland regions were chosen as they are more sensitive to
climatic changes. "The climate hasn't changed, therefore it can't be
responsible for changes in malaria," said Hay. [For text of article "Link
between climate and malaria broken" see: www.nature.com]

DRC: Annan recommends increasing number of UN troops

Noting the difficulties in the eastward deployment of the United Nations
Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), (known by its
French acronym, MONUC), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday
recommended that the UN Security Council consider increasing the overall
number of UN troops and police in the country. In his latest report to the
Council on MONUC's activities, Annan said recent assessments showed that,
given its current troop strength, it was "obvious" that MONUC would be
unable to undertake the military tasks associated with demilitarising
Kisangani, and its further deployment to the eastern part of the country,
a statement from UN News Centre said.

"It would be unrealistic to request the mission to do so, particularly in
the security environment existing today in the DRC before recommending
that MONUC's authorised military strength be increased by 850 troops, as
well as an additional 85 civilian police advisers," he said. With regard
to the support from the country's various political actors, Annan pointed
out that, regrettably, the cooperation MONUC had received so far had not
always been satisfactory. He called on them to renew their commitment to
carry out the Lusaka peace accords and to display the necessary
"seriousness of purpose and resolve". "They should avail themselves of the
unique opportunity created by the presence of MONUC to reach a viable
solution to the conflict," he stressed. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21885]

DRC: MONUC slams threats to its eastward deployment

MONUC on Wednesday warned that threats to its eastward deployment would
not deter it from fulfilling its mandate. "The impending deployment of
MONUC to Kindu [in eastern-central DRC] has raised some alarm among the
ranks of those who seem to be opposed to the success of the operation for
ulterior motives," a communiqué from MONUC stated. It recalled that a
MONUC aircraft was shot at on 12 February as it was landing at Kindu
airport, and reported that "information in our possession indicates
threats of attacks against UN troops upon deployment in Kindu".

"We take these threats for what they are: an attempt to block the peace
process," the statement continued. "They will not deter us from proceeding
with Phase Three... which includes the disarmament, demobilisation,
repatriation, resettlement and reintegration of armed groups, as well as
the withdrawal of all foreign forces" from the DRC. "All the parties must
assume their responsibilities by avoiding confusing those who come to help
restore peace with those who dread such an event," it added. "Be it
stressed once more that every force or movement must guarantee security in
the territory under their control." For its part, "MONUC will proceed with
its mission in conformity with its mandate, unimpressed by the enemies of
peace," the statement concluded. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21890]

DRC: Council urges "constructive spirit" in peace talks

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday voiced its backing for an
upcoming meeting of parties to the conflict in the DRC, urging all
concerned to participate constructively in the talks, a statement from the
UN News Centre said. It quoted the current Council President, Ambassador
Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, as telling journalists after closed-door
consultations that the members planned to adopt a formal presidential
statement on the DRC in the near future. "However, in view of the imminent
opening of the meetings which are scheduled to start next Monday in Sun
City, South Africa, members of the Council wish to take a stand today
[Tuesday] on the inter-Congolese dialogue," Zinser said. He said that
Council members expressed their "full support" to the facilitator,
Ketumile Masire, and his team. "They launch a solemn appeal to all parties
to participate in the Sun City meeting in a constructive spirit," he said.

However, news organisations on Tuesday quoted the leader of the rebel
Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), Jean-Pierre Bemba, as telling
journalists in Paris that his group would not send representatives to the
Sun City meeting because of a disagreement over the representation of the
unarmed opposition. "We shall not go to Sun City. Not on a whim, but
because we find that there is lack of openness in the process organised by
the facilitators on the make-up of the non-armed opposition parties which
will be represented," AFP reported him as saying. "We are unfortunately on
the eve of a meeting that has already failed," Bemba said, adding that
among the 20 opposition parties which had been accepted "several are bogus
opposition groups and allies of President Joseph Kabila". [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21883]

Subsequently, on Wednesday, the British and French ambassadors to the DRC
issued a joint communique urging all parties to attend the inter-Congolese
dialogue. "France and the United Kingdom are extremely concerned by the
declarations of the RCD-Goma [the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais
pour la democratie armed opposition movement], of the MLC [the
Ugandan-backed Mouvement de liberation du Congo armed opposition
movement], and of certain unarmed opposition parties, who have threatened
not to take part in the dialogue on February 25 at Sun City," said the
statement. "This could jeopardise the national dialogue and runs contrary
to the parties' commitment to install a new political system in the DRC as
well as a lasting peace." [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21886]

RWANDA: US senator expresses "strong" support for ICTR

US Senator Russ Feingold expressed his "strong and continuing support" for
the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) during a
visit to its seat in Arusha, Tanzania, on Tuesday. "I have a more than
theoretical interest in the work of this Tribunal and appreciate the
impact of its profound judicial precedents in establishing a culture of
accountability in Africa and the world as a whole," said the senator for
Wisconsin and chairman of the Africa Sub-Committee of the US Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.

Tribunal officials met by Feingold and the US ambassador to Tanzania,
Robert Royall, emphasised the need for approval of a request made to the
UN Security Council for additional judicial manpower for the Tribunal, the
ICTR said in a press release. Eighteen additional judges have been
requested in order to speed up the trials of the accused persons detained,
following complaints about the duration of time proceedings were taking,
as well as the expense involved.

The senator's sign of approval follows a statement made last week by the
US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, saying the
US was keen to see the work of both the ICTR and the ICTY coming to a
successful conclusion by 2007 or 2008. Internews quoted Prosper as saying
that the process of creating "an end-game strategy" was not easy,
especially when one considered "the legitimate question of what you do
with the balance of the cases after the courts fold up". "We will continue
to encourage both tribunals to work as hard as they can, and as quickly as
they can, without compromising justice, in order to move forward towards
the closure we want to see," Internews quoted him as saying. [Full report
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22087]

CONGO-DRC-RWANDA: Sassou-Nguesso to hand over three genocide suspects

Following a visit made earlier this week to the ROC by the registrar of
the ICTR, Adama Dieng, Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso has
promised to turn over three Rwandans suspected of involvement in the 1994
genocide that devastated that country. "President Sassou-Nguesso promised
to do everything so that the three Rwandan suspects... would be turned
over to the court as soon as possible," Dieng was quoted as telling AFP on
Thursday. He noted, however, that no date had yet been specified.

Thousands of Rwandan refugees fled camps in eastern DRC to the ROC in
1996-97 following a rebel offensive led by Laurent-Desire Kabila to topple
the then president, Mobutu Sese Seko. Among their numbers were former
soldiers (ex-FAR) of the overthrown Rwandan government and the Interahamwe
Hutu militias, believed to be largely responsible for carrying out the
1994 slaughter of an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and politically
moderate Hutus.

Dieng also visited neighbouring DRC to seek the cooperation of its
government in handing over to the court persons indicted or suspected of
crimes of genocide and other violations of international humanitarian law
in Rwanda in 1994. He met DRC President Joseph Kabila, who expressed
support for the work of the ICTR and assured Dieng of the cooperation of
the DRC government. Dieng, in turn, told Kabila of the need to arrest and
hand over to the ICTR suspects believed to be living in the DRC. Several
high-ranking individuals suspected of involvement in the Rwanda genocide
fled to the DRC in its aftermath, a factor which has contributed to the
conflict in the DRC in recent years. The Lusaka peace agreement of 1999 on
the conflict in the DRC called for the handing over to the ICTR of
combatants in that conflict who had participated in the 1994 genocide in
Rwanda. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21645]

ROC: European Union to send election observers

The European Union announced on Tuesday that it would send a team of 44
election observers to the Republic of Congo (ROC), due to hold
presidential elections next month. "The purpose is to increase the
transparency of and confidence in the election process through the
presence and reporting of international observers. The Commission also
hopes that an EU Election Observation Mission can help defuse tension
before, during and after election day, and deter possible election-related
malpractice and violence," the EU said in a statement. "Elections are
widely perceived as a source of conflict," the statement added.

The EU Election Observation Mission is composed of a core team of six,
based in the capital, Brazzaville, with a combination of electoral, legal,
media and statistical expertise. In addition, 18 long-term observers would
be deployed throughout the country later this week to observe the election
campaign, administrative procedures, as well as the post-electoral period
at local level, the EU said. A further 20 short-term observers will be
deployed to follow the last days of the campaign, as well as polling and
counting.

Meanwhile, the electoral commission in the ROC pledged on the same day
that the elections would be held in complete transparency, and called for
a peaceful election campaign, AFP reported. "The commission offers
candidates and electors its pledges to guarantee transparency and
regularity in the election by implementing clearly the laws of the
republic," AFP quoted the body's chairman, Charles Emile Apesse, as
saying. Presidential, legislative and municipal elections are scheduled
for March 10, May 12 and June 9 respectively. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21869]

CAR: Trial for 28 May 2001 coup attempt begins

The case against those accused of involvement in the failed coup attempt
of 28 May 2001 in the Central African Republic (CAR) began on Friday, 15
February, in the capital, Bangui, before the criminal session of the Court
of Appeals, news agencies reported. The trial was then adjourned until
Wednesday following a request from some 20 defense attorneys, who
originally sought a two-week postponement, arguing that they had not been
given sufficient time to prepare their cases.

Of the more than 680 accused in this trial, only about 80 are present in
Bangui, including former minister of defence Jean-Jacques Demafouth. More
than 600 people will be judged in absentia, notably former president Andre
Kolingba, considered by Bangui authorities as the mastermind of the
putsch.

The attempted coup in May, and the resulting ten days of violence in
Bangui, led to some 59 deaths, comprising 25 soldiers and 34 civilians,
and 89 injured, according to government estimates. However, civil society
sources said that the number of victims was far higher, especially among
Yakomas, the ethnic group of Kolingba. An estimated 80,000 people were
displaced as a direct result of the violence, their homes having been
destroyed or pillaged. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21336]

CAR: UN encourages dialogue for national reconciliation

The UN sponsored a two-day seminar at the start of the week to promote
dialogue among all political parties in the CAR, a nation devastated by
years of political instability and civil unrest. Some 160
parliamentarians, as well as media representatives, participated in the
Monday to Tuesday conference, which focused on the themes of access of
political parties to state media outlets; proper constitutional accession
to power; the organisation of peaceful public protests; transparency of
government; and national reconciliation.

"The absence of national dialogue is one of the major causes of the
troubles that have plagued the country for many years," read a statement
from the UN Peace-building Support Office in the CAR (known by its French
acronym, BONUCA). Noting that a multitude of similar initiatives had taken
place since the Bangui Accords and National Conference in February-March
1998, BONUCA lamented that "all of these significant events should have
favoured a durable return to peace, if the agreements made had been
respected. But this was not the case, and resulted in an erosion in the
level of trust among the various parties in recent years."

Among other dignitaries, the conference - held at the National Assembly in
the capital, Bangui - was attended by CAR Prime Minister Martin Ziguele,
Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Lamine Cisse, and OAU
Ambassador Ki Doulaye Corentin, head of the OAU's department of conflict
resolution. A joint statement released by the political parties at the
conclusion of the conference on Tuesday stated that "from consultations
that took place in a peaceful atmosphere and in a spirit of openness and
mutual respect, it became apparent [to us] that [we] need to commit
ourselves to future dialogue that is frank and sincere, capable of
establishing the foundations for political renewal and sustainable
development for the country."

BURUNDI: Belligerents in Pretoria for cease-fire talks

Representatives from Burundi's government and those of the rebel Conseil
national pour la défense de la democratie-Forces pour la défense de la
democratie (CNDD-FDD) were on Monday in the South African capital,
Pretoria, to start discussions aimed at bringing a cease-fire to Burundi's
civil war that has been raging for eight years. The leader of the
CNDD-FDD, Pierre Nkurunziza, confirmed to IRIN on Monday that at least
five members of his group were attending the meeting in Pretoria. "I think
that the meeting is a good start," he said, adding that his future
attendance of such meetings would depend on the outcome of this one.

However, the rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) did not send
representatives to the Pretoria meeting, saying the invitation came in
late. "The invitation reached here on Friday [15 February]. Three days
would not be enough for us to prepare and leave for the meeting. We are
wanted people, so it takes us a bit of time to move from one point to
another," an FNL spokesman, Anicet Ntawuhiganayo, told IRIN. Besides,
according to Ntawuhiganayo, the invitation did not include an agenda for
the Pretoria meeting, nor the names of other participants. "This
discouraged us from going". [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21347]

Meanwhile, news organisations later reported that three Burundian
political parties had recently written to the mediator of the country's
peace talks, Nelson Mandela, asking to be included in the cease-fire
negotiations. The leaders of the CNDD, the Front pour la liberation
nationale (FROLINA), and the Parti pour la liberation du peuple hutu
(PALIPEHUTU) made their request to Mandela in a letter dated 16 February,
the Arusha-based Internews reported. "We, the parties that signed the 21
June 1998 declaration for the suspension of hostilities, known as CNDD,
FROLINA and PALIPEHUTU, have the honour to remind you of our desire to
participate in all the ceasefire negotiations and the establishment of a
new defence and security force," it reported. However, Jan Van Eck, an
analyst on Burundi affairs, was of the opinion that the parties' request
would be hard to implement since they signed the Arusha agreement are
actually now part of the transitional government in Burundi that was set
up on 1 November 2001. "They never discussed the integration into the
army. They should have objected in Arusha," he told IRIN on Thursday.

KENYA: Ration reductions pose threat of malnutrition to refugees

WFP warned on Wednesday that almost 220,000 refugees in Kakuma and Dadaab
refugee camps in Kenya face malnutrition and a wider humanitarian crisis
"unless urgent contributions are received to bolster the programme that
feeds them". The agency urged donors to come through urgently with
donations to cover 11,000 mt of food "needed to prevent any further
deterioration of the nutritional situation of the refugee population" in
Kakuma, northwestern Kenya, and Dadaab, northeastern Kenya. The shortage
of funding for refugees in Kenya was a constant throughout last year, and
had forced WFP to repeatedly reduce rations, which had been cut by more
than 30 percent from (the recommended) 2,166 kilo-calories to 1,400 kcal,
the agency stated on Wednesday.

"We simply can't give what we don't have," said WFP representative in
Kenya, Tesema Negash, on Wednesday, as the agency warned that, without
additional donations, further reductions were to be expected, "endangering
the lives of the most vulnerable refugees".

There were some 215,000 refugees in Kenya at the start of January, with
some 132,000 in Dadaab (over 129,000 of those Somalis) and a little over
83,000 in Kakuma, where Sudanese (67,000-plus) are in the majority, but
where there are also over 12,000 Somalis and over 2,000 Ethiopians,
according to UNHCR. In addition to the Somalis, Sudanese and Ethiopians,
there are much smaller numbers of Ugandan, Congolese, Rwandan, Burundian,
Eritrean and Tanzanian refugees in Kakuma and Dadaab, a spokesman added.
Most of the refugees based in these two camps are wholly dependent on food
aid, according to WFP. The two camps are located in marginalised and arid
areas, where other sources of food are almost nonexistent, it said on
Wednesday. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22275]

UGANDA: Human Rights Watch concerned by parliamentary bills

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday warned that recognition of rights in
Uganda was being put at risk by three bills currently under consideration
by the Ugandan parliament. The Defence and Internal Affairs Committee of
the Ugandan parliament had been debating over the last few weeks the
Nongovernmental Organisations Registration (Amendment) Bill, the
Suppression of Terrorism Bill and the Political Organisations Bill, HRW
said.

"The Political Organisations Bill seeks to solidify the de facto one-party
system that exists in Uganda. It limits political party activities and
violates the rights to freedom of assembly and association," Alison Des
Forges, senior adviser at the Africa division of HRW, said in a statement.
The proposed legislation to regulate NGOs would give the government
wide-ranging powers to interfere with NGO work and suspend associations.
"We hope that parliament will reject the Nongovernmental Organisations
Registration (Amendment) Bill, which could easily be used to obstruct the
work of legitimate civil society groups," Des Forges said.

According to HRW, an "overly broad definition" of terrorism in the
Suppression of Terrorism Bill means there is a risk that innocent people
or petty criminals could be "branded" as terrorists. Under the bill, the
unlawful possession of firearms was defined as terrorism, and publishing
news that was "likely to promote terrorism" could lead to up to 10 years'
imprisonment, HRW said. The bill proposes a mandatory death sentence for
those found guilty of terrorism as defined under the proposed legislation.
"The parliament is at a historic moment. It can either decide to restrict
civil liberties and human rights by passing stringent laws, or it can
establish a firm grounding for the respect of human rights," Des Forges
said. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22034]


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