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 114
09 - 15 March 2002


CONTENTS:

DRC: Dialogue gains momentum, then government walks out
DRC: Congo river to reopen to commercial traffic
ROC: Sassou-Nguesso wins in peaceful landslide
RWANDA: Two genocide suspects transferred to UN tribunal
RWANDA: Measures to curb corruption at ICTR
BURUNDI-TANZANIA: Refugees in Tanzania signing up to go home
TANZANIA: Zanzibar the focus of US human rights worries
KENYA: Police target illegal gangs after Kariobangi
KENYA: State accused of "failing to protect women"
UGANDA: Plans afoot to pave the way for IDP returns

ALSO SEE:

KENYA: KANU/NDP merger set to transform national politics at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=25084

DRC: Dialogue gains momentum, then government walks out

The various factions present at the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) in Sun
City, South Africa, began tabling their proposals for rebuilding their
country on Tuesday. The delegates have split into five commissions, which
will sit for a month, during which they will report back to the
facilitators on a weekly basis, before the talks end in mid-April. A
commission charged with creating a new political system for the country
was proving the most popular, but potentially also the most troubled, AFP
quoted a delegate as saying. "For the moment we are dealing with
non-contentious issues, but when we get down to discussing what democratic
structures will be created and who will be part of them, things are going
to get very heated, AFP quoted an opposition member, Diomi Ndongola, as
saying. In a deferral of the dispute surrounding the future role of
President Joseph Kabila, it has been decided that the political commission
- comprising 80 members - will reach a consensus on the matter. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=25089]

However, later on Thursday, the DRC government delegation walked out of
the ICD, claiming that Rwanda and the Rwandan-backed rebel movement,
Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD), had violated the
cease-fire. Since Thursday afternoon, forces of the Rwandan army and RCD
had been attacking government positions at the port of Moliro on Lake
Tanganyika, said the national security minister, Mwenze Kongolo. "The
government has decided to suspend its participation in the inter-Congolese
dialogue," he said, "until Rwanda and the RCD order their troops to
withdraw from Moliro."

Meanwhile, the RCD spokesman, Kin Kiey Mulumba, said the government was
attacking RCD positions in several sectors in the DRC. Asked why the RCD
had not said so before, he said there were attacks on RCD positions every
day. He declined to comment on whether Rwanda and the RCD had launched the
latest offensive, but said the RCD had retaken Moliro in the past 10 days.
"In the cease-fire plans the town belongs to us," he said. "We don't think
this is the real reason for the government to leave the negotiations. Now
that Robert Mugabe has won elections in Zimbabwe, the government think
they are strong and can walk out of these talks."

The UN Mission in the DRC (known by its French acronym, MONUC) has been
unable to independently confirm or deny the accusations. Troop movement
had, however, been observed in Pepa, about 120 km northwest of Moliro,
where government forces were claiming to have been attacked by the RCD,
MONUC said. Meanwhile, the President of the UN Security Council, Ole Peter
Kolby, expressed "deep concern" about information received on the attacks
on Moliro, in a statement issued on Thursday. The Council demanded that
all fighting cease, he said, and called on all the parties to settle their
differences through negotiation. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=25875]

DRC: Congo river to reopen to commercial traffic

The recent meeting of UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Keeping
Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno with the leaders of the RCD and the
Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), has yielded a significant
breakthrough in the reopening of the River Congo to commercial traffic, a
statement from MONUC said on 8 March.

According to MONUC, Guehenno met the RCD leader, Adolphe Onusumba, and the
MLC leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, on the fringes of the ICD in Sun City. "The
two leaders reassured Mr Guehenno of their commitment to reopen the River
Congo as soon as possible," the statement said.

It said that whilst discussions with the MLC "are close to being
finalised", the RCD had asked for the practical details to be defined
before an agreement could be achieved. "MONUC is delighted with this
positive development, which will allow both humanitarian convoys and
commercial traffic onto the river. The river constitutes a vital artery to
the free movement of people and goods into the heart of the Democratic
Republic of Congo, and equally for the river's bordering states," the
statement added.

ROC: Sassou-Nguesso wins in peaceful landslide

Denis Sassou-Nguesso has been elected president of the Republic of Congo
(ROC) for the next seven years, having garnered over 89 percent of the
vote, Minister of the Interior Pierre Oba announced on Wednesday evening.
This was the first time Sassou-Nguesso has been elected to the presidency,
an office he first seized in 1979 and held until 1992, and then seized
again in 1997 and has held until the present day. "My dear countrymen,
through this important process, which took place in an exemplary climate
of serenity and tranquillity, you have affirmed your strong desire to live
in a united, free, democratic and peaceful Congo," Sassou-Nguesso said on
Wednesday. "You have chosen me, you have elected me by a significant
majority in this first round of voting, as you had promised me. But this
victory is above all yours - the Congolese people."

Former Prime Minister Andre Milongo, considered to be Sassou-Nguesso's
main challenger, withdrew from the race on Friday, 8 March, claiming
irregularities. He urged his supporters to boycott the elections, but
cautioned against resorting to violence. Meanwhile, former President
Pascal Lissouba, who defeated Sassou-Nguesso in the country's last
presidential election, held in 1992, and former Prime Minister Bernard
Kolelas, were barred from entering the race by the revised constitution,
which requires candidates to have resided continuously in the country for
at least two years before the election. Both are living abroad in exile,
having been tried and convicted in absentia for crimes allegedly committed
during civil war that plagued the nation throughout the 1990s. The six
remaining challengers posed little threat, according to regional analysts.

To the remaining challengers - none of whom captured more than three
percent of the vote - Sassou-Nguesso said: "I would like to take this
opportunity to cordially honour and sincerely congratulate the other
candidates, who, by their serious, honest and loyal participation [in this
election], have honoured our nation and our young democracy." The results,
complete but provisional, must now be certified by the Supreme Court.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=25433]

RWANDA: Two genocide suspects transferred to UN tribunal

Two suspects wanted in connection with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda have
been transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
in Arusha, Tanzania.

Aloys Simba, a lieutenant-colonel in the former Rwandan armed forces and
an MP during the genocide, and Paul Bisengimana, the former mayor of
Gikoro, Kigali Rural Prefecture, were transferred to the tribunal on 11
March, a statement from the ICTR said. Simba was arrested on 23 November
2001 in Mali, while Bisengimana was arrested in 4 December 2001 in
Senegal. Simba is charged with four counts of genocide and crimes against
humanity, including murder and extermination in the Gikongoro and Butare
prefectures. The ICTR office of the prosecutor alleges that Simba prepared
for the genocide at least a year in advance, Internews reported.

Bisengimana faces 12 counts of genocide and crimes against humanity,
including murder, rape, torture and other inhumane acts. The prosecution
claims that he worked with Laurent Semanza, the former mayor of Bicumbi
commune, to kill thousands of people in Bicumbi and Gikoro communes,
Internews reported. Semanza is currently on trial at the ICTR. The
prosecution also claims that Bisengimana trained and distributed weapons
to Interahamwe militiamen, who were responsible for much of the killing of
an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=25087]

RWANDA: Measures to curb corruption at ICTR

The registrars of the UN Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and former
Yugoslavia (ICTR and ICTY) have said they are determined to make every
effort possible to prevent abuses of the legal aid system for the two
tribunals. The joint statement issued by ICTR's Adama Dieng and the ICTY's
Hans Holthius came after the UN watchdog, the Office of Internal Oversight
Services (OIOS), issued a report on its follow-up investigation into
allegations that defence lawyers had either been solicited, or had agreed
to share legal fees and costs with their clients, in an arrangement called
fee-splitting. Legal fees for defendants are paid by both tribunals.

The OIOS stated that both tribunals had implemented most of the
recommendations contained in its previous report, and that both had also
taken additional proactive steps to prevent abuses of the legal-aid
system. "Fee-splitting is not an easy practice to eradicate, because its
possibility involves confidential discussions and arrangements between a
defence counsel and his client," said the two registrars, who were in New
York to discuss the courts' budgets and their strategy to complete the
tribunals' work.

Steps taken at the ICTR had included dismissing a defence lawyer for
over-billing the court, and dismissing another member of staff for
accepting kickbacks from defence lawyers in exchange for processing
payments quickly, the OIOS reported. Furthermore, limits had been placed
on the number and value of gifts received by detainees at the UN Detention
Facility, enhanced screening facilities had been introduced of current and
potential defence lawyers, and the Registrar had proposed an amendment to
the Code of Professional Conduct which would include a prohibition on
fee-splitting arrangements.

In May 2001, authorities in Tanzania arrested a former defence
investigator at the ICTR who had been using a false name and passport, the
OIOS reported. Since then, the Office of the Prosecutor had indicted him
for genocide, and he was currently at the UN Detention Centre. Following
this incident, the Registry has screened investigators' files and decided
to suspend or not renew the contracts of others. Since the implementation
of the new screening system, some investigators had chosen to resign, the
OIOS stated. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=24683]

BURUNDI: Rebel group ready to enter dialogue

The rebel group Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu-Forces nationales
de libération (PALIPEHUTU-FNL) has expressed readiness to participate in a
dialogue under the auspices of the mediators in the search for a lasting
solution to the conflict in Burundi, according to a statement from the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The PALIPEHUTU-FNL delegation to the
OAU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, comprising
Vice-President Jean-Bosco Sindayigaya, and senior officials Alain
Mugabarabona and Freddy Minani, presented the group's position on the
Burundian conflict and the peace process, the statement said. The
delegates, who were in Addis Ababa on 7 and 8 March at the invitation of
OAU Secretary-General Amara Essy, had submitted "some proposals" to the
organisation, it added.

During their stay, the delegates held in-depth discussions with
representatives of the OAU secretariat-general led by the assistant
secretary-general in charge of political affairs, followed by a working
session in the presence of Gabon's ambassador and representative at the
OAU, as well as a representative of the embassy of South Africa in Addis
Ababa. The delegation was also received by Essy.

Essy stressed the importance and urgency of dialogue and the need for a
peaceful settlement of the conflict, the OAU statement said. Essy and
other OAU officials urged the PALIPEHUTU-FNL to join the peace process and
the dialogue being conducted under the auspices of President Omar Bongo of
Gabon and South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

BURUNDI-TANZANIA: Refugees in Tanzania signing up to go home

Numbers of Burundi refugees who have signed up with the office of the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to go home from camps in Tanzania
have risen significantly, a UNHCR spokeswoman told IRIN on Monday. Between
the second week of February, when a new registration process was
established, and 7 March, 16,000 people had signed up, Ivana Unluova told
IRIN. By comparison, during the whole of 2001, only 2,700 refugees had
been assisted to return, she added. "It is, however, important to
differentiate between those who said that they are willing to return, and
those who will actually go," Unluova cautioned.

UNHCR attributes the upsurge in interest to a number of factors, including
the three recent missions to Tanzania by representatives of the Burundi
government to encourage the refugees to return, the "increased
cross-border information exchange", the mounting pressure from the
Tanzanian government on the refugees to return, and the "general
atmosphere and media reports" in Tanzania making the refugees feel
unwelcome.

Apart from numbers wishing to go home, there had also been a marked drop
in the numbers of Burundi arrivals at camps in western Tanzania, the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its
latest report - "Affected Populations in the Great Lakes Region" -
released last week. During the first half of 2001, monthly arrivals from
Burundi in Tanzania had averaged 2,000, OCHA reported. Despite continuing,
and in some cases intensified, fighting within Burundi since October 2001,
the numbers had dropped to 400 per month. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=24527]

TANZANIA: Zanzibar the focus of US human rights worries

The United States government has expressed disappointment at what it
regards as a general deterioration of human rights in Tanzania last year,
despite notable government efforts to engage in dialogue with the
opposition. While there had been improvements in a few areas, Tanzanians
continued to face serious human rights abuses, according to the Tanzania
country report for 2001 on human rights practices, released last week by
the Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
Washington's concern about human rights in Tanzania applied particularly
to the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, where citizens' rights
were "circumscribed severely by abuses of and limitations of" civil and
political liberties, the report stated. In violent incidents in the
Zanzibari islands of Pemba and Unguja on 26 and 27 January 2001, between
24 and 70 people were killed, and more than 2,000 fled to neighbouring
Kenya as refugees, when the police forcibly dispersed a demonstration by
supporters of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), it said

The Tanzanian government in January 2002 appointed an eight-member
commission of inquiry to investigate the January 2001 clashes in Zanzibar.
The commission, to be chaired by retired Brigadier Hashim Mbita, is due to
probe the "causes and effects" of the violence, and present its findings
by 31 July 2002.

In western Tanzania, there remained significant resentment and hostility
directed against the refugee population, mostly from Burundi and Rwanda,
whom officials have often accused of committing murders and robberies
against local communities. "There was continuing concern over violence
allegedly perpetrated by some Burundian and Rwandan refugees, although
such violence has diminished since 1999," the US report noted. Moreover,
prison conditions throughout Tanzania remained "harsh and
life-threatening" last year, while the often "inefficient" judicial system
frequently failed to provide expeditious and fair trials, it said.
However, the US also noted that police harassment of members and
supporters of political opposition had sharply declined towards the end of
the year, following the signing of a reconciliation accord between the
ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the opposition CUF in October. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=24460]

KENYA: Police target illegal gangs after Kariobangi

The Kenyan authorities recently banned a number of sects and vigilante
organisations which, the police said, posed a threat to security in the
country. However, this action needs to be backed up by additional measures
if the banned groups are to be prevented from continuing to operate,
according to the Legal Resource Foundation (LRF), a local human rights
organisation operating under the umbrella of the Kenya Human Rights
Commission. If not followed up by concrete steps to eliminate their
activities, the recent ban, which was only a temporary measure, could
serve to drive the groups underground, thereby rendering them even more
dangerous than before, the LRF programme coordinator, Isabel Wafubwa, told
IRIN on Wednesday.

On 8 March, the Kenyan police announced that 18 sects, groups and private
armies - some of them linked to prominent politicians, had been outlawed,
following a call by President Daniel arap Moi on the force to crack down
on illegal organisations that "took the law into their own hands", and to
ensure that no group operated above the law. Notable among the groups
banned were the Mungiki sect and the Taliban vigilantes, who were at the
centre of a rampage in the Nairobi suburb of Kariobangi North on 3 March,
in which 21 people were hacked to death. Thirty-one others were reportedly
injured when a gang of about 300 youths rampaged through the estate,
wielding machetes and axes, allegedly because of a dispute between the
Mungiki and Taliban.

The attacks took place just days after the Mungiki leadership announced
that it would support the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) party
and a number of its candidates, including Vice-President George Saitoti
and Cabinet Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, for top posts during the general
elections due later this year, the East African Standard reported. In a
Tuesday editorial, the paper challenged the police commissioner to reveal
the "political" sponsors of the Mungiki sect. The police have denied any
political connection to the attacks, blaming them on the "lawlessness" of
Mungiki members, saying those responsible would be dealt with as
criminals. "We are looking at it as criminal acts committed by criminals,
and we are going to deal with them at that level," the police spokesman,
Peter Masemo Kimanthi, told IRIN. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=25396]

KENYA: State accused of "failing to protect women"

The Kenyan government has failed in its duty of protecting one half of the
country's population by largely ignoring the plight of women victims of
sexual violence and failing to put in place legislative and constitutional
measures to promote women's human rights, according to Amnesty
International. The strong indictment of Kenya's police and other state
security institutions was contained in a new report released by the
organisation at a press conference in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 8
March - International Women's Day.

Rape was a widespread crime committed against women in all social and
ethnic groups in Kenya, but largely suffered in silence, because "women
know that reporting rape will not lead to a proper investigation and
hardly ever to a prosecution", according to Amnesty. The report, entitled
"Rape - The Invisible Crime", outlines the nature and extent of sexual
violence against women in Kenya, focusing in particular on rape committed
by both state security officials (including the police) and private
individuals. It examines why women subjected to such abuses are
inadequately provided for by the law, while the perpetrators can continue
to commit their offences with impunity.

According to Kenyan police statistics, 1,675 rapes were reported in 2000,
but local women's groups believe the real figure to be far higher, because
many victims fail to report their cases for fear of being embarrassed,
ridiculed, verbally abused or made to feel that they are wasting police
time, Amnesty stated. "Rape is torture when the state has failed in its
responsibilities to protect, investigate and provide redress to women
victims. Acts of violence constitute torture for which the state is
accountable when they are of the nature and severity envisaged by the
concept of torture in international standards, and the state has failed to
fulfil its obligation to provide effective protection," said Marie Evelyne
Petrus, Amnesty's regional director for Africa, in launching the report.
Addressing journalists at the launch of the report, Petrus said most
victims faced "insurmountable obstacles" in trying to bring perpetrators
to justice, because most victims of rape or other forms of sexual abuse
were too intimidated by cultural attitudes and state inaction to seek
redress. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=24528]

UGANDA: Plans afoot to pave the way for IDP returns

The government of Uganda's declared intention to see internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in Uganda go home from this month is welcome, but there are
still substantial issues to be addressed in relation to their return,
integration, resettlement and recovery, according to OCHA in the Ugandan
capital, Kampala. These issues were now being addressed in a draft
national policy on IDPs being prepared by the Department of Disaster
Preparedness in the Office of the Prime Minister, with the assistance of
the UN and other partners, OCHA said in its latest humanitarian update.
"It is imperative that any return or resettlement of IDPs should conform
to the provisions of the constitution and laws of Uganda, and basic [UN]
guiding principles on internal displacement," OCHA stated in its report
for the month of February.

Last year and the early months of 2002 saw growing hope for peace in
Uganda's long-suffering insecure regions, and the eventual eradication of
rebel insurgencies in the north, though recent attacks by the rebel Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) from bases in southern Sudan have tempered optimism
about the general security climate and, therefore, the attractiveness to
IDPs of moving home. Improving security in the north and increasing
isolation of the LRA - the Sudanese government discontinuing its support
for the rebel movement as a result of improved relations with Kampala -
had facilitated the spontaneous return of several thousand IDPs to their
home areas until February, humanitarian sources told IRIN.

However, the IDPs were now expected to wait and see what the long-term
effects of the rebels' recent incursions would be before continuing their
return, they added. Of over 500,000 people displaced from their homes by
violent conflicts in northern and southwestern Uganda in the past 16
years, and still residing in and around protected villages/IDP camps in
northern Uganda (either full-time or part-time), it was estimated that
about 365,000 (some 72 percent) would return home under any security
conditions, OCHA stated in its 28 February report. Of that number, only
about 200,000 (or 40 percent) would be expected to return in the first
year of any resettlement exercise, it added. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=24681]


[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