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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[The weekly roundup is based on IRIN daily updates and other relevant information from UN agencies, NGOs, governments, donors and the media. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community, but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original sources.]
Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN Weekly Round-up 27-98 covering the period 26 June-2 July 1998
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO-RWANDA: UN report accuses Kinshasa, Kigali
A UN human rights report, based on an aborted investigation into alleged massacres in DRC, has concluded that forces loyal to President Laurent-Desire Kabila deliberately killed Rwandan Hutu refugees during the campaign which overthrew late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and brought Kabila to power just over one year ago.
The report by a team of human rights experts called for an international tribunal to try cases of "serious violations of human rights". The report, which was formally presented to the Security Council on Tuesday, said Rwandan refugees were massacred in large numbers, even though many of them were not armed extremists. However, it stopped short of calling the killings genocide, saying evidence pointed in that direction but further probes would be needed.
In a cover letter transmitting the report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan highlighted the team's conclusion that the killings by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL) constituted crimes against humanity as did the denial of humanitarian assistance to Rwandan Hutu refugees.
Annan withdrew the team in April because of the government's "total lack of cooperation". The team had gone in with a mandate to investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law which were alleged to have been committed in DRC up to 31 December 1997.
Rwandan army accused
The report detailed evidence of current and former Rwandan army involvement in the massacres and Congolese government attempts to cover them up. The report stated that from mid-October to mid-November 1996, the AFDL and elements of the Rwandan army (RPA) attacked camps in North and South Kivu housing refugees and, in most if not all cases, military elements hostile to the government of Rwanda. The report said obstacles raised by Kabila's government made it impossible to confirm or disprove most of the allegations, but said it was able to confirm that current and former Rwandan army soldiers took part in some killings.
"Hundreds of unarmed persons were captured and executed as a result of the attack on Mugunga camp in November 1996, and many unarmed civilians were hunted down and executed after fleeing from the attacks on this and other camps," the report states. The massacres were committed by the AFDL "in some cases with the participation of Mayi-Mayi militia". "These killings violate international humanitarian law and, because of their systematic nature, may well constitute crimes against humanity," the report says. According to the report, the AFDL also carried out a number of massacres of civilians in Zairean Hutu villages in North Kivu around November 1996 which also constituted serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The report added that in May 1997, hundreds of unarmed Rwandan Hutus were massacred in Mbandaka and the neighbouring village of Wendji by AFDL troops apparently under effective RPA command. "Forensic evidence indicates that bodies were removed from a mass grave site in Mbandaka, corroborating testimony that an effort was made to 'clean up' such sites prior to the arrival of the team." The AFDL also forced large numbers of civilians to flee into scarcely-populated areas in life-threatening conditions and denied relief organisations access to ill and wounded non-combatants - "another act which may constitute a crime against humanity."
The report found possible evidence of genocide, noting that the attacks on the camps in North Kivu in 1996 "reveal the intent to eliminate those Rwandan Hutus who had remained in Zaire." Among its recommendations, the report states that if a new investigative body is established, it should focus on massacres which occurred during inter-ethnic fighting in North and South Kivu beginning in March 1993; serious violations of human rights allegedly committed within the camps established in eastern Zaire from July 1994 to October 1996; the extent of RPA involvement since October 1996; the extent of foreign troops' participation in serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law during the armed conflict; and the intent underlying the massacre of Rwandan and Zairean Hutus beginning in October 1996.
DRC, Rwanda dismiss report as misleading
The report was presented in advance to the governments of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In part of a 32-page reply, Kinshasa called the report "a dangerous document that, contrary to the ideals of international peace and security propagated by the United Nations, exacerbates the ethnic hatred between Hutu and Tutsi by oversimplifying the complex problems which plague the Great Lakes region."
In a letter to the Secretary-General, DRC Ambassador Andre Mwamba Kapanga called the report a "collection of unfounded allegations".
Kigali replied that the report was "emotive" and that it lacked credible testimonies. "Publication of such an incomplete, biased and totally misleading report does not serve the human rights cause, and would compromise the possibility of getting to the truth of what happened," the Rwandan reply states.
It said it "categorically rejected and was deeply shocked by the insinuation in the report that Rwandan government soldiers had committed any violation of human rights against a section of its own people or any other in former Zaire."
Kabila says report "pure fabrication"
Urging all Africans to reject the report, Kabila told French radio in an interview the report was full of "pure fabrications and lies". He said the "false report" had been compiled by "backward-looking birds of the night, who are champions of scheming and misinformation" who until recently had supported Mobutu right up until his regime's "death rattle".
DRC: Tshisekedi returns to Kinshasa
The DRC authorities released veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi from internal exile and the head of the Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UDPS) returned to Kinshasa on Wednesday after being confined to his home in Kasai province since February.
In a statement, the UDPS said Tshisekedi, however, did not have freedom of movement as the ban on political activity still had not been lifted. "The UDPS believes this is yet another manoeuvre by President Kabila aimed at consolidating his new currency and attempting to present a false 'nationalist' shield to the international community in connection with accusations of massacres and genocide against Mr Kabila,the ADFL and the Rwandan army," the statement said.
Kasavubu forms new party
Meanwhile, DRC's former ambassador to Belgium Justine Kasavubu and previously the UDPS representative in Brussels has announced the creation of a new political party, the Rassemblement pour la democratie congolaise (RDC). She told a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday the new party's slogan was "justice, respect and progress".
Monkey pox on the increase
According to WHO, incidences of monkey pox in DRC are on the increase. WHO told IRIN that from 1970, 404 cases of monkey pox were registered worldwide, 386 of them in DRC. From 1996 to October 1997 the DRC figure had risen to 511. Particularly affected was the Kasai region, but since February 1996 sporadic cases have been spreading to other areas.
RWANDA: Food distributions continue as number of internally displaced increase
The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Gisenyi prefecture has recently increased from 47,000 to 70,000, the latest WFP emergency report said. WFP in collaboration with other UN agencies, NGOs and local authorities is currently distributing food for displaced people in Gisenyi, in northwest Rwanda. The UN food agency declared that security was still a serious concern. Two attacks on camps of IDPs and refugees have been reported in recent weeks. It added that following a request from the government, food distributions had also now started for 61,000 beneficiaries in Gikongoro prefecture.
UGANDA: Cholera epidemic reaches 38,000 cases, 1,500 deaths
Kitgum is the latest district in Uganda to report cases of cholera in an epidemic affecting 39 Ugandan districts. Of a total of 38,697 cases in the current epidemic, 1,576 deaths have been reported, according to WHO. The average case fatality rate of 4.07 percent is higher than international standards suggest is normal. Some western areas of Uganda, particularly the area of Nebbi, receive patients from DRC, the report received by IRIN this week stated.
HUMANITARIAN: International campaign launched against the use of child soldiers
A new coalition of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) against the use of child soldiers was launched this week in Geneva and New York. According to latest estimates, more than 300,000 children under 18 years of age are fighting in armed conflicts around the world and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any moment. Although most recruits are over 15 years of age, significant recruitment starts at 10 years, and the use of even younger children has been recorded.
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (www.rb.se) has been
formed in response to the failure of negotiations within the UN to agree a prohibition on keeping children out of armed forces, the group said in a statement sent to IRIN.
BURUNDI: Buyoya pledges peace as army battles rebels
President Pierre Buyoya on Wednesday again stressed his commitment to peace negotiations. In an independence day speech, he said talks would continue "to close the door on those seeking the slightest opportunity to steal our independence", AFP reported. His comments came days after clashes broke out between the Burundi army and rebels at Kiderege in Nyanza-Lac province. According to a rebel FDD (Forces pour la defense de la democratie) spokesman, speaking to the BBC's Kirundi service, the fighting occurred on Saturday and lasted three days. He claimed 34 Burundian soldiers were killed.
CNDD-FDD faction says Arusha agreement "totally unrealistic"
The breakaway military faction of the rebel Burundian Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD), the so-called CNDD-FDD, rubbished the recently-concluded Arusha as "a dream", according to AFP. Jerome Ndiho, spokesman for the CNDD-FDD in Brussels, said that "the two main belligerents, Buyoya's army and the FDD, consider the agreement does not concern them, which means that the Arusha accord is worth nothing." The government delegation at Arusha had excused themselves from a suspension of hostilities as they were not an "armed factions".
SUDAN: UN receives clearance for increase in airlift capacity
WFP announced on Friday that the Sudanese government had approved a total of 12 cargo aircraft for relief operations. WFP told IRIN that it currently has four C-130 aircraft operating into southern Sudan. A fifth aircraft, delayed due to a worldwide lack of specialised air-drop equipment, also started work on Monday, a WFP spokeswoman said. The new Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) estimates of southern Sudanese in need of food total 1.2 million people between the following areas: Bahr al-Ghazal: 701,000; Western Upper Nile 162,000; Eastern Equatoria 182,000; Jonglei: 181,000. These figures do not include displaced and other vulnerable people in southern government-held areas. In the whole of Sudan, about 2.6 million people are estimated to need food aid assistance.
New nutritional data confirms serious food situation
While major logistical operations continue to contain the southern Sudan food emergency, new figures confirm that hunger is still severe in many parts of the war- and drought-hit region. MSF's latest nutritional surveys in Bahr al-Ghazal (Tonj county) and Western Upper Nile showed overall malnutrition rates of 32.5 percent (using the weight for height method). MSF's latest update says that the situation "is not improving" and that they are registering more children in their feeding centres and planning new centres to cope with the needs.
Splits within pro-government Sudanese groups, rebels
Two former rebel soldiers were shot dead in Khartoum on Wednesday, the German press agency DPA reported. Quoting the 'Akhbar al-Yom' newspaper, the report stated that pro-government southern factions have been instructed to disarm their members in Khartoum. A captain in the pro-government South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF) ordered his men to shoot two men who resisted disarmament. The report links the incident to a recent attack on the house of the governor of northern Bahr al-Ghazal, Kawac Makuei, another defector from the SPLA.
Opposition politicians held, explosions hit Khartoum Meanwhile, Sudanese security forces detained several opposition politicians and trade unionists, apparently for suspected links with bomb blasts this week in Khartoum, AFP quoted local press reports as saying. An official in the Islamic-backed regime's national congress, Mohamed Adam Haqwab, said that an unspecified number of opponents had been arrested but did not say precisely why, the 'Akhbar al-Youm' daily reported. His statements were reported after the interior ministry said in a news broadcast that explosions had occurred in the Sudanese capital on Monday and Tuesday.
Nairobi, 3 July 1998 11:00 GMT
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