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

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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 341
22 - 28 July 2006


CONTENTS:

DRC: 1,300 international observers for polls
DRC: Vote set for Sunday despite irregularities
DRC: Troops to be deployed in Ituri' troubled areas, general says
DRC: Thousands displaced in Katanga return home
UGANDA: Peace talks adjourn for consultations
KENYA: Campaign to stop violence against children


ALSO SEE:

DRC: Lead-up to elections - backgrounder
[http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54768]

Countdown in Congo
[http://www.irinnews.org/DRCelection.asp]


DRC: 1,300 international observers for polls

At least 1,300 international observers will be deployed all over the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during Sunday's elections, according
to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"I really feel part of a historic moment in this country. It is such a
big event," Albert von Hal, one of the observers, said on Friday in the
capital, Kinshasa. "We were amazed when we came across the banners
everywhere, at the scale of the whole thing." The observers will send
their observations immediately after the vote to a call centre in the
capital, Kinshasa.

[Full Story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54856]


DRC: Vote set for Sunday despite irregularities

Logistical problems with Sunday's general elections in the DRC and
reports that security forces are violating the human rights of
candidates and their supporters will not delay the vote, according to
the Independent Electoral Commission and the international community
supporting it.

"We have indeed seen very negative things that are contrary to the
spirit of a democratic process and we do not accept them," Ross
Mountain, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General's Deputy Special
Representative in the DRC, told a news conference in Kinshasa on
Wednesday. "But one cannot condemn the whole process for a few acts."

"[In general] the approach is transparent," Mountain said. "This is the
first [democratic] election in over 40 years," he said. "We know there
will be imperfections."

[Full Story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54846]

[On the Net: Police disperse anti-poll demonstrators
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54799]

[Suspend poll campaigns, 19 presidential candidates say
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54402]


DRC: Troops to be deployed in Ituri's most troubled areas, general says

Specially trained Congolese troops will be deployed to the most security
sensitive areas in the northeastern district of Ituri before, during and
after Sunday's general elections to ensure peace, area army commander
Gen Mbuayama Nsiona said on Thursday.

At a news conference in Bunia, the district's capital, he said 630
soldiers would, from 29 to 31 July, secure polling stations in areas
where anti-government forces are active. The army estimates there are
3,000 fighters, from the Front de Resistance patriotique en Ituri (FRPI)
and the Mouvement revolutionnaires congolais (MRC), about 20 km east and
south of Bunia. Others of the Fronts des nationalistes integrationnistes
(FNI), led by Peter Karim, are positioned 120 km north of the town.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54843]

[On the Net: Voluntary militia disarmament ends
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54819]

[Deadline for militias to disarm extended to 15 July
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54444]


DRC: Thousands displaced in Katanga return home

Thousands of civilians displaced by frequent Mai-Mai militia attacks in
Katanga Province, in the southeastern DRC, are returning to their
villages, a UN official said on Wednesday.

The returns have been reported in central Katanga, which has for a long
time been the scene of frequent militia attacks, Daniel Augstburger,
head of office for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), said in Kinshasa. According to the director of the human
rights division at the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, Fernando Castanon,
the displaced returned after the surrender of a Mai-Mai leader, known as
Gedeon, and at least 400 of the group's combatants.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54843]


UGANDA: Peace talks adjourn for consultations

Peace talks aimed at ending two decades of fighting between the Ugandan
army and Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have been adjourned for a
week to allow for consultations, an official said on Monday. The
spokesman for the Ugandan delegation, Captain Paddy Ankunda, said the
discussions mediated by the southern Sudanese government in Juba would
resume on 31 July.

"The break was necessitated by the fact that we thought we needed to
consult with our seniors," Ankunda said. "We discussed our agenda and
other issues and we wanted to share what we discussed with the
government," he added, describing the talks that officially opened in
Juba on 14 July as "very successful".

Relatives of LRA commanders, including Kony's mother and a group of
elders from the Acholi sub-region, were expected to meet LRA commanders
on the Sudan-DRC border in the next few days as part of efforts to
promote the peace initiative through confidence-building.

[Full story on:
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54766]

[On the Net: Elders cite atrocities committed by Ugandan rebels, army
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54738]


KENYA: Campaign to stop violence against children

Child abuse in Kenya had reached unacceptable levels, with sexual abuse
being "especially shocking", the UN said on Thursday at the launch of a
national campaign to end violence against children. The UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) said 89 percent of rapes of children were committed by
family members or close family friends.

"Stop this violence against us because we are tomorrow's leaders,"
Cynthia Kabata, 11, said, suggesting that if adults could follow the new
traffic laws, they could follow the rules on how to treat children.
"Parents, teachers and brothers all violate children, especially girls."

The initiative, led by the Kenya government's Children's Department in
partnership with UNICEF Kenya, civil society, religious groups and the
private sector, aims to raise 100 million Kenya shillings (US $1.4
million) for programmes to protect at least 500,000 children and women
affected by violence and to inform the wider population.

[Full Story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54844]


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