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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 184
19 - 25 July 2003


CONTENTS:

DRC: Medical NGO decries lack of protection, access to civilians
DRC: MONUC deplores arms trafficking in northeast
DRC: Ituri militias agree to disarm, verify ceasefire
DRC: Ministers from former rebel movements take oath of office
DRC: IMF calls economic performance "broadly satisfactory"
DRC: MONUC opens security centre for transitional government
DRC: NGO calls for "a new page" in human rights protection
CAR: CEMAC peacekeeping force deploys in the north
CAR: Preparations for national dialogue start
CAR: WFP resumes food delivery after four-month suspension
BURUNDI: Belligerents recommit to ceasefire, again
BURUNDI: Kidnappers release humanitarian workers
RWANDA: Four cleared to contest presidency
RWANDA: UN special envoy promises affordable HIV/AIDS drugs
RWANDA/UGANDA: Kampala, Kigali agree on refugee repatriation
KENYA: Thousands of refugees in danger from floodwater

ALSO SEE:

KENYA: Feature - Marginalised Turkana vie with refugees at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35535

DRC: Medical NGO decries lack of protection, access to civilians

International medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) appealed on
Friday to the UN Security Council and the international community to
ensure access by humanitarian agencies to civilian populations in Ituri,
northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Launching a new report in Nairobi, Kenya, on the embattled Ituri District,
MSF expressed concern over the level of humanitarian aid reaching
civilians in Bunia, the main town in the district, and surrounding areas,
where inter-militia fighting in recent months has displaced thousands of
civilians.

The Geneva-based MSF director of communication, Michel Clerc, said the NGO
was launching the report ahead of a UN Security Council meeting scheduled
for next week to decide on the future role of the UN Mission in the DRC,
known by its French acronym, MONUC. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35616] [The MSF report is
available online at: http://www.msf.org/]

DRC: MONUC deplores arms trafficking in northeast

The UN on Friday denounced the trafficking of arms in northeastern DRC,
following the seizure of a cache of munitions in Beni on Thursday by the
Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani/Mouvement de
liberation, who turned them over to MONUC.

An inquiry into the trafficking has been opened, with MONUC reporting that
preliminary information indicated that the weapons were destined for armed
groups in Ituri District. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35607]

DRC: Ituri militias agree to disarm, verify ceasefire

Rival ethnic militias in Ituri District agreed on Wednesday to disarm,
withdraw to rear bases and to participate in joint verification exercises,
UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure told IRIN on Thursday.

He said that representatives from five regional militias - the Union des
patriotes congolais, a primarily Hema militia; the Forces armees du peuple
congolais; the Front des nationalistes et des integrationnistes; the
Forces populaires pour la democratie au Congo; and the Parti pour l'unite
et la sauvegarde de l'integrite du Congo - took part in the talks,
organised by MONUC, in Bunia.

"The militias must apply the ceasefire agreement they signed in Dar es
Salaam by disarming, demobilising and cantoning their troops," Toure said.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35597]

On Monday the UN condemned recent fighting in the areas of Tchomia and
Kasenyi in Ituri District.

Following an investigation on Saturday into reports of recent fighting,
MONUC said it "vigorously deplored" the fighting, which constituted "a
flagrant violation" of the ceasefire accord recently signed by all parties
to the conflict. It called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and
the protection of civilians. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35521]

The mutilated bodies of 22 civilians were discovered on Monday in Nizi, a
village 22 km north of Bunia.

The spokesman of the EU-led multinational peace enforcement mission
deployed in Bunia, Col Gerard Dubois, told IRIN on Tuesday that the
victims were "primarily women and children". They were discovered by a
patrol of the multinational forces.

He said that a reconnaissance mission was sent by helicopter to Nizi after
an unusually large number of people - between 2,500 and 3,000 - arrived in
Bunia on Sunday. The patrol found the town empty, except for several Lendu
fighters who opened fire as they fled the village, after having pillaged
it. The patrol returned fire, wounding a Lendu militant, Dubois said.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35543]

DRC: Ministers from former rebel movements take oath of office

Transitional government officials designated by the two principal former
rebel movements in the DRC took their oath of office in the capital,
Kinshasa, on Thursday after a modification was made in the pledge of
allegiance.

Fourteen ministers and eight vice-ministers from the two groups -the
Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) and the Mouvement de
liberation du Congo - had refused to take the oath of office on 18 July
because it required a pledge of allegiance to President Joseph Kabila.

According to Joseph Mudumbi, a transitional government minister from
RCD-Goma, the revised text included a pledge of allegiance not only to
Kabila, but also to the government and the laws of the country. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35585]

DRC: IMF calls economic performance "broadly satisfactory"

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday
called the recent economic performance in the DRC "broadly satisfactory"
and said it augured well for the country's eligibility for debt relief
under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC).

"DRC's broadly satisfactory recent performance has paved the ground for
reaching the decision point under the enhanced HIPC initiative," Horst
Koehle, the IMF managing director and chairman, said following a review
under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement.

"A final decision on the DRC's debt relief under this is pending action
this week by the World Bank's executive board," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35609] [For detailed
information on the HIPC Initiative, go to www.worldbank.org]

DRC: MONUC opens security centre for transitional government

The United Nations opened a Joint Security Operations Centre in Kinshasa
on Thursday for coordination of the safety of members of the transitional
government of the DRC.

"The objective of the centre is to avoid bottlenecks, disorder and even
confrontations between the bodyguards of the various parties and
personalities," UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said. "The centre will
coordinate the movements of the various politicians and their bodyguards
to know who is doing what and where." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35588]

DRC: NGO calls for "a new page" in human rights protection

The NGO Human Rights Watch on Thursday called on the newly-inaugurated
transitional government of the DRC to afford human rights activists an
integral role in shaping the future of the nation.

The NGO also urged the new government to encourage the participation of
human rights groups in key aspects of the transition, including justice
for war crimes and crimes against humanity and a truth and reconciliation
process. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35587]
[For Human Rights Watch background paper see:
http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/drc072403.htm]

CAR: CEMAC peacekeeping force deploys in the north

The peacekeeping force of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central
Africa States (CEMAC) has launched its operations in northern Central
African Republic (CAR), where insecurity has persisted since October 2002,
a CEMAC official told IRIN on Saturday.

"After realising that the security situation had improved in Bangui, we
started the second phase of our mission by sending two thirds of our
troops to the north," Rear Admiral Martin Mavoungou, the
commander-in-chief of the CEMAC force, said.

"Our mission in the north consists of disarming those holding arms
illegally, neutralising armed groups such as highwaymen and dissuading
other troublemakers," Mavoungou said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35516]

CAR: Normalcy returns to war-ravaged Sibut town

Displaced people have returned to their homes, markets are reopening and
administration officials have reported to their duty stations in the town
of Sibut, 185 km northeast of Bangui, state-owned Radio Centrafrique
reported on Wednesday.

Simplice Makassi, the deputy governor of Kemo Province, said that people
had returned from the bush, and that the province's governor arrived in
the town on 18 July. The police, gendarmerie and the army were already in
the town.

He said that volunteers started cleaning administrative buildings on
Tuesday. However, Makassi said the town still lacked financial services
from the government. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35593]

CAR: Preparations for national dialogue start

Preparations for national talks, due to be held in August, began on Monday
with the newly established National Transitional Council of CAR holding
its first session.

Speaking during the opening of the meeting in Bangui, council Speaker
Nicolas Tiangaye said the council would also examine drafts of the new
constitution, the electoral code, the electoral calendar, the government's
political programme and the achievements of the government in the light of
its commitments during a consultative meeting with the EC on 12 June.

Comprising 98 members, including two former heads of states - Andre
Kolingba and David Dacko - as honorary members, the council has delegates
from all the country's political, social, religious and professional
affiliations. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35536]

CAR: WFP resumes food delivery after four-month suspension

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed transporting food into CAR
from neighbouring Cameroon, where it had been held for four months due to
insecurity in CAR, a WFP official told IRIN on Tuesday.

The WFP representative in CAR, David Bulman, said that food delivery
resumed soon after the government had put a new warehouse at WFP's
disposal. Five trucks transporting 100 mt of beans reached Bangui on
Saturday and were to be followed by other trucks in the coming days, he
said.

WFP suspended its food delivery into the country in March, when its main
warehouses in Bangui were looted in the aftermath of the 15 March coup
that brought Francois Bozize to power. At that time, about 1,800 mt of
supplies were looted. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35556]

BURUNDI: Belligerents recommit to ceasefire, again

Burundi's transitional government and Pierre Nkurunziza's Conseil national
pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie
(CNDD-FDD) reaffirmed on Sunday their commitment to peace, following a
day-long regional consultative meeting in the Tanzanian commercial
capital, Dar es Salaam.

Both sides, which signed a ceasefire on 2 December 2002 in Arusha,
northern Tanzania, have largely violated the accord. However, officials
close to the negotiations said that on Sunday progress had been made and
that, for the first time, the parties had discussed "real issues". "They
talked about positions in government and the details of the Forces
Technical Agreement. This is very positive," a source told IRIN on Sunday.

A full summit to "finalise all outstanding matters" will be convened
within three weeks, the facilitator of the peace talks announced. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35506]

BURUNDI: Kidnappers release humanitarian workers

Kidnappers have released three humanitarian workers they seized in
southern Makamba Province, the International Rescue Committee (IRC)
reported on Saturday.

One of the kidnapped workers is an employee of the committee. "He was
exhausted, but otherwise unharmed," the committee reported. The three were
released on 18 July. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35510]

RWANDA: Four cleared to contest presidency

Rwanda's National Electoral Commission has approved four candidates to
contest the country's first post-genocide presidential elections,
scheduled for 25 August.

At the end of the 18 July deadline for presentation of documents proving
eligibility, the commission cleared four of six candidates who had
declared their interest in the presidency.

The approved candidates are the incumbent, President Paul Kagame, former
Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu, a woman candidate, Alvera
Mukabaramba, and former Member of Parliament Nepomuscene Nayinzira. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35511]

RWANDA: UN special envoy promises affordable HIV/AIDS drugs

UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, said on Wednesday
that Rwandans living with HIV/AIDS would "in the near future" have access
to more affordable antiretroviral drugs.

"There's very intense discussion in Rwanda on having antiretroviral drugs
available for treatment and the UN family is ready to help," Lewis said
after meeting President Paul Kagame in the capital, Kigali.

He said Rwanda would soon be receiving money from the World Bank, the
global HIV/AIDS fund, and the Clinton Foundation, which he hoped would
make antiretroviral drugs affordable in the coming years. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35563]

RWANDA/UGANDA: Kampala, Kigali agree on refugee repatriation

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the
governments of Rwanda and Uganda signed on Thursday a tripartite agreement
on the voluntary repatriation of thousands of Rwandan refugees living in
Uganda, Radio Rwanda reported.

"We have sealed the deal, what remains now is to move into Uganda to
sensitise Rwandans in refugee camps to return," the radio quoted Abdul
Khalim Haleraimana, who is in charge of refugee repatriation in Rwanda, as
saying.

Up to 26,000 Rwandans are reported to be in refugee camps mostly in
western Uganda.

Meanwhile, the radio reported that 670 Rwandan refugees returned home on
Thursday from Lukore Province in Tanzania. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35590]

KENYA: Thousands of refugees in danger from floodwater

The lives of about 17,000 people living in the Kakuma refugee camp,
northwestern Kenya, are in danger from flooding caused by the merging of
two seasonal rivers, the UN warned on Monday.

"This is beyond an emergency. We know that 17,000 refugees' lives will be
in danger unless we relocate them," said Cosmas Chanda, head of the UN
refugee agency's office in Kakuma.

UNHCR has appealed for funding to urgently move the refugees to the north
of Kakuma camp, and is currently involved in negotiations with local
elders regarding the allocation of new land. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35504]


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


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