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Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 163
22 - 28 February 2003


CONTENTS:

CAR-CHAD: Chadian officials grant UNHCR site for refugees
CAR: MSF launches operations in rebel-held north
ROC: Ebola toll reaches 95 cases, 77 deaths in Cuvette-Ouest 
DRC: Seismic activity rising steeply on Mt Nyamuragira
DRC: Thousands flee fighting near Bunia, many feared dead
DRC: Annan pushes peace agenda with regional leaders
DRC: Dialogue technical committee meetings open in Pretoria
DRC: Report criticises political, military and humanitarian response
DRC: UN mission says "urgent need" to assist 2.7 million IDPs
DRC: MONUC helicopter fired on over Ituri, flights suspended
DRC: MSF reinforces teams to fight cholera in Katanga
BURUNDI: Suspension of talks threatens peace process
BURUNDI: Amnesty International decries lack of justice in Itaba case
BURUNDI: ICG urges donors to deliver aid now
RWANDA: ICTR urged to address relations with genocide survivors
UGANDA: Military protocol with Sudan extended
TANZANIA: Germany grants aid worth E80 million

ALSO SEE:

BURUNDI: Focus on child war victims in Ruyigi at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32492

KENYA: Feature - Prison reforms spark hope for human rights at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32519


CAR-CHAD: Chadian officials grant UNHCR site for refugees

Officials in the southern Chadian town of Gore have granted the Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) a site on which to
accommodate 10,000 people fleeing fighting in the neighbouring Central
African Republic (CAR), according to Emile Segbor, the UNHCR's
representative in the CAR.

He told IRIN that the UNHCR would move fast to establish the facility,
probably early in March. The asylum seekers, mostly women and children,
walked to the border - some for 200 km - and are using the Kaba-Roangar
(south of Gore) and Sido (south of Sarh) border entry points to Chad. They
comprise both CAR nationals and Chadians, many of whom have lived in CAR
for decades. On average, Segbor said, 1,000 CAR refugees and Chadian
asylum seekers were crossing into Chad daily, up from 500 a day a week
ago. The increasing influx brings to 21,000 the estimated number of people
fleeing to Chadian border towns and villages.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32486]

CAR: MSF launches operations in rebel-held north

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has announced that it has succeeded in
launching operations in the northern parts of the CAR controlled by rebels
loyal to the former army chief of staff, Francois Bozize.

"After several assessment missions in January, MSF is the only
international organisation to work with the isolated population in this
part of the country," the MSF office in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi,
reported on Tuesday.

MSF has embarked on a project in an area within the triangle defined by
the towns of Kabo, Bossangoa and Dekoa, which have a combined population
of about 300,000. "The objective of the intervention is to provide health
care to the population in the region affected by the conflict and respond
to potential epidemic outbreaks," MSF stated.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32495]

ROC: Ebola toll reaches 95 cases, 77 deaths in Cuvette-Ouest

As at Wednesday, 95 cases of the deadly Ebola virus have been confirmed in
the Cuvette-Ouest Region of the Republic of Congo (ROC), resulting thus
far in 77 deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported.

WHO further reported that it had identified 149 other individuals who had
been in contact with people suffering from the highly contagious
haemorrhagic fever, which has been concentrated in the remote forest
districts of Etoumbi, Mbomo and Kelle, near the border with Gabon. The ROC
Red Cross, which has 62 volunteers trained in techniques to combat Ebola,
has been involved in assessing the situation on the ground together with
the health ministry, the WHO and other agencies. Meanwhile, the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on
Wednesday launched an appeal for US $130,000 to help the ROC Red Cross to
monitor some 50,000 people for three months in remote parts of the
country.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32522;
also see: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32558]

DRC: Seismic activity rising steeply on Mt Nyamuragira

Scientists at the Goma Volcano Observatory in eastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo said on Thursday that seismic activity was increasing "very
fast" on Mt Nyamuragira, which erupt in a "matter of weeks, or even days".
The observatory said its scientists were trying to forecast the eruption
"and prevent possible panic".

[Full story on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32575]

DRC: Thousands flee fighting near Bunia, many feared dead

At least 2,000 people have fled fighting that has erupted in the region
between Bunia, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the
border of neighbouring Uganda, Thomas Lubanga, the leader of the Union des
patriotes congolais rebel group controlling the city, told IRIN on Friday.
He said reports indicated that about 760 people - primarily civilians -
had died. However, these figures have not been independently confirmed.
[Full story on http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32590]

DRC: Annan pushes peace agenda with regional leaders

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in Paris to attend the Africa-France
summit, met on 21 February Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Paul
Kagame of Rwanda and Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) to discuss ways of advancing the peace process in the DRC, UN News
reported.

It said the leaders had agreed that the proliferation of armed groups in
the eastern part of the DRC was destabilising the situation and
undermining the peace process, with Annan suggesting that the mandate of
the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) might have to be strengthened.

The leaders also agreed that stability could best be achieved in the DRC
with the establishment of a broad-based government to be formed through
the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) capable of extending its control over
all parts of the country.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32463]

DRC: Dialogue technical committee meetings open in Pretoria

Technical committees charged with resolving pending matters of the ICD
convened on Monday in Pretoria, South Africa.

Representatives from the Kinshasa government, armed opposition movements,
opposition political parties, civil society, and Mayi-Mayi militias are
holding talks on a constitution, an integrated military, and security
measures for political leaders of a future transitional national
government in the DRC.

These outstanding matters, which have remained unresolved since the
signing of a peace accord by all parties to the ICD in Pretoria on 17
December 2002, are being addressed by two committees: the constitutional
committee and the defence and security committee. At the opening ceremony,
the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for the DRC peace process,
Moustapha Niasse, announced that the work of the committees could last
until 3 March, leading to the convocation of a plenary of the two
committees on 5 March. Once this stage is reached, a final session of the
ICD could be convened by its facilitator, the former president of
Botswana, Ketumile Masire.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32501]

DRC: Report criticises political, military and humanitarian response

A new report from The Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
criticises the international response to the crisis in the DRC,
particularly what it perceives as a lack of coordination between MONUC and
other UN agencies in the country.

The paper, titled "Politics and Humanitarianism: Coherence in crisis?"
includes a case study of the DRC, covering the period from the Lusaka
Agreement of 1999 to September 2002.

"Most striking in this case study is the enormous gulf between the scale
of the tragedy and the response on every front from the international
community," the report states. "The response, whether political, military
or humanitarian, has been minimal."

It further states that the consequence of a weak MONUC and non-integrated
mission structure was that there was neither a negative nor positive
effect on humanitarian space of association with MONUC. Responding, Nancee
Oku Bright, Chief of the Humanitarian Affairs Section of MONUC, called the
report "outdated".

[Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32502]

DRC: UN mission says "urgent need" to assist 2.7 million IDPs

A UN inter-agency mission has said there is an "urgent need" to extend
humanitarian support to an estimated 2.7 million internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in the DRC, the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on 21 February.

Most of the IDPs had fled looting, kidnapping, killings, extortions and
other human rights abuses. The mission confirmed a prevalence of child
soldiers; instances of "disappearances" of wounded IDPs who report to
hospital for treatment; victims of looting being forced to become looters
themselves; and also rape of women being used as a strategy of war.

"All these violations occur in an environment of total impunity," said
Guillermo Bettocchi, senior IDP adviser at the OCHA Internal Displacement
Unit in Geneva, who led the mission.

[Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32467]

DRC: MONUC helicopter fired on over Ituri, flights suspended

MONUC, on Wednesday decried the prevailing military tension in the Ituri
District in northeastern Orientale Province despite continued widespread
efforts to restore peace to the region, most notably through the
establishment of the Ituri Pacification Commission.

Of particular concern to the UN was an incident on Monday, when a
helicopter transporting MONUC Force Commander Gen Mountaga Diallo was
fired on by an unidentified source while flying over Bunia bound for Beni,
15 minutes after it took off.

Diallo had just concluded discussions with Thomas Lubanga, leader of the
Union des patriotes congolais, an ethnic militia headquartered in Bunia.
Although a bullet penetrated the cockpit, no-one was hurt, and the flight
continued without further incident, landing safely in Beni half an hour
later.

"General Diallo discussed with Thomas Lubanga ways and means of starting
the Ituri Pacification Commission. No progress was made and, despite the
incident, for which we have opened an inquiry to identify those
responsible, we are continuing to hold discussions," the MONUC spokesman,
Hamadoun Toure, told a news conference on Wednesday in the DRC capital,
Kinshasa. He went on to announce that as a result of the incident MONUC
flights had been suspended until such time as the inquiry was completed
and security in the area was restored

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32532; also see:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32551]

DRC: MSF reinforces teams to fight cholera in Katanga

MSF has dispatched medical teams and medicines to fight several epidemics
in the DRC, including a cholera outbreak that first erupted about 18
months ago, MSF reported on 21 February.

Since January 2003, local health authorities and MSF have reported an
increase in patients with cholera in Katanga.

"At the moment, we see almost 100 cholera patients a week in Lubumbashi
town, and some 300 in the whole of Katanga," said Alain Decoux, MSF Head
of Mission in DRC. "And in East Kasai Province the epidemic does not show
any sign of stabilising, with an average of 250 new cholera patients a
week. In Mbuji-Mayi town, the figures seem to have decreased slightly, but
on the periphery, especially around the mines, there has been a new
increase for the past two weeks, which means cholera is spreading from
village to village."

The MSF team is led by 12 international volunteers, assisted by almost 100
local staff. In Kasai Oriental, they supervise 14 cholera treatment
centres.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32468]

BURUNDI: Suspension of talks threatens peace process

The suspension of ceasefire talks between Burundi's transitional
government and the main Hutu rebel group is an "acutely negative"
development that might lead to a "serious deadlock", an analyst told IRIN
on Monday.

This latest move by Pierre Nkurunziza's faction of the Conseil national
pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie
(CNDD-FDD) "will have a negative impact in Burundi, especially if you bear
in mind that the ceasefire is being violated daily and is under threat of
unravelling", Jan van Eck, a conflict analyst form the University of
Pretoria, said.

Citing continued hostilities, the blockage of humanitarian aid and a lack
of consultation over troops that are to be sent to Burundi, the CNDD-FDD
issued a statement suspending talks with President Pierre Buyoya on 21
February. Although CNDD-FDD said it was suspending talks because of the
failure to implement the December 2002 ceasefire, van Eck warned that the
rebels were trying to force the government to make serious concessions and
to get the process restarted.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32475]

Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD subsequently warned that it would not be responsible
for the security of observers sent by the African Union (AU) to monitor a
ceasefire in the country, Radio publique africaine reported on Tuesday.

Thirty-five AU observers from Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and Tunisia have
arrived in the capital, Bujumbura. They are scheduled to be followed by a
peacekeeping force that will oversee rebel disarmament.

"These observers whom we are talking about are unknown to the CNDD-FDD
since nothing was negotiated with the [CNDD-FDD] movement on the matter.
Their deployment will have no impact on the ground. We are not at all
involved in their deployment. If anything happens to them, as we have said
in our statement number 11 of 21 February 2003, we will not be held
responsible," the radio quoted Daniel Ndabirabe, the CNDD-FDD spokesman,
as saying.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32520]

In a communique on Wednesday, the AU appealed to Burundi's warring parties
and their leaders to "show restraint and a spirit of compromise with a
view to preserving the gains made and to complete the process of restoring
peace to the country".

"The African Union would like to refer, especially, to the communiqué
issued by the CNDD on 21 February 2003, as well as to the press release by
Uprona [Union pour le progres national], dated 22 February, and expresses
its deep concern with this evolution, which will jeopardise the progress
made in the restoration of peace and harmony in Burundi," it said.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32548]

BURUNDI: Amnesty International decries lack of justice in Itaba case

Amnesty International (AI) has condemned the Burundi justice system for
what the rights body says is its failure to punish members of the armed
forces responsible for killing between 173 and 267 unarmed civilians in
Itaba Commune, Gitega Province, on 9 September 2002. AI's condemnation -
available in full on
http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/AFR160052003?Open&of=COUNTRIES\BURUNDI
- followed the sentencing and release on 22 February of two army officers
convicted by a military court "merely of failing to follow orders".

"The failure to properly investigate, hold fully accountable and bring to
justice members of the armed forces suspected of being responsible for
gross human rights violations is almost absolute," Irene Khan, the AI
secretary-general, said on Monday.

AI said soldiers had shot civilians at point-blank range in an area
already vacated by rebels of the CNDD-FDD. "The Burundian authorities
initially claimed that the victims had been killed in crossfire," it said.

AI called on the government to reopen full, independent and impartial
investigations into the killings; make public the findings; publicly
condemn rights violations, including extrajudicial killings; and to
urgently reform the military justice system.

BURUNDI: ICG urges donors to deliver aid now

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has urged key bilateral and
multilateral donors to give money, and "provide concrete evidence of their
commitment" to a peace process that appears on the verge of ending
Burundi's long civil war.

In a report, entitled "A Framework for Responsible Aid to Burundi" and
published on 21 February, the think-tank said it was counterproductive for
donors to wait until a ceasefire was in place and for the transitional
government to have begun implementing the reforms provided for under the
Arusha accord of August 2000 before resuming major aid programmes.

"The delivery of peace dividends will give all rebel groups an incentive
to accept disarmament and reintegration into Burundian society, and donors
the leverage they need to press the transitional government successfully
on reforms," Fabienne Hara, the co-director of ICG's African Programme,
said.

[Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32498]

RWANDA: ICTR urged to address relations with genocide survivors

African Rights has written to the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR), in Arusha, Tanzania, urging it to address the
"deterioration" in its relations with Rwandan genocide survivors, the
human rights organisation reported on Monday.

The letter, addressed to newly appointed ICTR Deputy Prosecutor Bongani
Majola, expressed the hope of African Rights that Majola's appointment,
and those of 11 judges, would "invest new energy in the ICTR, enabling it
to surmount some of its past problems and ensure delivery of justice in a
timely and efficient manner".

The organisation said the ICTR had gained ground in bringing leading
genocide suspects to court, but listed issues that it should tackle in
order to make a greater contribution to the justice process in Rwanda.
African Rights also urged genocide survivors' organisations and the
government of Rwanda to engage in dialogue with the ICTR in order to
resolve the existing problems.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32503]

UGANDA: Military protocol with Sudan extended

The Sudanese and Ugandan governments have extended the duration of the
validity of a military protocol they signed in March last year, thereby
allowing the Ugandan army to continue pursuing the rebel Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA) in southern Sudan.

Sudan, however, only agreed to extend the protocol on condition that
Uganda would reciprocate by ending its support for the rebel Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), according to media and
diplomatic sources. Under the new terms of the protocol, signed after
military talks on 21 February, Ugandan forces are allowed to pursue the
LRA - which is has been fighting to overthrow president Yoweri Museveni's
government since the mid 1980s - on Sudanese territory until 31 May 2003.
The talks had been jointly chaired by Bakri Hasan Salih, the Sudanese
minister of national defence, and Ugandan Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi,
Sudanese TV reported.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32465]

TANZANIA: Germany grants aid worth E80 million

The German government will, through its technical and financial
cooperation bodies, provide Tanzania with E80 million (US $86.12 million)
worth of aid over the next three years.

At least half the money would be spent on water and sanitation projects,
but there would also be significant contributions towards health projects
and budgetary support, Detles Mey, the Tanzania country director of the
German government's aid agency, the Gersellschaft fuer Technische
Zumsammenarbeit (GTZ), told IRIN in the Tanzanian commercial capital, Dar
es Salaam, on Wednesday.

He said that of the total sum the German financial cooperation body,
Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau, would deliver E59 million, while the
remaining E21 million would be channelled through GTZ.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32517]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


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