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 388
23 - 29 June 2007


CONTENTS:

CAR: Armed actors exploiting vacuum in north, says Amnesty
   International
CAR: Rebel defections may boost aid work in northwest
CONGO: First-round polls marred by poor organisation
DRC: NGO suspends operations amid increased displacement in the east
GLOBAL: Protect rights of minorities to avoid conflict, NGO urges
TANZANIA: Drug abuse, trafficking on the rise, warns president
TANZANIA: Private-public partnership boosts healthcare


CAR: Armed actors exploiting vacuum in north, says Amnesty International

Violence in Sudan and Chad has placed at risk hundreds of thousands of
civilians in northern neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR),
Amnesty International has warned.

"The northern areas [of CAR] have become a free-for-all - a hunting
ground for the region's various armed opposition forces, government
troops, and even armed bandits - some of whom come from as far away as
West Africa to kidnap and loot in local villages," the human rights
watchdog said in a statement on 26 June.

In these areas, it noted, armed CAR opposition forces kill civilians who
do not support or refuse to join them, while government troops kill
civilians they accuse of colluding with the armed groups and burn down
entire villages during reprisal attacks.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72933


CAR: Rebel defections may boost aid work in northwest

Two months after the government of the Central African Republic
concluded a peace agreement with a rebel group in the northeast, some
fighters belonging to another insurgent group in the northwest have
abandoned rebellion, sources said.

The move, observers said, could boost ongoing efforts to resume
humanitarian work in the volatile region where the killing of a Medecins
Sans Frontieres worker on 11 June prompted agencies to suspend
operations.

The International Medical Corps has decided to resume operations in
Vakaga Province, an area beset by rebellion, rampant banditry and the
spill over of conflicts in Chad and Sudan.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72946


CONGO: First-round polls marred by poor organisation

With ballot counting under way after the first round of legislative
elections in the Republic of Congo, the widespread chaos and
malpractices during voting could cast doubt on the final outcome,
observers and residents in the capital Brazzaville said.

Polling stations opened late and voter registers and ballot papers were
not available in many polling stations, observers from the African Union
and Economic Community of Central African States said in a statement.

According to local observers, the polls were marred by poor organisation
and most polling stations opened long after 7am.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72970


DRC: NGO suspends operations amid increased displacement in the east

Violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has forced
non-governmental organisations to limit operations in some areas in
North and South Kivu, officials said, even as more people are displaced.

On 25 June, armed men wearing military uniforms attacked two vehicles
belonging to Solidarite Internationale in Kisharo in the Rutshuru
territory of North Kivu. A vehicle was looted.

Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the UN Mission in Congo, said the incident
followed a similar one several days earlier in the same area. Attacks
against humanitarian actors had also occurred in South Kivu where an NGO
storehouse in Uvira was plundered on 20 June.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72972


GLOBAL: Protect rights of minorities to avoid conflict, NGO urges

The violation of minority rights is often a first sign of an approaching
conflict, which could be prevented by protecting minority communities at
an early stage, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) has stated in
a new report.

"There is no 'one-size-fits-all' model for conflict prevention but
consideration of minority rights can help offer solutions," MRG said in
Minority Rights: The Key to Conflict Prevention, issued on 26 June.

The report cites conflicts in Sudan's Darfur region, Chechnya, Kashmir,
Kosovo and Sri Lanka as some of the world's most bitter, which were "all
fuelled and fought over ethnic, linguistic, religious or cultural
issues".

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72951


TANZANIA: Drug abuse, trafficking on the rise, warns president

Drug trafficking and abuse are increasing in Tanzania and concerted
efforts must be made to check this trend, President Jakaya Kikwete has
said.

"Tanzania used to be a transit point for drugs, but now the number of
users is escalating very fast," Kikwete said at public rally to mark
international anti-narcotics day on 26 June in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's
commercial capital.

He urged the police, other law enforcement bodies, parents and activists
to step up the war against narcotics, saying trafficking and use of
drugs had reached alarming levels. He said the problem was especially
serious in Dar es Salaam, the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar and in
the northern towns of Arusha, Mwanza and Tanga.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72953


TANZANIA: Private-public partnership boosts healthcare

Residents of Tanzania's northern regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro and
Manyara will benefit from improved diagnostic services after the
installation of an ultra-modern laboratory at the Mt Meru Hospital in
Arusha town.

"The hospital can now provide automated testing crucial for the
diagnosis and continued monitoring of HIV/AIDS and many other diseases,"
Health Minister David Mwakyusa said on 27 June during the inauguration
ceremony.

Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72969


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